Accessing HTML Help


Visual Studio provides two primary methods of integrating online help into desktop applications. The first uses the HelpProvider control, found in the Components section of the Visual Studio Toolbox. The second uses the Help.ShowHelp method of the Windows forms package. Both methods let you display specific pages or portions of a compiled HTML Help file.

HelpProvider Control

The HelpProvider control can be added to a form to enable access to online help. It provides two primary online help experiences: (1) standard access to compiled HTML Help files; and (2) popup help. Both methods put the focus on individual controls of a form, and on the specific help features to be tied to each control.

Accessing HTML Help Files

To use the HelpProvider control with compiled HTML Help files, set the control's HelpNamespace property to the location of a valid help file. Then adjust the properties of other controls on the form to refer to specific features within the help file. The HelpProvider control impacts other controls by adding several additional properties to each. Figure 23-7 shows the four additional properties (HelpKeyword, HelpNavigator, HelpString, and ShowHelp) automatically added to a Button control.

Figure 23-7. Adding help support to individual controls


The HelpNavigator property added to each control defines what features of the help file to access when the user presses the F1 key while that control has the focus. To access a specific page within the help file (such as welcome.htm), set the target control's HelpNavigator property to "Topic" and set the related HelpKeyword property to the file name of the page ("welcome.htm").

The HelpNavigator property for a control can be set to access non-page sections of the online help file as well. The value "TableOfContents" displays the file's contents outline; "Index" jumps to the keyword index. There are a few other choices as well.

Showing Popup Help

The HelpProvider control also enables "popup" help on individual controls. This help variation causes a small tool tip window to appear just above a control, displaying a short message that provides usage information for that control, as shown in Figure 23-8.

Figure 23-8. Popup help on a button control


Popup help works when you enable the "Popup Button" in the form's title bar. To set popup help for a control, follow these steps.

1.

Add a HelpProvider control to the form, but don't bother setting its HelpNamespace property to a file.

2.

Set the form's HelpButton property to True.

3.

Set the form's MaximizeBox and MinimizeBox properties to False.

4.

Set the HelpString on HelpProvider1 property to some informational text on each control that will display its own popup help.

The user displays popup help by first clicking on the question-mark "help" button in the form's title bar, and then clicking on a control.

ShowHelp Method

The System.Windows.Forms.Help.ShowHelp method displays specific portions of a compiled HTML Help file based on the arguments passed to the method. It's quite similar to the file-based help portion of the HelpProvider control, but in method form. To display a specific page within a help file, use this syntax.

Windows.Forms.Help.ShowHelp(Me, "Simple.chm", _    HelpNavigator.Topic, "moreinfo.htm") 


The first argument is a reference to the form calling the method.

A common way of using this method is to monitor the form for the F1 key, and call ShowHelp from the form's KeyDown event handler.

Private Sub Form1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, _       ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) _       Handles Me.KeyDown    ' ----- Call online help.    If (e.KeyCode = Keys.F1) Then       Windows.Forms.Help.ShowHelp(Me, "Simple.chm", _          HelpNavigator.Topic, "moreinfo.htm")    End If End Sub 


You must set the form's KeyPreview property to True to trigger the form-level KeyDown event. Otherwise, all keys go to the active control and bypass the form-level events.

The ShowHelp method offers a lot more control over the user's online help experience because you (and not the HelpProvider control) determine exactly when to access the help file.




Start-to-Finish Visual Basic 2005. Learn Visual Basic 2005 as You Design and Develop a Complete Application
Start-to-Finish Visual Basic 2005: Learn Visual Basic 2005 as You Design and Develop a Complete Application
ISBN: 0321398009
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 247
Authors: Tim Patrick

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