[GRASS-dev] Re: init.sh OSX browser setting

[William Kyngesburye]

So, in working out the details for the Mac OS X GRASS_HTML_BROWSER  
changes needed, I also found that the Apple Help Viewer not only  
works nicely for viewing GRASS help, but can enable GRASS help to be  
viewed system-wide.  That is, without running GRASS, open Help Viewer  
(ie from the Finder Help->Mac Help, or from any other application)  
and GRASS would be in the Library menu.

Another nice feature is that Help Viewer also sees help files in the  
user's home folder.  I've been working on isolating the GRASS  
binaries from user-installed addons, because in OSX it's not a good  
idea to alter installed apps directly.  I have bin/ and lib/ extras  
worked out, and have an idea for etc/, but doc/ is troublesome.  It's  
difficult to dynamically access the help files in a user's home  
folder.  With help viewer it's automatic, though still separated from  
the main GRASS help, but easily accessible.

Also, there is a builtin search feature.

And, for those extrnal html links, the user's browser choice IS used.

The 'open' change must be done, since that's technically a bug,  
though latent and probably rare.

I'm wondering, since it would make OSX an extra-special case as far  
as it concerns users customizing which browser to use for help files  
(it would be by name or app signature, not by executable path), and  
considering the above features of Help Viewer, if forcing Help Viewer  
as the only GRASS_HTML_BROWSER for OSX is acceptable?  (For the  
complexity of changes needed, consider a couple lines in init.sh to  
force it vs. a couple dozen extra lines plus explaining that in the  
help.)

-----
William Kyngesburye <kyngchaos at kyngchaos.com>
http://www.kyngchaos.com/

"Those people who most want to rule people are, ipso-facto, those  
least suited to do it."

- A rule of the universe, from the HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy