Copyright: VB AHA!!! Copyright c Craig Villalon 1995


Contents

VB AHA!!!

Introduction

Requirements

Getting Started

Overview

Tutorials

Using with Visual Basic

Customer Support

Registering

Revision History

What do you get for Registering?

Press F1 to get help on using Help.

For context sensitive help select a window and press F1.


Text Setup

All changes will be previewed in the textbox at the bottom of the window. You may enter whatever text you want into that textbox to see what effect your changes will have on it.

Font Name

Choose a font from the list of all available fonts.

Font Size

Choose a font size from the list or enter your own.

Bold

The text will be bold.

Italic

The text will be italic.

Left

Left margin for the text in inches.

Right

Right margin for the text in inches.

Text Alignment

There are 3 text alignment options:

Left - text will be aligned to the left side of the window.

Right - text will be aligned to the right side of the window.

Center - text will be centered in the window.

Color

Click on the button that is the color that you want the text to be.


Topic

Editing

Toolbar

Click on any Toolbar button below for further info on it.

All of the text field buttons in the toolbar may be right clicked with the mouse to edit their default values.

Keyboard control (Registered Only)

Up and Down arrows move between fields.

Page Up and Page Down do just that when there is more that a page in a topic. Otherwise they move between fields like the arrow keys.

Shift+Enter key creates a new field after the current one (of the same type as the current field).

Add text or graphics to your topic

Click on one of the toolbar's buttons in the first group to add a text field or graphic to the end of your topic. To place it above an already existing field drag the toolbar button that you want over the field and release the mouse button. There is currently a limit of 50 fields per topic. If this limit isn't enough for your needs then you'll need to use RTF codes (for example, if you need more than 50 jump to or popup fields in a topic), see the tutorial on RTF codes for more information.

Adding multiple fields

To add multiple fields (of the same type) in the middle of a topic, drag the toolbar button you want to use with the left mouse button, and while holding it down, click the right mouse button over the field you want the new one to be created above.  You may continue clicking the right mouse button to create more fields.

Delete a text field or graphic from your topic

Drag the trashcan button [image] over the text/graphic that you want to delete and release the button. (text fields may also be deleted if they have the input focus and you either click on the trashcan or you select the Delete menu item).

Changing defaults for any field

When you right click with the mouse on any field in the topic a menu will be displayed which you may choose an option from (this menu is called the Field Menu). See menus below.

Menus


Topics List

New

This creates a new topic and brings up the Topic Setup window.

Delete

Removes a topic from your project.

Edit

This will bring up the Topic Setup window for the topic selected in the list.

View

This will open the selected topic so you may edit it. You may also just double click on the topic you want to view in the list to open it.

Menus


Topic Setup

Name

This is what you will use to refer to this topic in the rest of your project. The Topic name must not have any spaces in it. Valid names may contain any of the following characters: "A-Z", " a-z", "0-9", "." and "_". You may not have any spaces in the name.

Title

This is the topics name in the compiled help file, it is what you will see in the History window and the lower pane of the search window. Titles may contain any characters you want. Use CHARMAP.EXE to get special characters. Titles over 50 characters long will be truncated.

Browse Sequence

This is used to construct the browse order for the browse buttons to use. Generally you can just let VB AHA!!! handle this for you.  It must be in the following format:  SequenceName:Index. There can be no spaces and the Index will be sorted alphabetically. So, use Index's like 001, 002... 010, etc... If you let it, VB AHA!!! will construct the Browse Sequences for you, see Build Options. If you want to set your own browse sequences see the tutorial on manually setting them.

Build Name

You may give each topic a build name that will allow you to selectively compile only those topics that are in your Build Expression see Project Setup (Options|Project...).

Keywords

These are the word(s) that will appear in the top pane of the search window that will allow you to find this topic. Only use one keyword per line. Keywords may be any number of words each examples: "Setup", "Getting Started", etc... (Don't use the quotes though, unless you want them in your keyword). You may use any characters you want in a keyword. Use CHARMAP.EXE to get special characters.


Project Setup

Any time you need to select a file you may click on the ... button to the left of that textbox to browse your drives for the file you want.

Root Directory

This tells the help compiler where to find the files to make your help file.  The default is to look in the same directory as the .AHA file.

Graphics Directory

This tells the help compiler where to find the graphics in your help file. If you enter a Root directory you should also enter the Graphics directory. This may be a comma delimited list of directories, for example: c:,c:

Error Log File

Name of the file that you want the help compiler to write any errors that it finds to.

Icon

Icon that that you want displayed when your help file is minimized. Leave blank to use the default icon.

Title

Text that you want displayed in the title bar of your help file.

Contents Topic

Topic that will be shown when your help file is first displayed and that can be returned to by pressing the contents button at the top of the help window.  This entry must be filled in with a valid topic name or the help compiler will just use the first topic that it finds as the contents topic.

Copyright Notice

Text that you want displayed in the about box for the help window.

Global Font

Font that you want your entire help file to use (in case you used a font while designing your help file that cannot be distributed or that you decide you don't want to use).

Map Font Size To...

Allows you to map a certain font size or range of font sizes to a different font size. You must put only one per line and in order from smallest to largest like this:
6-10:10
11-15:12
18:16
with these mappings and fonts in your project that are of size 6 to 10 will now be changed to size 10, sizes 11 to 15 will be changed to size 12 and size 18 will be changed to size 16.

Build Expression

Tells the help compiler which topics to include in the final help file. Just leave blank unless you only want to compile topics with a certain Build Tag.

Compression

None - no compression. (fastest during compile)

Medium - average compression.

High - all out attempt at compressing the help file (slower during compile but will generate smaller help files than the other options).

Report

None - no status report during compile.

Status - reports the status of the help compiler's progress.

Warnings

Severe - reports only severe errors.

Moderate - reports moderate and severe errors.

All - reports all errors and warnings.


Picture Setup

Picture

This is the filename of the picture that you want to use. You may use .BMP or .SHG pictures in a help file (If you use a .SHG you must have the .BMP for that picture in the same directory and with the same name as the .SHG if you want to be able to see it while designing your help file. Example: you want to use the file named OPTIONS.SHG so you need to have the file OPTIONS.BMP in the same directory.) You may click on the ... button to browse for a picture. Whatever picture that you select will be shown in the bottom portion of the window.

Left

This is the left margin in inches for the picture.

Right

This is the right margin in inches for the picture.

Alignment

Left - aligned to the left side of the help window.

Right - aligned to the right side.

Center - centered in the help window.


Build Options

General

Include Pictures

Includes all .BMP and .SHG files that are in your project into the compiled help file. Leave this option unchecked while you are working on your project, (the Help Compiler will work much faster that way), and only select this option for the final build.

Min. During Build

Minimizes VB AHA!!! while it is building the help file. This option can be useful if you are working on a very large help file that will take awhile to build.

Use Default Color (Registered Only)

The default color for Popups and Jumps as defined by Windows will be used for your Jump To/Popup fields and Globally Linked Text. All other text will use the color selected in the Control Panel for window text. Deselect this option if you want the colors to appear as they do while editing in VB AHA!!!.

