ACCESS OF ONLINE INFORMATION FEATURING AUTOMATIC HIDE/SHOW FUNCTION

A system and method for providing improved access to online help information is provided in a computer system. A component of Internet browser software is used to implement improved help which can take advantage of HTML links to information via the Internet. A navigational window pane and a HTML window pane are provided in a single window. A Hide/Show button allows the user to delete the navigational window pane or to simultaneously display it along with the HTML window pane. Once a user selects a topic in the navigational window pane, the corresponding content information is displayed in the HTML window pane. A help tab is embedded in a program to facilitate easy switching between help and the program. In addition, a help button is used to provide a context-sensitive embedded help window which tracks the user's activities. Calculations are performed for automatically sizing window panes in response to the Hide/Show button. In addition, the navigational window pane can automatically hide when a user selects any item outside of the help window. Similarly, the navigational window pane is can be automatically restored when the user reselects the help window.