This article was previously published under Q192118
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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.
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:
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:
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.
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