Global Links

Case Sensitive

Global Text Links will only be created if the text in your project matches exactly ("Register" will only match with "Register" and not with "register"). Leave this option off if you want "register" to match "Register".

Use Default Color

The default color for Popups and Jumps as defined by Windows will be used for globally linked text. Deselect this option if you want your Global Text Links to use the color of the text field that they are in.

Whole Word Only

Global text links will only be made to whole words. (ex: "Build Option" will only link to "Build Option" and not to "Build Options". Deselect this option if you want it to link to both.)

Browsing

Browse Buttons

Include the browse buttons in your help file. (« and »)

Default Layout

VB AHA!!! will construct a standard layout for the browse buttons to use. Deselect this option if you want to use your own layout (Browse sequences).

Window Attributes

"" to "Main"

This will force your Jump To's that don't specify a window to use the Main windows only.  Without this if you select a Jump To in a secondary window the topic that it is linked with will be shown in the secondary window.


VB Options

Forms

This is a list of all Form types that are in Visual Basic. If you have any new types of forms that are not included in the Standard or Pro versions of Visual Basic then you must add their form type name to this list. (the name will be given in the Properties window of Visual Basic)

No HelpContextID

This is a list of all the controls that do not have a HelpContextID. You need to add to this list if you have any new controls not included in the Standard of Pro versions of Visual Basic that don't have this property. You must use the name of the control type as given in the Properties window of Visual Basic.

Import

These are what VB AHA!!! will create its topics from. Generally you will want to only Import the Forms Only, one exception is stated below under Export.

Export

These are the topics that VB AHA!!! will export back into your Visual Basic program. Select Forms Only if you want the context sensitive help to open the help file to a topic that will give help on the whole form. TIP: Import Forms and Controls and Export Forms Only if you want to use .SHG files on your forms.

.Mak File

This is the location and name of your Visual Basic programs .Mak file.  Once VB AHA!!! has saved the HelpContextID's to your .FRM files then it is a good idea to delete this entry until you need it again(you add some forms or controls to your VB project).

Visual Basic

This tells VB AHA!!! where to find Visual Basic so that it may recompile your .Mak file using the new HelpContextID's that it setup.

Keep all old HelpContextID's that aren't remapped

Select this to keep any old HelpContextID's that aren't remapped by your projects topics. If you don't select this then VB AHA!!! automatically removes all your old HelpContextID's that aren't remapped by your projects topics.

Make backups of the .FRM files

Your .FRM files will be copied to .BAK files before VB AHA!!! saves the HelpContextID's to them.  You should always leave this option on as a safety mesasure in case something goes wrong while VB AHA!!! is accessing your .FRM files.


Global Text Link Setup

Global Text to Link

This is the text that will be linked to the Topic that you choose throughout your help file.

Set Topic Link


Global Text Links

Use these to make links to a word or words that appear anywhere in your help file without having to set a link to each instance.  This is also the only way to make a link to a part of a field instead of the whole field (the registered version allows you to put links anywhere you want through the use of RTF codes, see the tutorial on RTF codes for more information).

Set Link

Double clicking an entry in the list or selecting this button will open the Set Topic Link window for the selected global text link.

New

Creates a new Global Text Link.  It will ask you for the text that you want to make a link to then it will show the Set Topic Link window so you can define the link.

Delete

Removes the selected Global Text Link from your project.


Layout
Layout of Help file

This window displays the layout of your help file by first showing your contents topic at the top. Below that it has each topic that is linked to the contents topic (these are indented once to the right). This continues with each of these topics until the entire layout of your help file is displayed (like a tree, the contents topic is the root and all of it's linked topics are the branches etc....).

Example Layout

Contents
 Introduction
 Starting
 Overview
Menus
File
Edit
Options
Toolbar
 Glossary


Introduction

    VB AHA!!! is an inexpensive and easy to use utility for writing Windows help files. You won't need any expensive wordprocessors or have to use any cryptic commands. With simple mouse clicks and Drag n Drop ease you will be able to construct your help files quickly.

  If you use Visual Basic then VB AHA!!! will handle all of the HelpContextID values for you and even recompile your programs with the new values. No more hassles of having to insert the values by hand! If you program in C/C++ or Pascal then VB AHA!!! will create a header file containing all of the definitions that you will need for context sensitive help in your programs.

    For information on using VB AHA!!! read Getting Started and Overview.


Getting Started

For a complete step by step guide to creating a help file see the tutorial on creating help files.

Creating New Topics

Click on the New button in the Topics List window or the toolbar button [image] of the main window. Doing this will bring up the Topic Setup window, fill in whatever info you decide to use (at the minimum, fill in the Name) for your topic and select Ok. You now have a new empty topic.

Adding Text/Graphics to a Topic

Click on one of the toolbar buttons in the first group of the topic window to add a field (click on one below to see what kind of field it is) to the bottom of the topic. If you want to add a new field somewhere other than the bottom then you can drag the toolbar button to the field that you want the new field to be placed above.

Deleting Fields

To delete a field you can:

1.	Drag the trashcan toolbar button [image] onto the field that you want to delete and drop it.

2.	Select the field and click on the trashcan.

3.	Select the field (without selecting any text) and press Ctrl+D.

4.	Right click the mouse over the field and select Delete from the field menu.

Keeping Your Changes

To keep the changes that you have made to the topic you may either select the Topic|Store menu item or the Close item from the control menu (button in the upper left of the topic window).

Discarding Your Changes

To discard your changes to the topic you can select the Topic|Discard menu item.

Setting Options

You will need to select Options|Build... and Options|Project... and fill in the Build Options and the Project Setup windows.  If you are working on a Visual Basic projects help file see Using with Visual Basic.

Note: You must fill in the "Contents" entry in Options|Project with the topic name (from the Topics List window) that you want displayed when your help file is first opened.

Saving Your Work

To save the work that you have done you may either click on the toolbar button of a disk [image] (in the main window) or select the File|Save menu item (also in the main window). If this is a new project then you will be presented with the standard windows dialog to select a filename for your project.

Creating a Help File

You must first tell VB AHA!!! where your help compiler is. Select Options|General and fill in the Help Compiler entry with the path and file name of your copy of the Microsoft Help Compiler. Fill in the Project Setup window and the Build Options window next. Then select Build|All. After your help file has successfully been compiled you may select its name from the Build menu to open it.


Registering

  You may register by credit card, Compuserve or check. See the appropriate section below for more information.

FOR CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY

 You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover from Public (software) Library by phone, call:
800-2424-PsL  or 713-524-6394
or by FAX to:
713-524-6398
or by CIS Email to:
71355,470
or by internet Email to:
71355.470@compuserve.com
You can also mail credit card orders to:
PsL
P.O.Box 35705
Houston, TX 77235-5705.
USA

You will need the following information to register:
product: VB AHA!!!
product #11196
$50 for US orders or $54 for Canada/overseas orders will be billed to your credit card.

