   Table of Contents

To jump to a Topic, place the mouse pointer over the title and press the left mouse button.

An Overview

Automatic Table of Contents

Backing up the Database

Capture Clipboard Image

Compile

Context Sensitive Help

Create ID Text File

Creating a New Topic

Creating a Project Text File

Creating Jumps

Creating Pop-Up Definitions

Deleting a Project

Deleting a Topic

Error File

Find All Key Terms

Help Filename Entry Field

Include in Table of Contents Checkbox

Include Topic in Help File Checkbox

Including a Bitmap in the Help File

Including Hypergraphics

Key Terms Entry Field

Print ID List

Program Files

Project List Box

Renaming a Project

Renaming a Topic

Saving Topics

Select Help Compiler

Select Title Bar Bitmap

Set Working Directory

Spell Checking

Text Entry Field

Topic List Box

Use as Pop-Up Definition Checkbox

Use of Braces

Use Title Bar Bitmap

View


   An Overview

The Help Make program is designed to produce basic Windows help files for Visual Basic and other applications with a minimum of effort.  The program stores topics for all projects in one database file.

To use the program you must have the program files and the help compiler files hc31.exe and hc31.err.  The first time you run helpmake.exe a database file called helpmake.mdb will be created.  There may also be a program information file hc31.pif.  This file is not essential but allows for memory configuration of the help compiler's DOS session.  Use the Windows PIF editor to change the session configuration in this file.

This program is freeware.  Source code is available for $10 US.  To obtain the source code, or to offer your comments or suggestions, contact me on Compuserve at 75321,560 or Internet 75321.560@compuserve.com.

I offer no guarantees with this program.

Douglas Neal, Calgary, Alberta, Canada


   Automatic Table of Contents

When checked, the Automatic Table of Contents option will create a Table of Contents with jumps to each topic with the Include in Table of Contents box checked.


   Backing up the Database

All Projects are stored in a database file named helpmake.mdb.  This file is located in the same directory as the program file.

To backup your project, simply copy the helpmake.mdb file to a safe location.  To restore your project, first backup the current helpmake.mdb file if it contains data you wish to preserve, then copy your old project file into the program directory.

Make sure the Help Make program is not running or you will be unable to copy or replace this file.


   Capture Clipboard Image

Select Capture Clipboard Image from the Special menu to view and save a bitmap stored in the clipboard.  If you wish to use the bitmap in the help file, follow the instructions for Including a Bitmap in the Help File


   Compile

The compile command will run the help compiler hc31.exe.  This will occur in a DOS session.  You must recompile after making any changes to your project or those changes will not be reflected in your help file.


   Context Sensitive Help

Each topic in the Help Make database is automatically assigned a HelpContextID which may be used to provide context sensitive help.  Each control in Visual Basic has the property HelpContextID.

To produce context sensitive help simply set the ID property for the Visual Basic control to that of the topic created using Help Make.  It is recommended that each data entry field have a topic in the help file and that the HelpContextID for each field contain the appropriate ID for that topic.  This way the user can press F1 in any field and get the correct help topic.

You must define the help filename for each Visual Basic application.  This is done from the Visual Basic Options-Project menu.  You can define only one help file per application.


   Create ID Text File

This option will create a HelpContextID text file with the extension .id and will run the Windows notepad with this file loaded.


   Creating a New Topic

Select New Topic from the Topic menu to create a new 'page' in the help file.  Each topic name will appear as a heading in the non-scrolling region of the help window.  The topic is added to the current project only.


   Creating a Project Text File

The Create Project Text File command will produce a text file containing all topics for the selected project.  The filename will be the same as Help Filename with a .txt extension.  Use this option to transfer the project to a word processor for spell checking.

You may also make use of the RTF file generated by the compile option.  This file will be located in the working directory and may also be loaded into a word processor.  The RTF file contains all the formatting information, jumps, footnotes, etc. required to produce the help file.  You can expand on the capabilities of this program by editing the RTF text in a word processor, saving the file as RTF again, and manually compiling your help file.  This is easily done in File Manager by dragging your projects .hpj file onto hc31.exe.


   Creating Jumps

To create jumps within your text, use the following syntax:

                          	{word phrase;jump;##}

where the 'word phrase' is the word(s) to be highlighted, and ## is the HelpContextID for the topic to jump to.

Example:

Original sentence: 	The carbon fibers were crushed by the rock.

New sentence:     	The {carbon fibers;jump;26} were crushed by the rock.

Will produce:        	The carbon fibers were crushed by the rock.

Note: jmp may be substituted for the word jump


   Creating Pop-Up Definitions

To create pop-up definitions within your text, use the following syntax:

 	 	{word phrase;pop;##}

where the 'word phrase' is the word(s) to be highlighted, and ## is the HelpContextID for the pop-up definition to display.  Be sure and check the box Use as Pop-Up Definition Only for the topic you create for the actual definition.

Example:

Original sentence: 	The carbon fibers were crushed by the rock.

New sentence:     	The {carbon fibers;pop;28} were crushed by the rock.

Will produce:        	The carbon fibers were crushed by the rock.


A type of graphical image stored in a file.  The Windows Paintbrush application saves files in this format.


Hypergraphics allow users to navigate visually.


Text in a help topic that is underlined and color highlighted.  Placing the mouse pointer over the text and clicking the left mouse button will change to a related help topic.


   Deleting a Project

To delete an entire project and all its topics from the database, select Delete Project from the Project menu.  To delete individual topics, select Delete Topic from the Topics menu.

Warning: 	All topics will be deleted!


   Deleting a Topic

To delete a topic from the database, select Delete Topic from the Topic menu.  To delete all topics from a project, select Delete Project from the Projects menu.


