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 Ghostwriter

2023/12/31 • 5 min. to read

In this topic

• Check for missing Topics
• Create missing Topics
• What is suggested?
• Example of a suggestion
• Visual Studio Code Settings
• See also

With the NCHB Ghostwriter, a suggestion for a complete online help or for newly added AL objects can be created within a very short time. There are 2 independent commands available for the ghostwriter: Check for missing Topics and Create missing Topics. The behavior of the ghost writer can be set in the Visual Studio Code Settings.

Check for missing Topics

This command checks whether for all AL objects (page, pageextension, report or xmlport) of a folder corresponding nchb files exist in a help folder. So nothing is changed or created here. By default, the AL objects are searched for in the "src" folder (and its subfolder) of the AL extension. If no "src" folder exists or if 'Ghostwriter: Manual Folder Selections AL' is enabled in the Visual Studio Code Settings, the folder must be selected manually. For the help files "help" is used as folder by default. If there is no "help" folder or if 'Ghostwriter: Manual Folder Selections Help' is enabled in the Visual Studio Code Settings, the folder must be selected manually. After the command has been executed, the result is displayed as a modal Visual Studio code message, which can also be copied with Ctrl+C. In addition, the result is also displayed in the Panel under OUTPUT in the NCHB group. In this example, it was first checked whether topics such as "Index", "General", "Working with the App", etc. exist. Whether and which topics are to be considered here can be set in the Visual Studio Code Settings. After that, 4 AL objects were found, which could be relevant for the help. A ContextSensitiveHelpPage is defined in all objects, but no corresponding nchb files were found in the help folder.

Create missing Topics

This command creates for all AL objects of a folder corresponding nchb files in a help folder if these do not exist there yet. The same rules and settings apply as for the Check for missing Topics command. After the command has been executed, the result is displayed as a modal Visual Studio code message (and additionally in the Panel under OUTPUT in the NCHB group), which can also be copied with Ctrl+C.

What is suggested?

Whether and which topics should be considered in addition to the AL objects can be set in the Visual Studio Code Settings. The help text for an AL object is suggested exactly as the Suggest Help Text from AL File command would suggest. Exception: Visual Studio Code Settings 'Ghostwriter: Only Todo And Path' is activated. In this case, only the text 'TODO' followed by the path of the AL object is suggested. For more information, see Write Help, Suggest Help Text, Suggest Help Text from AL File.

Example of a suggestion:

Visual Studio Code Settings

The behavior of the ghostwriter and the topics to be suggested can be defined via various parameters in the Visual Studio Code Settings (File > Preferences > Settings) in the Extensions, NAVX Help Builder section.

Setting	Information
Manual Folder Selections AL	Specifies whether to search for the AL objects in the "src" folder (and its subfolder) of the AL extension or to select the folder manually.
Manual Folder Selections Help	Specifies whether to use "help" as folder for the help files or to select the folder manually.
Only Todo And Path	Specifies whether to suggest the help text based on the AL object structure or to suggest only the text 'TODO' followed by the AL file path.
Suggest General	Specifies whether to suggest the General (General.nchb) topic. This setting does not affect the Table of Contents suggestion. Here the description from the app.json is suggested, followed by a section for Navigation. Afterwards a section for Permission Sets is suggested. If Permission Sets exist as AL objects, they will be considered here. If 'Suggest Installation Notes' is enabled, an additional topic link to the Installation Notes is added.
Suggest Index	Specifies whether to suggest the Table of Contents (index.nchb) topic. Here, depending on the other settings, a suggestion for the Table of Contents is made. Different section such as 'Setup', 'Tasks', 'Reports and Analysis' and so on are created. At the end of the suggestion, the topics suggested from the AL objects are added in the 'TODO' section. These must then be moved manually to the various sections. Note Each time topics are created or added from AL objects via the Ghostwriter, they are added to the 'TODO' section at the end of the Table of Contents.
Suggest Index License Overview Link	Specifies whether a topic link to the NAVAX License Management should be added to the Table of Contents suggestion.
Suggest Installation Notes	Specifies whether to suggest the Installation Notes (InstallationNotes.nchb topic. This setting also affects the Table of Contents suggestion. Here the dependencies from the app.json are suggested, followed by a section for On-Premises. After that a section for External Addresses is suggested. If the NAVAX Extension Base is found as a dependency, the necessary information for it is added.
Suggest Release Notes	Specifies whether to suggest the Release Notes (ReleaseNotes.nchb topic. This setting does not affect the Table of Contents suggestion. Here everything is suggested for a Initial Version version. The version no. is suggested from the app.json.
Suggest Release Notes Build Overview Link	Specifies whether a link to the Build Overview in DevOps should be added to the Release Notes suggestion.
Suggest Working With The App	Specifies whether to suggest the Working with the App (WorkingWithTheApp.nchb) topic. This setting also affects the Table of Contents suggestion. Here only the Topic Header followed by the text 'TODO' is suggested.

See also

• General, NAVAX Help Builder
• Write Help, Suggest Help Text, Suggest Help Text from AL File