They will need your name exactly as it is printed on the credit card and the billing address for the card.

THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR ORDERS ONLY.

  PsL operators are available from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CST Monday-Thursday and from 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday.

  Any questions about the status of the shipment of the order, refunds, registration options, product details, technical support, volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, etc, must be directed to me, see Customer Support for information on how to contact me.

  To insure that you get the latest version, PsL will notify me the day of your order and I will ship the product directly to you.

Compuserve Members

  VB AHA!!! may now be registered in Compuserves Shareware Registration forum, GO SWREG and use one of the following in your search:

 Registration ID:	2021
 Program Title:	VB AHA!!! V1.35
 Author:	Craig Villalon
 CompuServe ID:	[73261,2665]

Checks

Fill out REGISTER.TXT and send it along with your check to (personal, cashier and company checks accepted):

Craig Villalon
599 Teresa Ct.
Sebastopol, CA    95472
USA

Make checks payable to: Craig Villalon

International Bank Wire Transfer

Here's the information your bank will need if you want to pay via wire transfer:

Craig Villalon, Acct #685416829
First Interstate Bank of California #685
7151 Bodega Avenue
P.O. Box 361
Sebastopol, CA    95473
USA

You'll still need to send in your order form (or contact me via email so I'll know who to send the order to <grin>. See Customer Support for information on how to contact me.
Note: Due to the extra charge from my bank to receive a wire transfer the price for this method of registration is US$60.

Other Distributors

You may also order through the following distributors:

Australia
-------------
Paul Jakins
12 ROCHELE COURT
WOODVALE   6026
WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Internet email: paulj@cougar.multiline.com.au


Overview

Build Options

Combo Setup

Global Text Links

Global Text Link Setup

Layout

Macros (Registered Only)

Menus

Picture Setup

Project Setup

Set Topic Link

Text Setup

Topics

Topic Setup

Topics List

VB Options

Window Attributes


Deletes the selected text field. Drag over any field and release to delete that field.


Creates a Title text field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one.

Example: Title


Creates a Subtitle text field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one.

Example: SubTitle


Creates a Heading text field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one.

Example: Heading


Creates a Normal text field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one.

Example: Normal Text


Creates a Small indented text field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one.

Example: Indented Text


Creates a Jump To text field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one.

Example: Jump To


Creates a Popup text field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one.

Example: Popup


Creates a Picture field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one.


Menus

File

Topic

VB

Build

Options

Window

Help


Topic Menus
Menus

Topic

Store

Closes this topics window and stores its data in memory.

Discard

Closes this topics window and ignores any changes that you made to the topic.

Edit

Cut

Removes the selected text from the text field and stores it in the clipboard.

Copy

Copies the selected text to the clipboard.

Paste

Copies the text in the clipboard to the current location in the text field with the focus.

Delete

If there is selected text in the text field with the input focus then it is deleted otherwise the text field is deleted.

Select All

Selects all of the text in the text field with the focus.

Macro (Registered Only)

Edit...

NOTE: These macros will be run whenever the topic is displayed.

Field Menu (Right Click on a Field)

Setup

(Registered Version) You may also use Shift + Right mouse click on a field to bring up its Setup window.

View Linked Topic

Opens the topic that this field is linked to.

Set Topic Link

Links this field to another topic.

Clear Topic Link

Clears any link that this field may have to another topic.

Load Text (Registered Version)

Reads a file into a combo or text field so you don't have to cut and paste from a text editor such as Notepad. Check General Options "Preprocess Text" to have the files contents automatically reformated for you (no returns in the middle of a paragraph, etc...).

Cut

Copies the selected field to VB AHA's internal clipboard and then deletes it from this topic.

Copy

Copies the selected field to VB AHA's internal clipboard.

Paste

Place a field stored in VB AHA's internal clipboard above the selected field.

Delete

Deletes the selected field.


Requirements

You must have the following files:

HC.EXE - the Microsoft Help Compiler. Only needed to actually compile the Help file, you can still design it without this program.

VBRUN300.DLL - the Visual Basic runtime library.

SHED.EXE -  Microsofts .SHG file editor. To make graphics that have hotspots (buttons) on them. Not required, but it can be very useful.

to use VB AHA!!!.


   If you don't already have VBRUN300.DLL then you can get it from almost any BBS that carries windows programs or from Microsofts BBS.

Microsoft BBS phone # 1-206-936-6735

    It should also be available on the internet at most ftp sites that carry Windows programs.


   If you don't already have the Microsoft Help Compiler you may get it from ftp.microsoft.com on the Internet as /softlib/mslfiles/hc505.exe.  Or when you register I will send it and SHED.EXE (for making segmented hypergraphics) to you free of charge (this is also available at ftp.microsoft.com as /softlib/mslfiles/shed.exe).  Please note that these are Microsoft programs and that I am not selling them. I am sending these purely as a convenience to my customers that may not have access to the Internet. I believe that these programs are also available on Microsoft's Developers Network CD's.


Menus

File

Open a .TPC file...

Allows you to add a topic to this project that you previously saved as a .TPC file using the next menu option. If this creates a topic with the same name as a topic that was already in the .AHA project then you must rename one of the topics.

Save Selected Topic as .TPC...

Allows you to save a single topic to a file for use in another project. This is very useful for generic topics that you will use in more than one help file.

Edit

Copy

Copies the selected topics name to the clipboard. You can use this any time that you need to enter a topics name (ie. defining text links).


Using with Visual Basic

To use VB AHA!!! with Visual Basic projects there are several things that you must do.

1.	All of your .FRM files must be saved as text, not in binary format.

2.	Select Options|Visual Basic... and fill in the VB Options.

3.	Use the VB|Open... menu and select the .MAK file for your VB project. Topics will be created using the names of your forms as the topic names. If you chose to import Forms and Controls then a topic will also be created for each control on your forms. Each control will have a name like this: Formname.Controlname.

4.	Edit the topics and delete any that you don't want context sensitive help on.

5.	Select Options|Project... and fill in Project Setup.

6.	Select Options|Build... and fill in Build Options.

7.	Select File|Save or File|Save As... to save your .AHA project.

8.	Select VB|Save to save the HelpContextID's to your .FRM files (This will be done automatically during the Build but it is a good idea to do this anyway in case you don't do your build yet).

9.	Select Build|All or (Build|Support Files, Build|Help File and Build|VB .Mak).

Visual Basic Code

Here's what my Help menu code looks like.

Sub mnuHelp_Click (Index As Integer)
    On Error Resume Next
    Dim ret% ' return value for WinHelp API calls

    Select Case Index
        Case H_CONTENTS ' Show the Contents topic
            ret = WinHelp(hWnd, app.HelpFile, HELP_CONTENTS, 0&)
        Case H_SEARCH ' Show the Contents topic and the Search dialog
            ret = WinHelp(hWnd, app.HelpFile, HELP_PARTIALKEY, "")
        Case H_ABOUT
            frmAbout.Show 1
    End Select
End Sub

Also, put this command into your form's Load event:

    App.HelpFile = App.Path & ".hlp"

With the following definitions in a .BAS file:
Global Const HELP_CONTENTS = &H3
Global Const HELP_PARTIALKEY = &H105

Declare Function WinHelp Lib "User" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal lpHelpFile As String, ByVal wCommand As Integer, ByVal dwData As Any) As Integer

  The Declare must all be on one line of course.


