[wingide-users] How to use ActiveState's Python HTMLHelp file with Wing IDE

[Dan Roger]

Since I'm having trouble getting auto-completion and the Source Assistant
to reliably work in Wing IDE Pro 3.1.7-1, I made a minor mod to
Brandon Corfman's hack to add context-sensitive help to Komodo
(http://mysite.verizon.net/bcorfman/labels/hacks.html) so it
would work as a WingIDE script instead:

def _showHTMLHelpPage(keywords):
    import sys
    oldSysPath = sys.path
    sys.path.append("C:/Python25/Lib/site-packages/win32")
    import win32help
    # Restore sys.path in case messing with it is a bad idea?
    sys.path = oldSysPath

    win32help.HtmlHelp(0, None, win32help.HH_INITIALIZE, None)
    link = win32help.HH_AKLINK()
    link.indexOnFail = 1
    link.keywords = keywords
    link.url = ""
    link.msgText = ""
    link.msgTitle = ""
    link.window = ""
    win32help.HtmlHelp(0, "C:/Python25/Doc/ActivePython25.chm",
win32help.HH_KEYWORD_LOOKUP, link)

def showActiveStatePythonHelp():
    editor = wingApp.GetActiveEditor()
    doc = editor.GetDocument()
    start, end = editor.GetSelection()
    txt = doc.GetCharRange(start, end)
    _showHTMLHelpPage(txt)

After you bind showActiveStatePythonHelp to, say, Ctrl+H, selecting
logging and then pressing Ctrl+H will open ActiveState's compiled help
file for Python to the logging module's documentation.

Depending on the selection, you'll either get right to the page, be
given a list of choices in a popup menu, or find yourself in the index
pane at its closest match.