Context-sensitive Help comparison

Context-sensitive Help provides information about what users see inside applications – details about fields and controls at dialogs, explanations of messages, and descriptions of windows and screen objects. The following information explains how it works in WinHelp and HTML Help.

WinHelp

Microsoft HTML Help

Field-level/What's This? Help (text formatting)

Field-level/What's This? Help (text-only)

Dialog/window-level Help (text formatting)

Dialog/window-level Help (text-formatting)

Map files

Map files

Aliases (connect topic IDs to Help topics)

Aliases (match topic IDs to window-level Help topics)

WinHelp API is used by developers to provide context-sensitive functionality with applications

HTML Help API is used by developers to provide context-sensitive functionality with applications