Copyright ©
Visual Basic Automatic Help Author

                   Version 1.40 Registered

                   Version 1.25 Shareware

   Copyright © Craig Villalon 1993-1995

                      All Rights Reserved


File Menu (Main)
File Menu

New

Clears any project currently in memory and lets you start a new one.

Open

Opens a project that is on disk.

Save

Saves the current project to its current file. If it is a new project then VB AHA!!! will bring up the Save As... dialog.

Save As...

Brings up a dialog box so you can choose a name to save this project as.

Text

C

Writes a .H file for C programmers that contains #defines for context sensitive help.

Pascal

Writes an .INC file for Pascal programmers that contains constants for context sensitive help.

Visual Basic

Writes a .BAS file for VB programmers that contains constants for context sensitive help (This isn't really necessary since VB AHA!!! handles all of that for you).

Exit

Quit VB AHA!!!  If the current project has changed since the last save you will be prompted to save it.


Topic Menu (Main)
Topic Menu

Set Global Link...

Rename...


Rename Topic
Rename...

This will rename a topic in your Topics List and replace any occurrences of the old topic name with the new name (in Global Text Links, Popup's and JumpTo's). However, if you have any links to this topic in a .SHG file then you must use SHED.EXE to manually change those links.

Rename Topic:

Name of the topic that you want to rename.

To:

New name for the topic.


VB Menu (Main)
VB Menu

Open...

Creates topics for VB AHA!!! based on a Visual Basic .Mak (one topic for each form and one for each control if you select that option in the Options|Visual Basic... menu). This will erase any topics that already exist in this .AHA project. Your .FRM files must be saved in text format, this won't work if they were saved in binary format. If they are in binary format, use Save File As... on each form and select the Save As Text checkbox.

Append...

As Open except that your old topics will not be erased.

Save

Saves the HelpContextID's to your Visual Basic program. Again the .FRM files must be in text format.


Build Menu (Main)
Build Menu

All

Builds the support files, the Visual Basic .Mak file (if you selected a .Mak file to use) and compiles the help file.

Support Files

Build the .RTF and the .HPJ files for the Help Compiler.

Help File

Compiles the help file with the Help Compiler. Be sure to use Pifedit.exe to tell HC.PIF where to find your Help Compiler.

VB .Mak

Compiles your Visual Basic .Mak file.


Options Menu (Main)
Options Menu

Build...

General...

Project...

Visual Basic...


Window Menu (Main)
Window Menu

Global Links

Layout

Macros (Registered Only)

NOTE: These macros will be run when the help file is loaded.

Topics

Window Attributes


Help Menu (Main)
Help Menu

Contents

Shows the contents of this help file.

Search...

Brings up the Search window for this help file.

Tutorials

Shows the list of tutorials that are available in the online help.

About VB AHA!!!

Brings up the About window for VB AHA!!!. It displays various useful statistics: # of topics, memory left and % of resources.


General Options

Open New Topics

When you create a new topic this causes it to be opened automatically so you can edit it.  If you like to create several topics at a time without editing them right away then you should turn this option off.

Preprocess Text (Registered Only)

Select this to have text that is loaded from a file into a field (with "Load Text" in the field menu) automatically reformatted for a help file (no returns in the middle of paragraphs etc...).

No 3D Effects

This turns off all of the 3D effects used throughout VB AHA's windows.

Confirm Topic Deletions

VB AHA!!! will ask you before it deletes the selected topic(s).

Confirm Field Deletions

VB AHA!!! will ask you before it deletes the selected field.

Allow RTF Codes (Registered Only)

Allows you to insert RTF codes into your topic text, see the tutorial on using RTF Codes for more information.

Help Compiler

Set the location and filename of your help compiler (defaults to "hcp" in your VBAHA directory). Click on the ... button to browse for your help compiler.


Creates a Combo field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field  to create the new field above that one.

Example: Combo


Creates a Noscroll field at the end of your topic. Drag and drop it on any field to create the new field above that one. All fields above this one in your help file will not scroll while the fields below this one will. There's one thing to beware of (or take advantage of), all fields below the no-scroll line will not be displayed in a popup window.


Combo Setup

All text changes will be previewed in the textbox at the bottom of the window. You may enter whatever text you want into that textbox to see what effect your changes will have on it. A preview of the picture you have selected will be shown on the right side of the window.

Font Name

Choose a font from the list of all available fonts.

Font Size

Choose a font size from the list or enter your own.

Picture

This is the filename of the picture that you want to use. You may use .BMP or .SHG pictures in a help file (If you use a .SHG you must have the .BMP for that picture in the same directory and with the same name as the .SHG if you want to be able to see it while designing your help file. Example: you want to use the file named OPTIONS.SHG so you need to have the file OPTIONS.BMP in the same directory.) You may click on the ... button to browse for a picture. Whatever picture that you select will be shown in the bottom portion of the window.

Bold

The text will be bold.

Italic

The text will be italic.

Left

Left margin for the combo field in inches.

Right

Right margin for the combo field in inches.

Pic Alignment

Left - picture will be on the left side of the window with the text after it.

Right - picture will be on the right side of the window with the text before it.

Color

Click on the button that is the color that you want the text to be.


Field Setup

Combo field

Picture field

Text field


Set Topic Link

Topic

This is the name of the topic that this link will be made with.

Type

Jump To - When you click on the link in your help file the topic in the will change to the topic you selected.

Macro (Registered Only) - This is a winhelp macro that will be run when the user clicks on this hotspot.

Popup - When you click on the link a second window will be shown containing the topic you selected until you click the mouse button again.

Sound - Play .WAV file - When you click on the link the selected .WAV file will play.

File

This is the file that you want to make the link with.  The file must either be in the users path or in the same directory as your help file.  When you make links to other help files be sure to set the Topic appropriately for that file.

Window

The name of a window (defined in Window Attributes) that you want this link to be viewed in. The drop-down combo box contains a list of all the windows you have defined as well as "Main" (topic will be displayed in the main help window no matter where it was called from) and "" (the topic will be displayed in whatever window it is called from).


Window Attributes

Use this window to define your help's main and secondary window attributes.

List of Windows

Clicking on a window name in this list will fill in the fields to the right for editing.

New

Sets the fields to the right with default values.

Delete

Deletes the currently selected window from the list.

Accept

Click this when you have filled the fields to the right in to keep the changes you made.

Window Name

The name that you will use to refer to this window when setting links.

