Q192118: HOWTO: Use HTML Help Text Popup Windows in VBasic Program
Article: Q192118
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 1.1,1.3,5.0
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbAPI kbHTMLHelp kbVBp500 kbGrpDSVB kbHTMLHelp110 kbHTMLHelp130
Last Modified: 11-JAN-2001
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft HTML Help, versions 1.3, 1.1
- Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows, version 5.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, version 5.0
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, version 5.0
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SUMMARY
=======
This article describes how to use HTML Help context-sensitive text popup windows
in a Visual Basic application. If the user places the cursor on a control and
presses the F1 key, the context-sensitive text appears in a small box.
NOTE: This article assumes that the reader has already prepared an HTML Help
project file with the HTML Help Workshop and is ready to add context- sensitive
text popup windows to it.
MORE INFORMATION
================
Step-by-Step Procedures
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1. Using a text editor, such as Word or Notepad, create a text topic file (.txt)
that contains the text for the popup windows. Following is an example of how
the statements should look in the text file:
.topic 1
This is a text popup window for topic 1.
.topic 2
This is a text popup window for topic 2.
.topic 3
This is a text popup window for topic 3.
For each topic, the ".topic" is required, followed by a space and a numeric
constant or number. The line immediately following must contain the text that
you want to appear in the popup window.
The text file could also appear as follows:
.topic IDH_MYTOPIC1
This is a text popup window for topic 1.
.topic IDH_MYTOPIC2
This is a text popup window for topic 2.
.topic IDH_MYTOPIC3
This is a text popup window for topic 3.
In this example, you need to define the constants IDH_MYTOPIC1, IDH_MYTOPIC2,
IDH_MYTOPIC3 in the [MAP] section of the help project file as follows:
[MAP]
#define IDH_MYTOPIC1 1
#define IDH_MYTOPIC2 2
#define IDH_MYTOPIC3 3
There is additional information about creating the text topic file in the HTML
Help Workshop Help under the topic "To create a context-sensitive help topic
file".
2. Include the topic text file in the [FILES] section and in the [TEXT POPUPS]
section of the Help Project file. Following is an example where "cpopups.txt"
is the name of the topic text file:
[FILES]
topic1.htm
topic.htm
cpopups.txt
[TEXT POPUPS]
#include cpopups.txt
NOTE: Use a text editor to add the [TEXT POPUPS] and the #include statement.
3. The following example shows the definitions required in your Visual Basic
application. You should include these definitions in a module file in your
project:
Public Const HH_TP_HELP_WM_HELP = &H11
Declare Function HtmlHelpByRefArg Lib "hhctrl.ocx" Alias "HtmlHelpA"
(ByVal hwndCaller As Long, ByVal pszFile As String, ByVal uCommand As
Long, ByRef dwData As Any) As Long
Type HH_IDPAIR
dwControlId As Long
dwTopicId As Long
End Type
'This array should contain the number of controls that have
'context-sensitive help, plus one more for a zero-terminating
'pair.
Public ids(4) As HH_IDPAIR
Declare Function GetDlgCtrlID Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Long) As
Long
Public Const g_sHTMLHelpFile As String =
"myhelpfile.chm::/cpopups.txt"
NOTE: This example assumes the .chm file is in the same directory as the
Visual Basic application because no path is specified.
4. Set the KeyPreview property of the Form to true.
5. For each control that has a text popup window, set the values in the ids
array. The first item should be the control id, which you can obtain by using
the GetDlgCtrlID routine. The second item should be the topic id that appears
in the topic text file. The following is an example of how to fill the array
in the Form_Load routine:
Private Sub Form_Load()
ids(0).dwControlId = GetDlgCtrlID(Me.MyButton.hWnd)
ids(0).dwTopicId = 1
ids(1).dwControlId = GetDlgCtrlID(Me.MyText.hWnd)
ids(1).dwTopicId = 2
ids(2).dwControlId = GetDlgCtrlID(Me.MyList.hWnd)
ids(2).dwTopicId = 3
ids(3).dwControlId = 0
ids(3).dwTopicId = 0
End Sub
NOTE: The last pair in the array must contain zeros (0).
6. Intercept the KeyUp method of the Form to capture the F1 key press. For
example:
Private Sub Form_KeyUp(KeyCode As Integer, Shift As Integer)
If KeyCode = vbKeyF1 Then
iRetCode = HtmlHelpByRefArg(Me.ActiveControl.hWnd,_
g_sHTMLHelpFile, HH_TP_HELP_WM_HELP, ids(0))
End If
End Sub
7. Run your Visual Basic application. Select a control on the form and press the
F1 key.
RESULT: The appropriate text popup window should appear on the screen.
REFERENCES
==========
"Official Microsoft HTML Help Authoring Kit", Steve Wexler, Microsoft Press,
1998
The HTML Help Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/workshop/author/htmlhelp/default.asp
Additional query words:
======================================================================
Keywords : kbAPI kbHTMLHelp kbVBp500 kbGrpDSVB kbHTMLHelp110 kbHTMLHelp130
Technology : kbVBSearch kbHTMLHelpSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB500Search kbVBA500 kbVB500 kbHTMLHelp110 kbHTMLHelp130
Version : :1.1,1.3,5.0
Issue type : kbhowto
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