Copyright: Copyright 1993 - 1996 G.Plowman


Bitmap Dialog
Bitmap Demonstration

HelpBuilder supports the ability to be able to insert bitmap pictures into help files.

To insert a bitmap into a help topic, the bitmap file must first be included in your help file project - the Project/Edit menu option.

Within the topic you wish to see the bitmap, position the caret where required and select the Edit/Bitmap menu option of click on the Bitmap toolbar icon (the tree on the beach). The Bitmap dialog will then appear. Select the name of the required bitmap from the drop down list which shows all the bitmap files currently included in your project. Click the radio button specifing the allignment required and press Ok. The appropriate RTF statements will be inserted in your topic text for you.

As with links and bold text, you can use the mouse to highlight the bitmap RTF statement and select the Edit/Bitmap option again in order to change it.

Example 1

The following example places a bitmap on the left of the Windows Help window and places text wrapped in the space to the right of the bitmap:

\{bml ARCHES.BMP\}This is some test text which will wrap on the right of the bitmap

Result:

This is some test text which will wrap on the right of the bitmap

Example 2

The following example places a bitmap on the right of the Windows Help window and places text wrapped in the space to the left of the bitmap:

\{bmr ARCHES.BMP\}This is some test text which will wrap on the left of the bitmap

Result:

This is some test text which will wrap on the left of the bitmap

In both examples, the text must be on the same line as the bml/bmr statement otherwise the text will appear underneath the bitmap on the screen.


Build Tags

Build tags enable different topics to be included within a project depending on the version required.

For example, if you have a Shareware version and a Professional version of your help file, you may want a particular topic page to be different for each version.

Rather than maintain two separate project files (which you could do), you can include two topic files with the same context ID and use the build tags feature to select the required topic in the help file.

The help compiler builds the help file selecting the required page.

This topic file is BLDTAG1.TXT and along with BLDTAG2.TXT demonstrates how build tags operate.

This topic is the 'Professional' version and has the PROFESSIONAL build tag set. You can see this by selecting the File/Topic Properties menu option.

Note that build tags are user defined names and you can name them to be whatever you like, but they must not contain spaces.

Select the Project/Settings menu option and click on 'Compiler Options'.

Now change the 'Build Tags' to SHAREWARE and re-build this project.

You will then note that the BLDTAG2.TXT topic will be displayed instead of this page.


Browse Sequence Demonstration
Browse Demonstration

Windows Help supports the ability to create Browse sequences which are sequences of topics which you may view in order by pressing the Browse buttons at the top of the Windows Help screen.

Setup Builder supports this feature and automatically inserts the browse buttons for you when you define browse sequences.

To place a topic in a browse sequence, select the File/Topic Links menu option to obtain the Topic Links dialog and enter the name of your browse sequence in the Browse Sequence field.

It is possible to have multiple browse sequences in a project and this help demonstration shows you how to do this:

Two browse sequences have been set up as follows:

Sequence 1 contains the following topics:

Contents page

Copyright page

Sequence 2 contains all of the other topics in this help file

Note that the browse sequences have been set up in the same order as the topics appear on the contents page of this help file by specifying numbers for the required order in the Topic Links dialog. You don't have to do this, but it can make it easier for your user to understand what order your browse sequence is going.


Character Set Demonstration

Below is the character set for the currently selected project-wide font:

  ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . /

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ?

@ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O

P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _

` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o

p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~

€ � ‚ ƒ „ … † ‡ ˆ ‰ Š ‹ Œ � Ž �

� ‘ ’ “ ” • – — ˜ ™ š › œ � ž Ÿ

  ¡ ¢ £ ¤ ¥ ¦ § ¨ © ª « ¬ ­ ® ¯

° ± ² ³ ´ µ ¶ · ¸ ¹ º » ¼ ½ ¾ ¿

À Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ Ç È É Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï

Ð Ñ Ò Ó Ô Õ Ö × Ø Ù Ú Û Ü Ý Þ ß

à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï

ð ñ ò ó ô õ ö ÷ ø ù ú û ü ý þ ÿ


Colours Demonstration

Within topics is is possible to change the colour of text.

To change the colour of text it must be surrounded by the appropriate RTF commands.

Using the mouse, highlight some text and then select the Text/Colour menu option to obtain the Color dialog.