Caption

Text that will appear in the window's caption area (top)

X, Y, Width and Height

Position and sizes to use for this window.  These coordinates must range from 0 to 1023 no matter what your screen resolution is.  Winhelp.exe maps these coordinates onto your display so that a window with coordinates of 511,511,512,512 will always be displayed in the lower right hand corner and fill 1/4 of the screens space.

Note: X + Width cannot be greater than 1023 and the same goes for Y + Height.

Background

Sets the background color used in your help file.  Click on the box to the right of the one you want to set and then select a color from the 16 shown.

No-scroll - Sets the background color for the non-scrolling regions.

Regular - Sets the background color for the area of the topics that are below any non-scrolling region.

Options

Other general window formatting options.

Maximized - The window will be maximized when opened regardless of the size settings.

Topmost - The window will remain ("float") above all other windows.


Customer Support

If you have any problems/questions/suggestions please send E-mail to one of the following addresses. If you are a Compuserve member use that address, otherwise use the Internet address. Email sent to the Compuserve address that is not from a Compuserve member may not be answered or may be delayed several days or more (depending on whether or not I remember to reply to your message from my internet account, so just send your email to the appropriate address).

Internet: villalon@crl.com
CompuServe: 73261,2665

or regular mail to:

Craig Villalon
599 Teresa Ct.
Sebastopol, CA 95472
USA

Information on obtaining updates can be found on the internet in either of the following places (most updates will be available on the internet and free to registered users):

WWW: http://www.crl.com/~villalon/

or:

FTP: ftp://ftp.crl.com/users/vi/villalon

IMPORTANT:

There is no phone support. If you need to contact me quickly I'd strongly suggest you do so through email. If you can't send email then get on Compuserve, America Online or a local internet provider. In case you're wondering, here are my reasons for denying phone support:

1.	Cost - you will get an answering machine and I just can't afford to return every call I receive.

2.	Sanity - I need my sleep! I often keep unusual hours (and I mean unusual). I may go to sleep at 10PM or 10AM (that's 10AM the next day in case you're thinking I sleep twice a day). If you call and wake me up, I won't be happy, <grin>.

3.	Quality - you will get better support through email, there's no question of that. Email gives me a chance to look into your question/problem and give you a much more thorough answer than I ever could over the phone. If you just call there's probably a pretty good chance I won't be of much help (especially if you woke me up).


Winhelp Macros
Winhelp Macros (Registered Only)

  Just enter one macro per line. You'll need another reference for the macros until after I finish the RTF importing. If your compiler (if you have one that is) didn't come with a reference that covers the winhelp macros and you have internet ftp access (if you need to ask, you don't have it) you may get:

  ftp.cica.indiana.edu
      /pub/pc/win3/programr/whag.zip

  It's a .hlp file that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the macros (as well as help files in general).


Why Should You Register?
What Do You Get For Registering?

1.	A clear conscience, knowing that you supported the shareware concept and compensated me, the author for the months of work that have gone into the creation of VB AHA!!! (and the time I'm spending improving on it).

2.	You will help insure future improvements by encouraging me to do more.

3.	Unlimited support through email.

4.	The Latest version of VB AHA!!!. Which will include at least the following features, if not more:

Ability to include RTF codes in your topic text (which allows you to make a single word bold for example and a lot more).

Full macro support.

Each .AHA project has it's own Build Options.

More predrawn bullets.

Import a file into a text/combo field with automatic reformatting.

Improved keyboard support during topic editing.

Option to use the default Windows Popup/Jump colors for all links (Popup/JumpTo fields and Global Text Links).

Lots of bug fixes!


Tutorials

Creating Help Files

Including RTF Codes in your Topic Text

Manually Setting Browse Sequences


Creating Help Files

  Listed below are all the steps needed to create a simple help file. For further information/detail read the appropriate topic elsewhere in this online help.

1.	If you haven't started VB AHA!!!, do so now. Select File|New if you already were running VB AHA!!! and had a .AHA project open.

2.	Select New from the Topics List window. This brings up the Topic Setup window where you will enter the following information describing your new topic:

Name is the name for this topic, it will be used internally by VB AHA!!! and the Help Compiler to refer to this topic. All topics must have a name, if you don't give it one then one will automatically be generated. The name is limited to 50 characters and may contain the following characters: "A-Z", "a-z", "0-9", "_" and ".". For this topic, enter the name "contents".

Title will be used in the History and Search dialogs of your finished help file to identify this topic. All topics, except those that will only be displayed in a popup window, should have a title. The title may be up to 127 characters long and contain any text you want, including spaces and special characters (ASCII value > 127). For this topic enter "Table of Contents".

Browse Sequence. Leave this entry blank, it will be generated for you. If you want to create your own later then read the tutorial on browse sequences.

Build Name. Leave this entry blank, you wont need it.

Keywords are used in the Search dialog for your help file.  These are the words/phrases that the user looks through to find a topic. You may enter more than one keyword for a topic, just put each one on a new line. The keywords for a topic must not exceed 1023 characters and they may contain any text except the semicolon ";". Every topic with a keyword(s) should also have a title (the titles are what is displayed in the "Go To" list of the Search dialog for the help file). For this topic enter "Contents".

Now click Ok.  If the topic was opened automatically then continue to the next step. Otherwise, either double click the topics name from the Topics List window or select it and then click View.

3.	Click on the buttons above (the ones in the non-scrolling region of this topic, just below the text "Creating Help Files") to see what each one is used for. You will need to know the names of each to follow the rest of the tutorial, so if you forget just check again.

4.	Click the Heading toolbar button [image] to create a Heading field. Now enter "Contents" into this new field.

5.	Click the JumpTo toolbar button [image] to create a JumpTo field. Now enter "Topic One" into this field. JumpTo fields are used to make links from this topic to another. After you select a topic for this field to link to (we'll do that later) the user will be able to click on this text in the help file and the linked topic will be displayed (it will be displayed in the same window that the "contents" topic was, that's why it's called a JumpTo field).

6.	Click the JumpTo toolbar button again to create another JumpTo field. Enter "Topic Two" into this field.

7.	Create 3 new topics (the same way that you did above) using  the following information:

1.	Name - "topic_1"
Title - "Topic Number One"
Keywords - "Topic #1"

2.	Name - "topic_2"
Title - "Topic Number Two"
Keywords - "Topic #2"

3.	Name - "topic_pop"

8.	View "topic_1", click the Normal Text toolbar button [image] and enter "This is topic 1." into it.

9.	Close "topic_1" by selecting Topic|Store, double clicking the control box (upper left corner of the topic window) or click once on the control box and select Close from the menu. If you didn't want to keep the changes you made to the topic you would select Topic|Discard.

10.	View "topic_2", create a Normal Text field and enter "This is second topic." into it. Now close this topic.

11.	View "topic_pop" and click the Picture toolbar button [image].

12.	Now since you don't want to use the default picture in this field you need to change it. Click and hold down the right mouse button over the picture field. A menu appears with several menu items (this is called the Field menu), select Setup by moving your mouse over that menu item and releasing the right button. This brings up the Picture Setup window.

