Basically "context help" means access to specific help information from within your application or web page. You can create context help links and calls to Help+Manual output in a wide variety of ways.
The options you have for implementing context-sensitive help depend on your output format, because different formats support different ways of making calls to your help files. This topic lists the different types of context help possible in the output formats supported by Help+Manual.
For more details on context-sensitive help, the available context-sensitive help technologies and implementation information for programmers see the Context-Sensitive Help & Popups chapter in the Reference section.
For instructions on context links to eWriter help, see both Links & Context Help and eWriter for Software Help in the main eWriter Help chapter.
Important: Updates to the eWriter context help interface
Please refer to the above chapters even if you are already familiar with eWriter help from earlier versions. A new calling syntax has been introduced along with the new eViewer 3 and the version for MacOS. the old syntax is still supported, but we still recommend switching to the new syntax for all new help files.
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This is the standard Microsoft help format for Windows applications. It is used for help installed locally on the user's computer.
Calls to HTML Help CHM files are made using the Microsoft HTML Help API (application programming interface), which is documented in the help file delivered with the free Microsoft HTML Help Workshop compiler and CHM authoring package. For details see Application calls to context-sensitive topics.
Making the calls is up to your programmers; each programming language has different methods for doing this. You can download programming tutorials from our website.
Supported context-sensitive help types
•Calls to specific help topics
Display a specific topic in your help, inside the main help window.
•Calls to anchors in specific help topics
Display a specific topic in your help file in the main help window and scroll down to an anchor (jump target) within the topic.
•Field-level popups
Field-level popups are small popup windows displayed in your application. They are read from the help file but the main help window is not opened. Useful for documenting individual fields and controls in your application (thus the name).
•Training card help
Training card help uses the HTML ActiveX control (CHM) to create special interactive links between your help topics and your application. In theory you can use training card help to create interactive tutorials that guide users through steps of doing things in your program. In practice it is so difficult to implement that most developers try it out once and then decide that it is not worth their time. You can insert ActiveX objects for training card help with Help+Manual's command (HTML Help). |
One important thing to know about the CHM files generated by Help+Manual when making calls to them from your applications is that there are no internal folders.
Help+Manual uses a "flat file" directory model inside the CHM, with everything on the root level. This means that all topics and other files inside the CHM can be accessed directly, without any path information. Some programming tips assume the use of folders – for example a folder called "html" for the HTML topic files – and if they also include this path without alternatives in their call examples this will lead to failures. But that is really the only element of H+M CHM files that you need to be aware of.
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WebHelp is displayed in a normal web browser like Firefox, Safari, Opera or even Internet Explorer. It is used for help accessed on networks and the Internet. Calls to WebHelp are made with normal URLs. The basic syntax is:
index.html?topicname.htm#anchorname
where index.html is the main start page, topicname.htm is the topic ID in all lower case + the extension ".htm" and anchorname is the optional anchor you want to scroll to on the page. See Linking to WebHelp topics for details.
Supported context-sensitive help types
•Calls to specific help topics
Display a specific topic in your help, inside the main help window.
•Calls to anchors in specific help topics
Display a specific topic in your help file in the main help window and scroll down to an anchor (jump target) within the topic.
•Calls using CHM help context numbers
We have also implemented support for help context numbers in WebHelp so that you can use the same numbers you use in your CHM help if necessary. See Linking to WebHelp topics for details.
Field-level popups and topics in V3 Premium Pack skins
When you use the V3 Responsive skins in the Premium Pack add-on you can also display both popups and topics within your own web pages without taking the the user away from the page. The popups and topics are draggable and resizable. The field-level topics include a bar at the top with which the user can redisplay the topic within the entire help if they want to browse further.
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These print-style formats do not support any real context-sensitive help features. In PDF files you can link to anchors called "named destinations", but without proper browse buttons in the PDF viewer they are not as flexible as hyperlinks HTML-based formats.
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See also:
Context-Sensitive Help & Popups
Linking to and controlling eWriter help
Configuring for publishing - all formats