Include HTML docs with Windows installer instead of CHM

[zooba]

BPO	47086
Nosy	@terryjreedy, @pfmoore, @tjguk, @ned-deily, @zware, @zooba, @JulienPalard
PRs	bpo-47086: Remove .chm from Windows installer and add HTML docs #32038 bpo-47086: Remove dead link to old CHM documentation #32075

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = 'https://github.com/zooba'
closed_at = None
created_at = <Date 2022-03-21.20:44:27.135>
labels = ['type-feature', 'OS-windows', '3.11']
title = 'Include HTML docs with Windows installer instead of CHM'
updated_at = <Date 2022-03-23.16:14:17.736>
user = 'https://github.com/zooba'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2022-03-23.16:14:17.736>
actor = 'steve.dower'
assignee = 'steve.dower'
closed = False
closed_date = None
closer = None
components = ['Windows']
creation = <Date 2022-03-21.20:44:27.135>
creator = 'steve.dower'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 47086
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 14.0
messages = ['415701', '415735', '415736', '415819', '415822', '415824', '415825', '415827', '415828', '415829', '415830', '415848', '415866', '415884']
nosy_count = 7.0
nosy_names = ['terry.reedy', 'paul.moore', 'tim.golden', 'ned.deily', 'zach.ware', 'steve.dower', 'mdk']
pr_nums = ['32038', '32075']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = None
stage = 'patch review'
status = 'open'
superseder = None
type = 'enhancement'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue47086'
versions = ['Python 3.11']

Linked PRs

• gh-91242: [cleanup] Remove the unsupported windows CHM help doc build system #141643

[zooba]

CHM is getting too hard to handle (see e.g. bpo-47051 for the latest issue), so let's just bite the bullet and ship the HTML docs instead.

[zooba]

New changeset 3751b6b by Steve Dower in branch 'main':
bpo-47086: Remove .chm from Windows installer and add HTML docs (GH-32038)
3751b6b

[zooba]

Leaving this open and assigned to myself for a couple of days to deal with any other fallout. In particular, I wasn't able to test the (minor) changes to the publishing steps (e.g. GPG signing), so will have to wait for the next release to see what works/doesn't there.

[ned-deily]

If you remove the .chm file from the Windows installer, I believe IDLE needs to be updated to look for the installed html files instead (see Lib/idlelib/editor.py).

And does this mean we should no longer produce .chm files at all for 3.11+? If so, there is work to be done in the Doc section of the repo (Makefile, make.bat, README.rst tools/* all have references to .chm and .hhp files). I guess other than the references to chm files in the docs, this change would not otherwise affect the on-line docs building system.

(Nosying Terry and Julien as subject experts.)

[zooba]

Good call on IDLE, I didn't even think to check there (there is a registry key that points at the documentation if it was installed, which would be the best approach for IDLE to use).

The makefiles don't urgently need to remove those references. If people still want to build it, they're welcome to [try]. It gives people with their own build processes a chance to adapt - we can remove it all later.

[zooba]

For the registry key, reading the default value from key "HKCU\Software\Python\PythonCore\{sys.winver}\Help\Main Python Documentation" (or HKLM - no need to worry about the Wow6432Node bit here) and passing it to os.startfile() will work for all active releases.

If the key is missing, so are the local docs, so falling back to the web docs is a fine option.

[zooba]

The key is defined at https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/main/Tools/msi/doc/doc.wxs#L17 and is not set for a Store install at all. But we don't include the docs in that either - go straight to the web.

[eryksun]

Do you have any thoughts about distributing the docs in ePub format?

[ned-deily]

At a minimum, though, Doc/tools/templates/download.html should be changed to remove the chm reference.

[zooba]

Do you have any thoughts about distributing the docs in ePub format?

If Windows includes a reader for all supported versions, and it's easy
to build, sure. But I don't think the first bit is true.

Most people are going to be fairly comfortable with their default
browser, and many are going to greatly prefer it. I think loose HTML
files is a good option from every POV other than being a large number of
loose files.