13.	Click the ... button under Picture, this brings up a dialog box for you to select a new picture. Select the file "demo.bmp". The new picture will be displayed in the lower portion of the window for you to preview. Select Ok, the new picture will now be displayed in the topic window.

14.	Close "topic_pop".

15.	View "contents" again, now you're going to make the links to other topics and add a new field in the middle of the topic.

16.	Click and hold down the left mouse button on the Popup toolbar button [image] and drag the cursor (as you move it off of the toolbar button it changes to a crosshair) over the field that has the text "Topic One" in it. Release the mouse button and a Popup field is created above this field (if you've followed the tutorial so far then the new Popup field is between a heading field with the text "Contents" and a JumpTo field with the text "Topic One"). Enter the text "Show me a picture." into this Popup field.

17.	Click and hold down the right mouse button over this new Popup field and select Set Topic Link from the field menu. This brings up the Set Topic Link window. For this example all you need to do is fill in the Topic entry. Enter "topic_pop" into the Topic entry (this is the name of the topic that will be displayed in a popup window when the user clicks on this text). Click Ok.

Tip: you can copy and paste the topic names from the Topics List window. Just select the topic name you want and type Ctrl+C then select the Topic entry in the Set Topic Link window and type Ctrl+V.

18.	Set the link for the JumpTo field with the text "Topic One" to "topic_1".

19.	Set the link for the JumpTo field with the text "Topic Two" to "topic_2".

20.	Close all the open topics.

21.	Select Options|Build... from the main window. Make sure that these three options are checked: Include Pictures, Browse Buttons and Default Layout. For more information see Build Options.

22.	Select Options|Project... from the main window. You need to fill in the Contents Topic entry with the name of the topic you want displayed when the help file is first opened and when the user clicks the "Contents" button. Enter "contents" as the contents topic. Now fill in the Title entry with "Example Help File". This is the text that will appear in the title bar of your finished help file.

23.	Now you need to setup the help compiler. VB AHA!!! defaults to running "HCP" in your VBAHA directory. If that's not the name and location of your copy of the Microsoft Help Compiler you need to tell VB AHA!!! where to find it. Select Options|General and fill in the Help Compiler entry with the path and filename of your help compiler. If you use a .PIF file here be sure to leave "Optional Parameters" and "Start-up Directory" blank otherwise VB AHA!!! will not operate correctly. Note: in the shareware version you must edit the file HC.PIF (with PIFEDIT.EXE) in your VB AHA!!! directory to point to your copy of the help compiler.

24.	If you haven't already, go ahead and save this project now (select File|Save or File|Save As... and enter a name such as "tutorial.aha").

25.	Select Build|All from the main window. When it is finished the name of the help file that was just compiled will be in the Build menu, select that menu item to run the help file and try it out.


Browse Sequences
Manually Setting Browse Sequences

1.	the browse sequence is constructed of 2 parts seperated by a ":" like  this, "main:00010".

2.	each part is then sorted alphabetically, so "0" through "9" come  before "a" through "z" (and "A" through "Z", the first part is case sensitive but the second part doesn't appear to be).

3.	the sort order for the first part of the sequence is irrelevant. It's  just for telling the help engine which browse sequence group this topic  belongs to. This is usually given a meaningfull name like, "main:..." or  "menus:...", etc...

4.	the second part is to give the topics in this browse sequence a browse  order. This should be a number. You need to make sure that the second  part of every browse sequence is of equal length (don't have one that's  "...:16" and another that's "...:120") since they are compared  alphabetically, not numerically. In this example the topic with the  browse sequence of "...:120" would come before the one with "...:16". To  get the desired result you need to do something like this, "...:00016"  and "...:00120".

So now you know how to format the browse sequence, what does it mean  though? Whenever you're viewing a topic that has a browse sequence you  can use the browse buttons to look at all the topics that have the same  first part in there browse sequence. For example, if the current topics  browse sequence is "main:00030" then you will be able to use the browse  buttons to see all the topics that have a browse sequence like "main:...".


