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GeezerVison is showing github.com — Include HTML docs with Windows installer instead of CHM · Issue #91242 · python/cpython

Include HTML docs with Windows installer instead of CHM #91242

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Include HTML docs with Windows installer instead of CHM#91242
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zooba
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3.11only security fixesonly security fixesOS-windowstype-featureA feature request or enhancementA feature request or enhancement

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@zooba
zooba
opened on Mar 21, 2022
Issue body actions
BPO 47086
Nosy @terryjreedy, @pfmoore, @tjguk, @ned-deily, @zware, @zooba, @JulienPalard
PRs
  • bpo-47086: Remove .chm from Windows installer and add HTML docs #32038
  • bpo-47086: Remove dead link to old CHM documentation #32075
  • Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.

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    GitHub fields:

    assignee = 'https://github.com/zooba'
    closed_at = None
    created_at = <Date 2022-03-21.20:44:27.135>
    labels = ['type-feature', 'OS-windows', '3.11']
    title = 'Include HTML docs with Windows installer instead of CHM'
    updated_at = <Date 2022-03-23.16:14:17.736>
    user = 'https://github.com/zooba'

    bugs.python.org fields:

    activity = <Date 2022-03-23.16:14:17.736>
    actor = 'steve.dower'
    assignee = 'steve.dower'
    closed = False
    closed_date = None
    closer = None
    components = ['Windows']
    creation = <Date 2022-03-21.20:44:27.135>
    creator = 'steve.dower'
    dependencies = []
    files = []
    hgrepos = []
    issue_num = 47086
    keywords = ['patch']
    message_count = 14.0
    messages = ['415701', '415735', '415736', '415819', '415822', '415824', '415825', '415827', '415828', '415829', '415830', '415848', '415866', '415884']
    nosy_count = 7.0
    nosy_names = ['terry.reedy', 'paul.moore', 'tim.golden', 'ned.deily', 'zach.ware', 'steve.dower', 'mdk']
    pr_nums = ['32038', '32075']
    priority = 'normal'
    resolution = None
    stage = 'patch review'
    status = 'open'
    superseder = None
    type = 'enhancement'
    url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue47086'
    versions = ['Python 3.11']

    Linked PRs

    • gh-91242: [cleanup] Remove the unsupported windows CHM help doc build system #141643
    Reacted by fakerms

    Activity

    Next
    1. zooba commented on Mar 21, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 21, 2022
      MemberAuthor
      More actions

      CHM is getting too hard to handle (see e.g. bpo-47051 for the latest issue), so let's just bite the bullet and ship the HTML docs instead.

    2. zooba
      added
      3.11only security fixesonly security fixes
      OS-windows
      type-featureA feature request or enhancementA feature request or enhancement
      on Mar 21, 2022
    3. zooba commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 22, 2022
      MemberAuthor
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      New changeset 3751b6b by Steve Dower in branch 'main':
      bpo-47086: Remove .chm from Windows installer and add HTML docs (GH-32038)
      3751b6b

    4. zooba commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 22, 2022
      MemberAuthor
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      Leaving this open and assigned to myself for a couple of days to deal with any other fallout. In particular, I wasn't able to test the (minor) changes to the publishing steps (e.g. GPG signing), so will have to wait for the next release to see what works/doesn't there.

    5. zooba
      assigned
      zooba
      on Mar 22, 2022
    6. ned-deily commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @ned-deily
      ned-deily
      on Mar 22, 2022
      Member
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      If you remove the .chm file from the Windows installer, I believe IDLE needs to be updated to look for the installed html files instead (see Lib/idlelib/editor.py).

      And does this mean we should no longer produce .chm files at all for 3.11+? If so, there is work to be done in the Doc section of the repo (Makefile, make.bat, README.rst tools/* all have references to .chm and .hhp files). I guess other than the references to chm files in the docs, this change would not otherwise affect the on-line docs building system.

      (Nosying Terry and Julien as subject experts.)

    7. zooba commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 22, 2022
      MemberAuthor
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      Good call on IDLE, I didn't even think to check there (there is a registry key that points at the documentation if it was installed, which would be the best approach for IDLE to use).

      The makefiles don't urgently need to remove those references. If people still want to build it, they're welcome to [try]. It gives people with their own build processes a chance to adapt - we can remove it all later.

