3 files changed, 49 insertions, 4 deletions
diff --git a/e-util/ChangeLog b/e-util/ChangeLog
index 50d649d4d0..0c80024a22 100644
--- a/e-util/ChangeLog
+++ b/e-util/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2008-08-14  Matthew Barnes  <mbarnes@redhat.com>
+
+	* e-util.c (e_display_help):
+	New convenience function for launching help from Evolution.
+	Displays an error dialog over the given parent window if an
+	error occurs.
+
 2008-08-13  Matthew Barnes  <mbarnes@redhat.com>
 
 	* e-gui-utils.c (e_create_image_widget):
diff --git a/e-util/e-util.c b/e-util/e-util.c
index 116ebd3f55..815f75e033 100644
--- a/e-util/e-util.c
+++ b/e-util/e-util.c
@@ -35,10 +35,11 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 
-#include <glib.h>
-#include <glib/gstdio.h>
-#include <gtk/gtk.h>
 #include <gio/gio.h>
+#include <gtk/gtk.h>
+#include <glib/gi18n.h>
+#include <glib/gstdio.h>
+#include <libgnome/gnome-help.h>
 #include <libgnome/gnome-util.h>
 
 #ifdef G_OS_WIN32
@@ -70,6 +71,41 @@ e_get_user_data_dir (void)
 }
 
 /**
+ * e_display_help:
+ * @parent: a parent #GtkWindow or %NULL
+ * @link_id: help section to present or %NULL
+ *
+ * Opens the user documentation to the section given by @link_id, or to the
+ * table of contents if @link_id is %NULL.  If the user documentation cannot
+ * be opened, it presents a dialog describing the error.  The dialog is set
+ * as transient to @parent if @parent is non-%NULL.
+ **/
+void
+e_display_help (GtkWindow *parent,
+                const gchar *link_id)
+{
+	GtkWidget *dialog;
+	GError *error = NULL;
+
+	if (gnome_help_display ("evolution.xml", link_id, &error))
+		return;
+
+	dialog = gtk_message_dialog_new_with_markup (
+		parent, GTK_DIALOG_DESTROY_WITH_PARENT,
+		GTK_MESSAGE_ERROR, GTK_BUTTONS_OK,
+		"<big><b>%s</b></big>",
+		_("Could not display help for Evolution."));
+
+	gtk_message_dialog_format_secondary_text (
+		GTK_MESSAGE_DIALOG (dialog), "%s", error->message);
+
+	gtk_dialog_run (GTK_DIALOG (dialog));
+
+	gtk_widget_destroy (dialog);
+	g_error_free (error);
+}
+
+/**
  * e_str_without_underscores:
  * @s: the string to strip underscores from.
  *
diff --git a/e-util/e-util.h b/e-util/e-util.h
index 63cb6f4a5c..484ab59702 100644
--- a/e-util/e-util.h
+++ b/e-util/e-util.h
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #define _E_UTIL_H_
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
-#include <glib-object.h>
+#include <gtk/gtk.h>
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <gconf/gconf-client.h>
 #include <cairo.h>
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ typedef enum {
 } EFocus;
 
 const gchar *	e_get_user_data_dir		(void);
+void		e_display_help			(GtkWindow *parent,
+						 const gchar *link_id);
 
 char *		e_str_without_underscores	(const char *s);
 gint		e_str_compare			(gconstpointer x,