Revision History
Version Description
-------  -----------
 1.40   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Added: Option that allows you to include RTF codes in your topic
           text and a tutorial that gives you some useful examples. See the
           tutorial about RTF codes for further information (and as an example
           of what you can do by adding RTF codes in your topic text). You
           can find this option in the "General Options" window.
         Fixed: setting the width to 0 in Window Attributes now correctly
           causes the window to not have a hard coded size/position.
         Fixed: Build Tags now work correctly.
         Changed: I just can't seem to leave the help compiler alone <g>. I've
           added another option to General Options that allows you to browse
           for your help compiler. This way you can keep it anywhere and it
           doesn't have to be named "hcp" (it can also be a Windows app, such
           as the help compiler for Windows 95).
         Changed: "B" buttons to "..." and moved them to the right side of
           of their text boxes. This is to give a somewhat more standard look.
         Changed: all windows now have the standard VB AHA!!! icon.
         Changed: selecting Help|Tutorials now takes you to the topic that
           lists the 3 tutorials instead of directly to the tutorial on
           creating help files.
-------  -----------
 1.38   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Fixed: GPF that occured on a few .aha files while opening them. I'd
           like to thank everyone who sent me their files. I was finally able
           to pinpoint the problem and fix it because of these files. The GPF
           happened on the same variable in each, which helped me figure out
           that variable was not aligned in memory correctly (crossing a 64k
           segment boundary).
         Changed: due to popular demand (and confusion <g>) of registered
           users it is no longer necessary to edit HC.PIF to get the registered
           version to compile your help files. See step 23 of the tutorial
           about creating help files for more information on this.
-------  -----------
 1.37   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Added: You may now mark multiple topics in the "Topics List" window
           for deletion. If you have more than one topic selected all of them
           will be deleted when you press the "Delete" button. View and Edit
           will only work on the last topic you selected in the list.
         Added: 2 new options under "Options|General...". Confirm Topic
           Deletes, asks for confirmation before deleting topics from the
           "Topics List". Confirm Field Deletes, asks for confirmation before
           deleting a field from a "Topic:..." window.
         Fixed: while deleting topics it was possible to accidentally delete
           the wrong topic. If you did the following fast enough: click on a
           topic name in the "Topics List", type Alt+D, then click in the same
           spot. It would register as a double click (even though the second
           click was on a different topic name). This would cause a dotted
           box to be placed around the wrong topic (no topic was actually
           selected though). Then when you press Alt+D the wrong topic would
           be deleted (although the topic's name would remain in the list its
           contents would be deleted, when you save the topic name would be
           removed as well).
         Fixed: "File|Text|Pascal" didn't add a semi-colon to the end of each
           constant declaration.
-------  -----------
 1.36   Update: The problem with the keywords running together is now fixed.
           It would happen when you loaded your .AHA file by using file
           association (running it from File Manager, etc...).
-------  -----------
 1.36   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Added: a quick and rough tutorial about manually setting browse
           sequences. It just explains how to format them and what they mean.
         Fixed: you couldn't assign a macro to a Global Text Link.
         Fixed: (maybe) some people encountered a problem that caused a topics
           keywords to all be put on one line (ie. "Keyword 1Keyword 2..."). I
           don't know for sure if it's fixed now since I've never been able to
           reproduce this problem, but I've changed the only line of code that
           "might" have been causing it. If you still get this problem let me
           know.
         Changed: you may only run one instance of VB AHA!!! at a time. If you
           really need to run more than one then add this line to the
           "[General]" section of your VBAHA.INI file:
                MultipleOK=1
-------  -----------
 1.35   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Fixed: foreign and special characters (ASCII > 127) were being
           incorrectly converted during the build to other characters
           (in the .HPJ file). I'm now using Microsofts AnsiToOem
           function (which still doesn't convert all characters correctly,
           but at least you should be able to use foreign characters in
           the "Help Project Setup" window now).
-------  -----------
 1.34   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Fixed: some font information would (in rare circumstances) be
           written incorrectly to the .RTF file which would cause it to
           fail to compile.
         Fixed: tabs in text/combo fields weren't consistent between the
           design environment and the compiled help file.
-------  -----------
 1.33   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Added: click the right mouse button on "New" in the "Topics List"
           window to create a duplicate of the selected topic.
         Fixed: the field menus "View Linked Topic" wouldn't work correctly
           if the link was to a secondary window.
         Fixed: you may now define the "Window Attributes" for the "Main"
           window without hard coding its coordinates. Set the height and
           width of the window to 0.
         Fixed: the hourglass wouldn't go away if you tried to create too
           many fields.
         Fixed: when setting "Window Attributes" with an open topic, if
           you selected the field menus "Setup" menu item VB AHA!!! would
           lose track of which topic it was editing.
         Fixed: if you try to overwrite a file with "File|Text|..." you
           will be given a warning first.
         Fixed: keywords that started with "K" would have the "K" removed
           in the help file.
-------  -----------
 1.32   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Fixed: Can now load .aha files from any shareware version, v1.31
           couldn't load v1.24 files.
         Fixed: All the same fixes as were in v1.24.
         Changed: "Options|Build..." "General|Use Default Colors" now also
           causes VB AHA!!! to not hard code a text color so the text in
           your help file will be displayed with the users default color
           settings.
-------  -----------
 1.31   ***REGISTERED VERSION ONLY***
         Added: Full macro support. It's still crude (you must type them
           in) and you will need a reference that covers the winhelp
           macros. I will GREATLY improve on this after I finish the RTF
           importing.
           NOTE: among other things you can use macros to play MIDI and
             AVI files from your help file (and others I'm sure).
         Added: Your "Build Options" are now also saved in each .AHA file
           so you wont have to worry about what options you had selected
           for that project, they will be automatically reset.
         Added: More predrawn "bullets" for use in combo fields.
         Added: New field menu item "Load Text". It will allow you to
           read a text file into a field with the option of reformatting
           it for a help file (no returns in the middle of a paragraph
           etc...).
         Added: Improved keyboard support while editing a topic (using
           the arrow keys to move between fields, Page Up and Page Down
           and others).
         Added: Shift + Right click on a field brings up Setup window.
         Added: Build option to use the default Windows Popup/Jump colors
           for all links (Popup/JumpTo fields and Global Text Links).
-------  -----------
 1.25   ***Shareware version***
         Added: the latest versions of all the documentation. This includes
           my new mailing address and information on the new features in
           the registered version.
         Changed: a couple other minor "appearance" changes.
-------  -----------
 1.24   ***Shareware version***
         Fixed: cursor would move out of view if there was more than one
           screen of info in a topic so you couldn't see what
           you were typing.
         Fixed: Layout window's contents will be resized correctly when
           the window is maximized.
         Fixed: If you had a font with a name that contained a special
           character (ASCII > 127) on your system, then your .RTF files
           wouldn't compile.
         Fixed: "Out of String Space" error would be generated during
           the writing of the RTF file if you had about 20k or more of
           text in a single field.
-------  -----------
 1.23   ***Shareware version***
         Fixed: File|Save As... now places the filename into the file
           history list like File|Open... does.
         Fixed: problem loading some .TPC files that were saved with a
           version prior to 1.20.
         Fixed: a couple of minor code optimizations/fixes.
         Changed: some new info in README.TXT and the online help,
           including among others, how to register with a credit card.
         Changed: I'm not giving any special pricing deals other than
           site licensing anymore. They're not worth the hassle to me and
           they're not fair to credit card customers as they can't get
           them.
-------  -----------
         ***LAST SHAREWARE VERSION FEATURE UPGRADE***
           All shareware versions released after 1.22 will only have bug
             fixes.
-------  -----------
 1.22   Added: Export Pascal header (constants) files.
         Added: You may now select a filename for your exported header
           files (Visual Basic, C/C++, Pascal).
         Added: A border is now drawn around the currently selected field.
         Added: .AHA files may now be assoctiated with VB AHA!!! from the
           File Manager.
         Added: Field Type display in the Topic window, that says what
           type the currently selected field is.
         Added: A "Most Recent Files" section to the File menu. VB AHA!!!
           now keeps a list of the last four projects for easy loading.
         Added: A "Most Recent Files" section to the Build menu.
           VB AHA!!! now keeps a list of the last four help files you've
           compiled so you can easily test them.
         Added: Option to disable the 3D effects used in all the windows
           throughout VB AHA!!!.
         Fixed: "Graphics Directory" in the "Help Project Setup" window
           now works correctly.
         Fixed: Layout window doesn't reflect changes made in open topic
           windows. Now all topics will be closed before the layout is
           constructed.
         Fixed: Build support files didn't reflect changes made in open
           topic windows. Now all topics are closed before the support
           files are written.
         Fixed: Problem with certain windows switching focus to other
           windows/applications has been ELIMINATED (I hope ;-).
         Fixed: Fields will now resize when the Topic window is maximized.
         Fixed: Only one reference to a bitmap will be placed in the .hpj
           file (used to put one reference per occurence in your project).
         Fixed: No browse sequences will be generated when the Build
           option "Default Layout" is unselected (used to still write a
           browse sequence to a topic that didn't have one).
         Fixed: Large projects now load MUCH faster.
         Fixed: Special characters (ASCII > 127) would generate a space
           after them in the RTF file.
         Fixed: Special characters can now be used in global text links.
         Fixed: VB AHA!!! only generates a "dummy" secondary window when
           you don't define any secondary windows since there is a limit
           of 6 secondary windows in a .hlp file.
         Fixed: All non-Topic windows (except the main window) would
           disappear when the main window was resized.
         Fixed: Pictures may now be placed in the non-scrolling region
           of a topic.
         Fixed: Other bugs that I lost track of.
         Changed: Will now stay minimized during the entire Build process
           if you have selected the "Min. During Build" option (used to
           only stay minimized while the support files were being
           generated).
         Changed: Decreased size of .AHA files. Estimated savings of 12%.
-------  -----------
 1.21   Added: Ability to Jump To a topic in another help file.
         Added: New link type - Sound. You may now play .WAV files from
           your help file.
         Added: Secondary window support. Your help file may have two
           windows open at a time.
         Added: Many window formatting options (background color for
           normal and non-scrolling regions, window dimensions and
           whether the window will float above all others.
         Fixed: Correctly Open/Save Visual Basic forms HelpContextId's.
           It would skip the controls after the first one that didn't
           have a HelpContextID (as defined in Visual Basic Options).
         Fixed: Would switch link types for graphics when you viewed a
           topic.
         Fixed: Global Text Links that link with text with a return or
           tab after the it will now link correctly.
         Fixed: Topic window will now follow your typing and when you
           first create a field it's text will be selected.
-------  -----------
 1.20   Added: New field type - Combo. You may have graphics and text
           on the same line. Many formatting options.
         Added: New field type - Non-Scrolling region. All fields above
           this one in a topic won't scroll in your help file.
         Added: You may now set the default bitmap to be used in a
           graphic field.
         Fixed: Global Topic Rename didn't quite work right. It would
           lose your topic.
         Changed: .BMP links may now be either JumpTo or Popup instead
           of just JumpTo.
         Changed: There is no longer a different setup menu item for the
           different types of fields. The new menu item is just called
           Setup.
         Changed: Topic limit - you can now have at least 3000 topics.
           I don't know the exact limit because I got tired of adding
           new topics. The only real limitation on the number on topics
           you may have is that of a listbox (64k for topic names and
           5440 items or less) and the amount of memory your computer
           has.
-------  -----------
 1.14   Fixed: Mistakenly thought all VB .FRM's were in binary format
           when you tried to save to them.
         Fixed: When you cut and then paste a field the link will be
           retained if it has one.
-------  -----------
 1.13   Added: Cut, Copy and Paste to the Field menu. These work on the
           whole field (text or graphics) not just the text in the
           field. All of the formatting, text, graphic info is retained.
         Added: Delete menu item to the Field menu (shown when you right
           click on a field).
         Fixed: Should always be able to tell if a Visual Basic .FRM is
           saved in binary or text format and refuse to load/save it if
           it's not in text format.
         Fixed: Field formatting numbers with a decimal place are now
           handled correctly in all countries.
         Changed: Moved the stats in the info window to the About
           VB AHA!!!... window.
-------  -----------
 1.12   Added: Option to backup your VB .FRM's before saving the
           HelpContextID info to them.
         Added: Option to not show a new topic when you create it.
         Added: Information window - displays # of topics, free mem and
           % of resources remaining.
         Fixed: VB AHA!!! would crash when you created the 75th topic.
           Now it will handle 992 topics.
-------  -----------
 1.11   Added: Global Topic Rename - all links to the old topic name
           will automatically be relinked to the new topic name.
         Fixed: Something will alway be shown in a graphic field. Before
           if it couldn't find the picture it might not show anything.
         Fixed: You may now use ", "" and "" in your topics without
           wreaking havoc on your help file. Topic Titles and Keywords
           may now contain any characters.
         Fixed: You can't create 2 topics with the same name anymore, a
           number will be appended to the end of the second topic name.
 -----    ---------
 1.1    Added: Generic Topics and Template support.
           Save a topic to a seperate .tpc file and load that topic
           into any .AHA help project.
         Added: Global Text Links may now be case sensitive.
         Fixed: Failed to save some projects correctly, caused an
           error when saving and loading.
         Fixed: Text links(Jump To and Popup) may now be any color
           that you choose, you can even have each one a different
           color if you want to, instead of just the default color.
         Fixed: If you don't enter a filename extension in the file
           dialogs the correct default extension will always be used.
 -----    ---------
 1.02   Added: cmdialog.vbx, it was left out in the first 2 releases,
           really swift.
 -----    ---------
 1.01   Fixed: some documentation errors/omissions.
 -----    ---------
 1.0    Initial release