    8. zooba commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 22, 2022
      MemberAuthor
      More actions

      For the registry key, reading the default value from key "HKCU\Software\Python\PythonCore\{sys.winver}\Help\Main Python Documentation" (or HKLM - no need to worry about the Wow6432Node bit here) and passing it to os.startfile() will work for all active releases.

      If the key is missing, so are the local docs, so falling back to the web docs is a fine option.

    9. zooba commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 22, 2022
      MemberAuthor
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      The key is defined at https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/main/Tools/msi/doc/doc.wxs#L17 and is not set for a Store install at all. But we don't include the docs in that either - go straight to the web.

    10. eryksun commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @eryksun
      eryksun
      on Mar 22, 2022
      Contributor
      More actions

      Do you have any thoughts about distributing the docs in ePub format?

    11. ned-deily commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @ned-deily
      ned-deily
      on Mar 22, 2022
      Member
      More actions

      At a minimum, though, Doc/tools/templates/download.html should be changed to remove the chm reference.

    12. zooba commented on Mar 22, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 22, 2022
      MemberAuthor
      More actions

      Do you have any thoughts about distributing the docs in ePub format?

      If Windows includes a reader for all supported versions, and it's easy
      to build, sure. But I don't think the first bit is true.

      Most people are going to be fairly comfortable with their default
      browser, and many are going to greatly prefer it. I think loose HTML
      files is a good option from every POV other than being a large number of
      loose files.

    13. 2 remaining items

    14. zooba commented on Mar 23, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 23, 2022
      MemberAuthor
      More actions

      This should work for you (luckily, this is about the simplest possible case):

      import sys
      import winreg
      
      def get_help():
          KEY = rf"Software\Python\PythonCore\{sys.winver}\Help\Main Python Documentation"
          try:
              return winreg.QueryValue(winreg.HKEY_CURRENT_USER, KEY)
          except FileNotFoundError:
              pass
          try:
              return winreg.QueryValue(winreg.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, KEY)
          except FileNotFoundError:
              pass
          return f"https://docs.python.org/{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}/"
    15. zooba commented on Mar 23, 2022

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Mar 23, 2022
      MemberAuthor
      More actions

      New changeset fe01060 by Steve Dower in branch 'main':
      bpo-47086: Remove dead link to old CHM documentation (GH-32075)
      fe01060

    16. ezio-melotti
      transferred this issue fromon Apr 10, 2022
    17. zooba
      closed this as completedon Jul 17, 2022
    18. terryjreedy
      added this to IDLE Issues and removed this from IDLE Issueson Aug 9, 2022
    19. terryjreedy
      added 2 commits that reference this issue on Aug 10, 2022

      pythongh-95841: IDLE - Revise Windows local doc url

      eb11a46

      gh-95841: IDLE - Revise Windows local doc url (#95845)

      bdb2cf8
    20. miss-islington
      added 3 commits that reference this issue on Aug 11, 2022

      pythongh-95841: IDLE - Revise Windows local doc url (pythonGH-95845)

      4093c82

      pythongh-95841: IDLE - Revise Windows local doc url (pythonGH-95845)

      d734492

      gh-95841: IDLE - Revise Windows local doc url (GH-95845)

      bfaa071
    21. terryjreedy
      added a commit that references this issue on Aug 12, 2022

      gh-95841: IDLE - Revise Windows local doc url (GH-95845) (#95905)

      577dbc3
    22. kilitary commented on Dec 4, 2023

      @kilitary
      kilitary
      on Dec 4, 2023
      More actions

      CHM is totally removed? It is very good at search and fast navigating, rather than render all the documentation tree.
      It would be good if user can compile it for itself, because this format is very handy over browser.

      Reacted by Lev Maximov
    23. zooba commented on Dec 5, 2023

      @zooba
      zooba
      on Dec 5, 2023
      MemberAuthor
      More actions

      People can still compile the CHM themselves - use Doc\make.bat htmlhelp - though we aren't accepting fixes specifically for it anymore (e.g. to fix crashes due to unsupported characters in the index).

    24. gpshead
      added a commit that references this issue on Nov 16, 2025

      pythongh-91242: Remove CHM (Compiled HTML Help) build infrastructure

      2e6f6df
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