Using Help Panel ¶

Table of Contents

Using Help Panel

In SALOME, each module can show introduction information and/or context help in the Help panel. This panel is shown in the right dock area of the SALOME GUI desktop.

Show help panel ¶

In order to show Help panel, the module must request it in the standard way, in the windows() method, for example:

 void GeometryGUI::windows(QMap<int, int>& map) const
 {
   map.insert(SalomeApp_Application::WT_ObjectBrowser, Qt::LeftDockWidgetArea);
   map.insert(SalomeApp_Application::WT_InfoPanel, Qt::RightDockWidgetArea);
   map.insert(SalomeApp_Application::WT_NoteBook, Qt::LeftDockWidgetArea);
   map.insert(SalomeApp_Application::WT_PyConsole, Qt::BottomDockWidgetArea);
 }

Note

The dock area position flag is ignored for the Help panel.

To display short annotation of the module in the desktop in the application’s neutral point (when there’s no active module, see figure above), add the <description> parameter to the main module’s section in the configuration file - LightApp.xml or SalomeApp.xml, for example:

 <document>
   <section name="SMESH">
     <parameter name="name" value="Mesh"/>
     <parameter name="icon" value="ModuleMesh.png"/>
     <parameter name="version" value="9.6.0"/>
     <parameter name="description" value="Generate mesh from CAD model or import mesh"/>
   </section>
 </document>

Also, provide a translation of the module description to other languages in the corresponding translation files (*.ts).

API of Help panel ¶

C++¶

Help panel is implemented in SALOME GUI module, via the QtxInfoPanel class. To obtain a reference to the Help panel, use method infoPanel() of the LightApp_Application or SalomeApp_Application class:

#include <QtxInfoPanel.h>
...
SalomeApp_Application* app = dynamic_cast<SalomeApp_Application*>(application());
QtxInfoPanel* ip = app->infoPanel();

The class QtxInfoPanel provides several methods which can be used to manage content of the Help panel. It is possible to add text labels and actions (these latter are presented as buttons). The items can be arranged into the logical blocks - groups; groups can contain other groups. All methods creating content items return unique identifier which can be later used to change item’s visibility, enable/disable it (actions can be also enabled/disable directly), remove it or clear its contents (for groups). Top level container has identifier -1.

// Set panel's title (put empty string to hide title)
ip->setTitle("Welcome to my module");

// Create group box
int gb = ip->addGroup("General features");

// Add action to the group box
QAction* action = new QAction("My feature");
int id1 = ip->addAction(action, gb);

// Add informative label to the group box
int id2 = ip->addLabel("My cool feature", gb);

// Add another label, right-aligned, to the top-level container
int id3 = ip->addLabel("Some information", Qt::AlignRight);

// Change visibility of given item
ip->setVisible(id3, false);

// Enable/disable given item
ip->setEnabled(gb, false);

// Remove given item
ip->remove(id1);

// Remove all content of group
ip->clear(gb);

// Clear Help panel
ip->clear();

Python ¶

For Python modules, Help panel can be accessed via the SalomePyQt Python module.

from PyQt5 import Qt as Q
from SalomePyQt import SalomePyQt as sg

# Set panel's title (put empty string to hide title)
sg.infoSetTitle("Welcome to my module")

# Create group box
gb = sg.infoAddGroup("General features")

# Add action to the group box
action = Q.QAction("My feature")
id1 = sg.infoAddAction(action, gb)

# Add informative label to the group box
id2 = sg.infoAddLabel("My cool feature", gb)

# Add another label, right-aligned, to the top-level container
# Note: -1 is used explicitly as group identifier
id3 = sg.infoAddLabel("Some information", Q.Qt.AlignRight, -1)

# Change visibility of given item
sg.infoSetVisible(id3, False)

# Enable/disable given item
sg.infoSetEnabled(gb, False)

# Remove given item
sg.infoRemove(id1)

# Remove all content of group
sg.infoClear(gb)

# Clear Help panel
sg.infoClear()

Notifications ¶

Each time when Help panel is shown, currently active module is informed via the virtual method updateInfoPanel(). This method can be used to properly update the contents of the Help panel, depending on the current context.

Using Help Panel¶

Show help panel¶

Module description¶

API of Help panel¶