About application Help

Application Help is a Help system that is included with a software program. The topics it contains describe how to use the software. It typically includes topics accessed from Contents, Index, and Search tabs, and the Help system is usually started from a Help menu in the application.

When you author application Help, you create a system that includes a variety of topic types accessible from the viewer. These topic types can include:

Application Help often includes context-sensitive Help, which is accessible from dialogs and windows in the application relevant to tasks users are performing. For example, a user opens a dialog and needs more information on selecting its options. Clicking the Help button in the dialog opens a topic describing all the available options. The content of the topic clarifies what the options are intended to do so the user can finish a task.

There are two kinds of context-sensitive Help topics that can be used in an application. These topic types include:

It's important to work closely with your developers so application Help can work properly. The developers include the HTML Help file(s) with the application so they can be installed on end-users' systems.