Select the colour required and press 'Ok'.

Example Topic Text:

This text is {\cf1 Black}	Black

This text is {\cf2 Blue}	Blue

This text is {\cf3 Red}	Red

This text is {\cf4 Magenta}	Magenta

This text is {\cf5 Green}	Green

This text is {\cf6 Cyan}	Cyan

This text is {\cf7 Yellow}	Yellow

This text is {\cf8 White}	White

Note that white appears black when the background colour is white.


Contents Page

Contents for Sample Help

This help file has been created to demonstrate some of the features supported by HelpBuilder.

To learn how to use Help, press the F1 key.

  Bitmaps demo

  Browse Demonstration

  Colour demo

  Font demo

Standard Link demo

Standard Link, but not Underlined

  Underlined Picture Link

  Top of page lock demo

  Character Set demo

Run Program (notepad.exe) macro demo

  Run Program (notepad.exe) macro demo

  Jump to Help File (helpbldr.hlp) demo

  Jump Using Window

  Jump to Maximised Window

  Segmented Hypergraphics demo

  Text Macros

  User Defined Macros

  Build Tags Demonstration

  Glossary Demonstration

  Help File Copyright


Copyright
This Windows Help file was written by Graham Plowman

using Help Builder Version 1.09.001 and refers to:

The HelpBuilder Demonstration

Copyright © 1993 - 1996 G.Plowman


Fonts Demonstration
Font Demonstration

Within topics it is possible to change the fonts of text.

To change the text font it must be surrounded by the appropriate RTF commands.

Using the mouse, highlight some text and then select the Text/Font menu option to obtain the Font dialog.

Select the font, style and size required and press 'Ok'.

Example Topic Text:

{\f0 MS Sans Serif}	MS Sans Serif

{\f1 Times New Roman}	Times New Roman

{\f2 Courier New}	Courier New

{\f3 Arial}	Arial


Glossary Demonstration
Glossary

A

Apple	A type of computer. Also known as a 'Mac'. Can be a type of fruit.

B

Ball	A round object usually kicked around on a football/rugby pitch

C

Car	A vehicle used to travel around in

Cat	A fury animal often kept as a pet.

D

Disk	A device inside a computer which stores computer data

Data	Information

E

Elephant	A very large type of animal noted for its very long nose

F

File	An object stored on a computer disk which contains data

G

Gap	A hole

H

Hall	A big room which is usually the entrance room into a house

I

Ink	A substance used in pens for marking paper

J

June	A month name

July	A month name

K

Keyboard	A device attached to a computer which has buttons

L

Lift	Also known as an elevator. Used for transporting people between floors in a building

M

Mac	A short name for 'Apple Macintosh'

N

Nike	A well known brand of running shoes

O

October	A month name

P

Pit	A big whole in the ground, often used to describe a mine

Q

Quid	A British slang term for Pound - the British unit of currency

R

Run	To activate a program on a computer

S

Sit	A position of comfort

T

Tall	Very high

U

Underneath	Positioned below something

V

Virus	A popular computer related problem

W

Walrus	A type of animal like a sea lion except bigger

X

XRay	A method of photography which enables the inside of objects to be seen

Y

Yellow	A colour

Z

Zebra	A black and white striped animal similar to a horse


.SHG Green Link popup
You pressed the green button!


Link Demonstration

By selecting the green text, you have used the facility to provide links between topics.

This is a very useful feature provided by Windows Help and supported by HelpBuilder, enabling you to prompt a user with related topics.

To create a link within a topic, position the caret where you would like the green underlined text to appear and select the Edit/..Link menu option or click on the LINK toolbar icon to obtain the Topic Link dialog. Enter the text which will appear green in Windows Help in your text in the top field and in the lower field, the context ID. Context IDs are used to identify each topic within a help file and may be ordinary text, but it is recommended that you use a header file and refer to topics by their #define string. Press Ok to save/create the link.

To change a previously created link, you can change the text in your topic file or you can use the mouse to highlight the link (including curly braces) and then press the LINK toolbar icon. The Topic Link dialog will appear with fields already populated for you to change. Pressing Ok will then change the text in your topic file for you.