   Error File

The Error File option will run the Windows Notepad with the most recently created error file generated by the HC31.EXE compiler.


   Find All Key Terms

This option will search all topics in the current project for a key term.  If a topic has text that matches the term, the term will be added to the Key Terms list for that topic.  If you select text in the edit window before selecting this menu option it will appear as the default search term.

This feature does not check for whole words, it simply looks for a matching, non case sensitive string in the text field of each topic.  Trailing spaces are ignored.


   Help Filename Entry Field

Enter the prefix for the project's help file.  All working files will also use this prefix.


Every topic created in Help Make will have a unique HelpContextID number.  Use this number to create context sensitive help.  Simply enter the HelpContextID number in your applications help ID property setting.  Each control can have a different ID or all controls on the form can have the same help topic.  A HelpContextID of 0 will bring up the Table of Contents.


   Include in Table of Contents Checkbox

Check the Include in Table of Contents checkbox if you would like the topic to appear in the Automatic Table of Contents.  This box is checked by default.


   Include Topic in Help File Checkbox

Check this box if you want the topic to be included in the help file.  Clearing this box prevents the topic from being included but retains the topic in the database for future use.


   Including a Bitmap in the Help File

To include a bitmap of an icon in the help file topic heading area refer to the topic Use Title Bar Bitmap.  To include a larger bitmap within the text area, insert a special field with the following syntax:

              	{filename.bmp;bitmap}

where 'filename' is the name of the bitmap to display followed by the .bmp extension.

Example:

 	{helpmake.bmp;bitmap}

Note: bmp may be substituted for the word bitmap


   Including Hypergraphics

To include hypergraphics in the help file, first create the hypergraphic using the Hot Spot editor (not supplied with Help Make), then follow the instructions for including a bitmap in the help file.  You must also supply a context string for each pop-up on your hypergraphic.  The context strings generated by Help Make are the letters ID followed by the HelpContextID number for the topic.  The following is an example of how this is entered in the Hot Spot editor's Attributes dialog.  Click on the Context String entry field to see a sample pop-up.


   Key Terms Entry Field

Enter a list of key terms for this topic separated by a semicolon.  Key terms appear in the Search Dialog Box available from the Windows Help button bar.  You may enter the same key words in several related topics allowing the user to find the appropriate information.


This is the definition of carbon fiber.....


   Print ID List

This option will print a list of the HelpContextID's.


   Program Files

To run Help Make you must have the following files:

 	HELPMAKE.EXE

 	HELPMAKE.HLP  (optional)

 	HC31.PIF  (optional)

Plus the Visual Basic run time files:

 	VBRUN300.DLL

 	CMDIALOG.VBX

 	DDEML.DLL

 	COMMDLG.DLL

 	MSAES110.DLL

 	MSAJT110.DLL

 	VBDB300.DLL

You must also have SHARE installed or be running Windows 3.11.

To compile help files you will require:

 	HC31.EXE

 	HC31.ERR

These files are included with Visual Basic Professional 3.0.


   Project List Box

The Project list box shows all projects currently in the database.  Each Project will generate a separate help file.


   Renaming a Project

Use the Rename Project option from the Project menu if you wish to change the name of the current Project.


   Renaming a Topic

Use the Rename Topic option from the Topic menu if you wish to change the name of a topic.


   Saving Topics

The Save Topic command button updates the database with the changes made since the last save.  Automatic saves are performed prior to moving to a new topic or project, creating a new topic or project, or exiting the program.


   Select Help Compiler

The Select Help Compiler option is used to set the path and name of the help compiler to use.

Example: 	C:\VB\HC\HC31.EXE


   Select Title Bar Bitmap

Select the Select Title Bar Bitmap option from the Project menu to select an icon size bitmap to display next to the help topic heading.  An easy way to create a bitmap of your applications icon is minimize the application, make it active by clicking once on the icon then once elsewhere on the screen, press Alt-PrintScreen, and then follow the instructions for Capturing Clipboard Image.  The bitmap will appear in your help window's heading area if the Use Title Bar Bitmap option is selected.


   Set Working Directory

Help Make will produce the working files and the final help file in the directory selected in the Set Working Directory dialog.  This directory is retained in the Project database.


   Spell Checking

Although Help Make has no built in spell checking, it does provide a method for saving text which can then be spell checked in a word processor.  Use the Create Project Text File option from the Project menu to save your project in text format.


   Text Entry Field

Text entered in the Text entry field will be displayed in the main window area of Windows Help.  Scroll bars will be available if the text is too long for the window.

For including jumps, pop-ups, or bitmaps see one of the following topics.

 	Creating Jumps

 	Creating Pop-up Definitions

 	Including Bitmaps


   Topic List Box

The Topic list box contains all the topics for the selected Project.  The topic headings will appear as headings in the help file.  The headings will be in a non-scrolling with a gray background.  Project Icons appear to the left of the heading.


   Use as Pop-Up Definition Checkbox

Check this box if the topic is to be used as a pop up definition only.  To use the definition refer to the section Creating Pop-Up Definitions.


   Use of Braces

The characters } and { are used by Help Make as control characters.  They are used to indicate Jumps, Pop-up text, and the inclusion of Bitmap Images.  If you need to include these characters for other purposes you must do the following:

To include the { character use two {{ following each other.   Only one { character will appear.  No special syntax is necessary for the } character although it does signify the end of a special field.


   Use Title Bar Bitmap

If this menu option is checked and if a valid bitmap is selected in the Select Title Bar Bitmap dialog then the heading area of the help window will contain that bitmap.


   View

The View option will run WinHelp with the most recently compiled help file.