| startDynamicHelp {tools} | R Documentation |
This function starts the internal help server, so that HTML help pages are rendered when requested.
startDynamicHelp(start=TRUE)
start |
logical: whether to start or shut down the dynamic help system. |
This function starts the internal HTTP server, which runs on the
loopback interface (127.0.0.1). If options("help.ports")
is set to a vector of integer values, startDynamicHelp will try
those ports in order; otherwise, it tries up to 10 random ports to
find one not in use. It can be disabled by setting the environment
variable R_DISABLE_HTTPD to a non-empty value.
startDynamicHelp is called by functions that need to use the
server, so would rarely be called directly by a user.
Note that options(help_type="html") must be set to actually make use
of HTML help, although it might be the default for an R installation.
If the server cannot be started or is disabled,
help.start will be unavailable and requests for HTML
help will give text help (with a warning).
The browser in use does need to be able to connect to the loopback
interface: occasionally it is set to use a proxy for HTTP on all
interfaces, which will not work – the solution is to add an exception
for 127.0.0.1.
The chosen port number is returned invisibly (which will be 0
if the server has been stopped).
help.start and help(help_type = "html")
will attempt to start the HTTP server if required
Rd2HTML is used to render the package help pages.