RTF Codes
RTF Codes (Registered Only)

This topic contains some warnings and useful RTF codes that you can use in your topics if you turn on "Allow RTF Codes" in the "General Options" window.

Warnings

1.	The following characters, {, } and \ are all treated as special control characters in an RTF file. If you want these characters to be displayed correctly in your topics you must  add a \ before them. For example, to display a { in your topic you would type \{ into your text field in VB AHA!!!. If you don't do this you'll most likely get a compile error and your help file won't be created.

2.	You must leave an extra space between an RTF code and the normal text that follows it.  You don't need to add an extra space between 2 consecutive RTF codes though. For example, "\bSome Text\b0" would look like "Text" in your help file. Notice that "Some " was lost during the compile. To correct the mistake just add a space after the RTF code, like this "\b Some Text\b0".

Some Useful RTF Codes

BOLD Text
To make some text bold surround it with \b and \b0. For example, I typed the following for the "BOLD Text" line above: "\b BOLD\b0  Text" (without the quotes).

ITALIC Text
To make some text italic surround it with \iand \i0. For example, I typed the following for the "ITALIC Text" line above: "\i ITALIC\i0  Text".

COLOR Text
You can change the color of your text by using \cf followed by a number from 1 to 16. The numbers refer to the following colors: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16.  You probably notice that some of these are a bit hard to see (also note that the color that matches the background color will show as the Windows default foreground color instead, usually black). Keep this in mind when you're hard coding text colors. Your users may be using a different default background color than you. For this reason I recommend only hard coding text colors this way if you also hard code the background color (by setting up Window Attributes for the "Main" window). As an example, I created the "COLOR Text" line above by typing the following: "\cf2 C\cf3 O\cf4 L\cf5 O\cf6 R\cf  Text". Note that the last \cf doesn't have a color number, this resets the color to the users default foreground color.

Linked Text (jumps and popups)
You can add jump and popup links in your topic text (without using the "Global Text Links" feature). To create a jump type the following: {\uldb Jump Text}{\v topicname}. "Jump Text" is the text that will be displayed in your help file, "topicname" is the name of the topic (from the "Topics List" window) that the jump will jump to. To create a popup do exactly the same thing except this time replace \uldb with \ul.

Including Pictures in your Text
You can include pictures within your topic text by typing the following: \{bmc picture.bmp\}. Here's an example of what it might [image] look like.

Other Useful RTF Codes...
There are many more RTF codes that you can use. For example, \brdrb draws a line at the bottom of the paragraph/field (most of the fields in this topic use this command). Another one that I used frequently in this topic is \fi. This sets the indent of the first line in a paragraph/field. The indent is measured in twips (1440 twips = 1 inch) and is relative to the left indent of the field (you can set the indent to either positive or negative). For example, I used \fi-432 in this field which causes the first line to be displayed 432 twips to the left of the rest of the fields text.

For a complete list of RTF codes that you can use download whag.zip from ftp.cica.indiana.edu in the /pub/pc/win3/programr directory (in case you're not familiar with what I'm talking about, you need internet access and the ability to use FTP to get it). I believe it's also available on the Microsoft Developer Network CD's.