Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Something is missing in Far Manager? You have a great idea that should be heard? Write here.
Post Reply
przemoc
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat 27 Feb, 2010 20:55
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 3 times

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by przemoc »

There is existing entry in Far 3 FAQ (English translation)
John Doe wrote: Fri 14 Feb, 2025 22:46 1.4. It's hard to find the information I need in Far's built-in help, how can I make searching easier?
that proves help viewer (HlfViewer) could receive some QoL improvements to make its UX slightly better.

I think following features in HlfViewer would be useful:
  • beside showing title in the header on the left, show on the right also topic handler (For instance Special symbols [EMPTY SPACE] @MetaSymbols) or perhaps filename if topic is not defined (not sure if it is possible)
  • F8 - history of visited help pages
  • F3,F4 - open currently shown .hlf file for view/edit
  • / - search/highlight typed phrase (without any dialog box, Ctrl+Alt+F input style) on current page only (F7 could be used if not already taken)
User avatar
HaRT
Moderator
Posts: 11417
Joined: Tue 30 Aug, 2005 17:21
Has thanked: 265 times
Been thanked: 412 times

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by HaRT »

przemoc wrote: Sat 28 Feb, 2026 14:47 F4 - open currently shown .hlf file for view/edit
This is provided by the HlfTools script, among other features. Perhaps some kind of history can be added there.

In general, the need for a better help viewing system is long recognized by the community but no sustainable solution has been implemented by anyone so far.
Фар есть инструмент, а не нянька. © 2009 DrKnS
Yegor
Posts: 1495
Joined: Mon 04 Apr, 2005 13:41
Location: San Ramon, CA / Kharkov, UA
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 94 times

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by Yegor »

I created an experimental tool that converts Far Help (.hlf) to Markdown (.md) format. Here is a published version of the result:
https://github.com/yegor-mialyk/FarManager/wiki

If people find it useful, I can ask to add it to the official repository.
Мы не можем ждать милостей от Фара, взять их у него — наша задача! (C) Мичурин
User avatar
John Doe
Бюрократ
Posts: 14547
Joined: Wed 27 Apr, 2005 20:42
Location: github.com/FarManagerLegacy
Has thanked: 92 times
Been thanked: 508 times
Contact:

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by John Doe »

Yegor, is the tool itself available?
https://t.me/FarManager — Telegram чат
przemoc
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat 27 Feb, 2010 20:55
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 3 times

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by przemoc »

HaRT wrote: Sat 28 Feb, 2026 19:41 This is provided by the HlfTools script, among other features. Perhaps some kind of history can be added there.
Useful script. I tried to create simplistic macro on / (slash) for F4,F7 combo in Help, but failed.
[EDIT] Created a separate thread for that to not overload current thread.
Yegor wrote: Sun 01 Mar, 2026 03:17 I created an experimental tool that converts Far Help (.hlf) to Markdown (.md) format. Here is a published version of the result:
https://github.com/yegor-mialyk/FarManager/wiki
HlfTools already helps, but having help in globally searchable and indexable format is definitely a good thing. Nice!
Actually GitHub wiki is known for disallowing indexing, so publishing it also on https://farmanager.com/help would make it even more accessible.
Last edited by przemoc on Sun 01 Mar, 2026 16:24, edited 1 time in total.
Yegor
Posts: 1495
Joined: Mon 04 Apr, 2005 13:41
Location: San Ramon, CA / Kharkov, UA
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 94 times

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by Yegor »

John Doe wrote: Sun 01 Mar, 2026 14:05 Yegor, is the tool itself available?
Yes, I’ll push the source code to GitHub. However, there’s one issue: I tested my Markdown in VS Code, and after uploading it to GitHub I found that GitHub does not support LaTeX inclusions for background colors (e.g., \colorbox). It seems there is no way to display background colors in GitHub Markdown at all, so the only workaround is to replace them with images.
Мы не можем ждать милостей от Фара, взять их у него — наша задача! (C) Мичурин
User avatar
HaRT
Moderator
Posts: 11417
Joined: Tue 30 Aug, 2005 17:21
Has thanked: 265 times
Been thanked: 412 times

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by HaRT »

Yegor wrote: Mon 02 Mar, 2026 00:16 It seems there is no way to display background colors in GitHub Markdown at all, so the only workaround is to replace them with images.
IIRC Markdown format supports “simple HTML”. Does GitHub's Markdown dialect honor this?

As per its docs, it supports at least some elements (<a>, <br>, <picture>, <!-- comment -->). Perhaps it supports this too: <span style="background-color:powderblue;">here goes the text</span>. At least it's worth checking.
Last edited by HaRT on Mon 02 Mar, 2026 00:43, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Added second paragraph
Фар есть инструмент, а не нянька. © 2009 DrKnS
Yegor
Posts: 1495
Joined: Mon 04 Apr, 2005 13:41
Location: San Ramon, CA / Kharkov, UA
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 94 times

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by Yegor »

GitHub supports only ${\color{red}Text}$, which changes the foreground color. Moreover, it renders such text in italic.
You can test this by creating a new issue or by adding a new comment on GitHub and switching to the Preview tab.
Last edited by Yegor on Mon 02 Mar, 2026 06:11, edited 2 times in total.
Мы не можем ждать милостей от Фара, взять их у него — наша задача! (C) Мичурин
User avatar
John Doe
Бюрократ
Posts: 14547
Joined: Wed 27 Apr, 2005 20:42
Location: github.com/FarManagerLegacy
Has thanked: 92 times
Been thanked: 508 times
Contact:

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by John Doe »

Markdown is still an intermediate format, and rendering on GitHub should be considered a preview.
https://t.me/FarManager — Telegram чат
Yegor
Posts: 1495
Joined: Mon 04 Apr, 2005 13:41
Location: San Ramon, CA / Kharkov, UA
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 94 times

Far help viewer (HlfViewer) improvements

Post by Yegor »

I pushed my tool to git repo: https://github.com/yegor-mialyk/far-plu ... er/HlfToMd
And regenerated wiki: https://github.com/yegor-mialyk/FarManager/wiki

As for colors it still uses \colorbox, which is not supported in GitHub.
Мы не можем ждать милостей от Фара, взять их у него — наша задача! (C) Мичурин
Post Reply

Return to “Suggestions and Ideas”