BetterHelp

Improves Matlab's help functionality for functions that do not have their own help files.
392 Downloads
Updated 17 May 2013

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The doc command will display help written for custom functions in the Help Browser. However, the allowed markup is rather limited. According to the official documentation, http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/add-help-for-your-program.html, the only thing you can add is a See Also section. Matlab will also recognize a Note section (and a few others) and will highlight the function name if it is in all caps (or mixed case, if the actual function name is mixed case).

This function provides a modified copy of the undocumented help2html.m function, as well as a few other files to enable slightly more markup functionality, making use of the limited html capabilities of the default help browser.
New features include:
Additional custom sections
3 text styles - regular, bold, and code
Definition style lists
Doesn't affect files without %CUSTOM_HELP% tag, so other people's formatting is unaffected.
Style customization using css (by editing helpwin.css)

For BetterHelp to work, the BetterHelp directory containing help2html.m, +myHelpUtils/, and private/ must be on the path. To go back to normal, just delete constructed files or remove the directory from the path.

MathWorks changed the help generation slightly in R2012b, so use BetterHelp2012b if you are running R2012b+, instead of BetterHelp.

Cite As

Michael Ryan (2024). BetterHelp (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/41623-betterhelp), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

MATLAB Release Compatibility
Created with R2011b
Compatible with any release
Platform Compatibility
Windows macOS Linux
Categories
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Version Published Release Notes
1.7.0.0

Latest upload had the old private folder in BetterHelp2012b rather than the correct one.

1.6.0.0

Fixed bug with incorrect formatting when function and folder share the same name.

1.5.0.0

Updated formatting code. Have eased adding custom formatting (see processText in help2html) and fixed some potential formatting bugs. Updated help to reflect changes.

1.4.0.0

Forgot to fix some private folder in BetterHelp2012b, primarily help2xml.m, which might have caused problems with help for classes. Thanks to Matthew for pointing it out.

1.3.0.0

Added version for Matlab R2012b and higher, since the help generation was slightly changed in that version.

1.2.0.0

Removing mypatcher, makehelp, and patch files and provided original modified files.

1.1.0.0

Changed makehelp to generate files in BetterHelp directory instead of current directory. Updated description to reflect change.

1.0.0.0