Top of page Lock Demonstration
Top of page lock demo

  bitmap topic link

This topic page demonstrates

how the top of the page

may be locked such that

when the rest of the page

is scrolled, the top does

not scroll. This text is

deliberately only written

in short lines so that the

page fills up to demonstrate

scrolling.

The important features of this

topic are the use of the \keepn

and the \pard RTF commands.

You can place as many lines as

you like between the keepn and

the pard statements.

Inserting of the RTF commands can be

done automatically by selecting the

text to appear in the locked area with

the mouse and then clicking on the

14th toolbar button or selecting the

Text/Lock top of page menu option.

To set the colour of the locked

area, you should select the

Project/Main Window menu item

in HelpBuilder and change the

non-scrollable area colour. By

default it is white, however to

demonstrate the feature, it has been

changed to yellow here. You should

also select Preset or Maximised

main window sizing to make the colours

take effect.

The button demonstration above is

achieved by using a normal topic link

and placing a bitmap instead of some

text. This example purely jumps to the

bitmaps demonstration topic.


Topic Macros

Topic macros are string of text which HelpBuilder recognises during the compilation process and replaces with some appropriate text. Following is a list of all the recognised macros, together with example results:

HelpBuilder application copyright

$APPCOPYRIGHT$	Copyright © 1993 - 1996 G.Plowman

HelpBuilder application name

$APPNAME$	Help Builder

Help file copyright

$COPYRIGHT$	Copyright 1993 - 1996 G.Plowman

Help file last built date

$DATE$	07/04/96

Help file last built time

$TIME$	4:30p

Help file title

$TITLE$	Demonstration Help File

Topic file last changed date

$TOPICDATE$	21/01/96

Help topic file name

$TOPICFILE$	MACROS.TXT

$TOPICFULLFILE$	C:\HELPBLDR\SAMPLES\MACROS.TXT

Topic file last changed time

$TOPICTIME$	10:09a

HelpBuilder version number

$VERNO$	1.09.001


Sample Jump to a Maximised a Window

This is a sample jump which uses the 'maximised' window definition defined in the Project Windows dialog.


.SHG Red Link popup
You pressed the red button!


Segmented Hypergraphics Demonstration

Segmented hypergraphics are similar to ordinary bitmap graphics except that they have regions defined within them which identify help file context ids to jump to.

Segmented hypergraphics enable you to create a graphic which when clicked on, causes jumps to different topics within your help file depending on the positioon of the click on the graphic.

To create a Segmented Hypergraphic file you must use SHED.EXE. It allows you to import a standard bitmap .BMP file and save it as a .SHG file. To define a region within a graphic in SHED, use the mouse to 'drag' a region. Select Edit/Attributes and enter the context id to which you require a jump for the selected area. You can do this to create multiple regions, all of which can cause jumps to different topics in your help file.

There now follows a demonstration.The graphic is entered in this topic in the same way as a normal graphic ie via the Edit/Bitmap menu option or the 'Picture' toolbar button.

When run, there are two areas defined on the graphic which cause jumps to different parts of this help file. Click on the two 'buttons' to see the effect:

Press the top half of the graphic to jump to the Colours Demonstration and the bottom half to jump to the Bitmaps Demonstration.

The next demonstration shows how segmented hypergraphics can cause jumps to popup windows. Click on the two 'buttons' to see the effect:


User Defined Macros
User Defined Macros Demonstration

User defined macros are items of text defined by the user which are automatically replaced by HelpBuilder at build time with text which the user also defines.

User defined macros are set up in the Project/User Defined Macros Dialog. This example project has some macros set up in the dialog to demonstrate on this page how user defined macros operate.

$AUTHORNAME$=Graham Plowman

displays:

Graham Plowman

$APPLICATIONNAME$=HelpBuilder

displays:

HelpBuilder

User defined macros are similar to the in-built text macros except that the user can create them and define their values.

User defined macros are useful where a standard topic file is to be shared between multiple project files, but small differences are required between them, for example, application names, author names etc. These differences can be handled by User Defined Macros which are defined in the project file as opposed to a topic file.


Sample Jump Using a Window

This is a sample jump which uses the 'jump' window definition defined in the Project Windows dialog.

Note that window definitions enable a different client area and non-client area colour to be used on an individual topic basis.

Optionally, window definitions also allow a jump window to be maximised separately from the main window.