https://github.com/JamieMason/self-help
Interactive Q&A Guides for Web and the Command Line.
https://github.com/JamieMason/self-help
command-line decision-tree documentation documentation-generator helpdesk interactive-tutorial onboarding q-and-a walkthrough walkthrough-help wiki
Last synced: 7 months ago
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Interactive Q&A Guides for Web and the Command Line.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/JamieMason/self-help
- Owner: JamieMason
- License: mit
- Created: 2019-08-20T08:22:29.000Z (almost 6 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2023-02-16T23:24:47.000Z (over 2 years ago)
- Last Synced: 2024-10-18T19:35:33.940Z (8 months ago)
- Topics: command-line, decision-tree, documentation, documentation-generator, helpdesk, interactive-tutorial, onboarding, q-and-a, walkthrough, walkthrough-help, wiki
- Language: TypeScript
- Homepage: https://jamiemason.github.io/self-help/
- Size: 7.26 MB
- Stars: 37
- Watchers: 3
- Forks: 3
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: .github/README_CONTENT.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
## 🌩 Installation
```
npm install --global self-help
```
## 🕹 Usage
### Interactive CLI
Navigate a Self-Help Document from the Command Line:
```
self-help interactive --source ./path/to/help-document.js
```
#### Example
### Generate Markdown
Generate Markdown from a Self-Help Document:
```
self-help markdown --source ./path/to/help-document.js
```
Markdown is written to [stdout](https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/stdout.htm) for you to pipe
into other Command Line Programs or write to a file.
#### Example
The `self-help` RxJS Operator Decision Tree Example
[exported as Markdown](https://github.com/JamieMason/self-help/wiki/RxJS-Operator-Decision-Tree).
## 👩🏽💻 Writing Documents
A **Help Document** is a JavaScript Module exporting a `getHelpDocument` method of type
`GetHelpDocument`.
```ts
type GetHelpDocument = () => Node | Promise;
```
It returns a Nested Hierarchy of **Node** Objects.
```ts
type Node = Leaf | Branch | AsyncBranch;
```
Which form the **Decision Tree** a User will navigate.
```ts
export const getHelpDocument = (): Node => ({
label: 'Welcome to Milk and Cookies, how can we help?',
children: [
{
label: `I'm Thirsty, and`,
children: () => http.get('/milks-walkthrough.json'),
},
{
label: `I'm Hungry, and`,
children: [
{
label: 'I love Cookies, so',
children: () => http.get('/cookies-walkthrough.json'),
},
{
label: `Cookies aren't my thing`,
value: fs.readFileSync('/GET-OUT.md', 'utf8'),
},
],
},
],
});
```
### `Node` Types
#### `Branch`
A `Branch` presents multiple options to choose from in the form of its `children` Array. Children
can be a combination of other `Branch`, `AsyncBranch` or `Leaf` Nodes.
```js
{
label: 'I just cloned the project, and',
children: [...]
}
```
#### `AsyncBranch`
An `AsyncBranch` is the same as a `Branch` except its `children` property is a Function which
returns a Promise.
This mechanism allows Help Documents to be combined and linked together, use it to **compose
higher-level guides which pull together other Help Documents hosted online** or **break down a large
Help Document into smaller files** that can be lazily-loaded at runtime.
```js
{
label: 'I just cloned the project, and',
children: () => Promise.resolve([])
}
```
#### `Leaf`
A **Leaf** represents the answer the User has been looking for as they have been navigating a given
Help Document. The value can be any String, but is **normally the contents of a Markdown Document**
which explains the answer to the User.
```js
{
label: 'I want to install dependencies',
value: fs.readFileSync('/installation.md', 'utf8')
}
```