Copyright: Herd Software Development 1995-96


ThinHelp's ForeHelp interface (main help menu)
ThinHelp's ForeHelp interface

  Overview: a brief guide to ThinHelps ForeHelp interface

  ThinHelp's baggage handling

  File selection from the ForeHelp interface

  ThinHelp display options

  Tips and tricks

  ForeHelp interface registry information (Windows 95)

  Troubleshooting the ForeHelp interface


A brief guide to ThinHelps ForeHelp interface

About the ThinHelp interface

ThinHelp’s ForeHelp interface is a simple three-tab dialog that looks and behaves like a standard Windows tabbed dialog.  In most cases you’ll need to go through all three dialog screens to achieve the display effects you want.  The interface works seamlessly with our own proprietary archiving software and permits you to avoid the intermediate step of building your archives as a separate step in the authoring process.  Simply specify the name of a new archive to create from the Baggage dialog to create a fresh archive and drag and drop bitmaps onto the Files dialog window to add them to the current archive.

The Related topics in this helpfile will link you to the most important topics in ThinHelps help system relating to the dialog window in which you are working.

You can often save yourself a trip to the helpfile by holding your cursor over the appropriate dialog item and examining the status bar at the bottom of the window.  Looking down is a decidedly unnatural movement when you’re authoring (the tendency is to gaze upward, a reflex action which stimulates memory and assists creativity) so this may be something youll need to remind yourself to do.

About ForeHelp’s embedded window support

ForeHelp offers many unique features designed to ease the authoring process.  Among these is the ability to support third-party DLLs which conform to a ForeHelp standard for interfaces.  ThinHelp is the first third-party DLL to support this standard.

This ThinHelp editor is available as soon as ThinHelp is installed with the ForeHelp interface option selected.  Please insure that the 16 bit version is installed on your system if you are using ForeHelp 2.11.  The 32 bit version is intended for use only with ForeHelp 2.95.

If you have been using Help Buttons or FFBMP.DLL, you are already familiar with the process of authoring embedded windows with ForeHelp.  If not, youll need some of the background supplied in the ThinHelp online guide and tutorial (THINHELP.HLP).

Even if you are an experienced Help Buttons user, you’ll learn a great deal about how ThinHelp works and how to put its unique features to use in your projects if you take some time to explore the online guide.

About ForeHelp’s macro support

ThinHelp’s installation procedure automatically registers all of ThinHelp’s custom macros in ForeHelp’s database for easy access using the built-in pick list.  You’ll find ThinHelp’s macros grouped together alphabetically in the drop-down macro list starting with TH.

Once these macros are registered with ForeHelp, they should automatically be added to your .HPJ project file by ForeHelp, allowing you to treat them like normal Help macros...but of course you’ll need to remember to include the appropriate ThinHelp DLL with your distributed helpfile.

When authoring macros into your embedded window statements, you can use either the ForeHelp macro editor dialog or enter macro strings manually ThinHelp’s own macro dialog.  Be aware that the status bar in the ThinHelp editor shows exactly what will appear in the RTF source built by ForeHelp at compile time, and it will use characters you may not expect to see.  Don’t try to copy what appears in the status bar...simply author ThinHelp macros as you would author any other Help macro.

About ForeHelp and Push

The Push hypergraphics editor does not interface directly with ForeHelp.  It is designed to be used as a stand-alone utility.  If you wish to use Push’s integrated HelpDebug error checking you will first need to Build your project so that ForeHelp creates RTF and HPJ files which HelpDebug can process.  HelpDebug cannot analyze ForeHelp .DB? Files.

Related topics:

Tips and tricks

HelpDebug: troubleshooting your Help projects


ThinHelps baggage and macro handling
ThinHelp’s baggage and macro handling

Select compressed graphics library:

The listbox under this heading displays the currently available graphics libraries (archives) being used in this project.

If this is your first project, youll need to create a new compressed graphics library.  You make a new archive by selecting...Add new archive.

Add new archive:

This button calls up the Windows file dialog for selecting new archives.  You can either select an existing LZH archive or create a new one.  To create a new archive, type the name you want to assign to the archive in the File name: box in the file dialog and the editor will assign it to the project.  Once it is assigned to the project you can drag bitmaps from Explorer or File Manager onto the Files dialog.

This dialog should never be used for adding normal Help baggage to a ForeHelp project unless this baggaged file is going to be accessed using HLPLHA.DLL.

Remove selected archive:

When removing an archive, insure that all files referenced in your helpfile which may have been contained in this archive have had their references removed.  HelpDebug will tell you if you have forgotten any stray references.

Optional hotspot macro for this embedded window:

ThinHelp’s ForeHelp interface will allow you to enter any standard Windows Help macro, or any macro registered from an add-in DLL used elsewhere in your project, from this box.  Enter the macro the same way you would enter a normal Windows macro.  The only character you may not use in your macro is the tilde character “~”.

...more info?

Pick list:

This button calls up ForeHelp’s built-in macro selection box where you can select and author your Help macros.  ThinHelp’s ForeHelp interface will automatically convert your macro to text which is compatible with the no-comma rule in embedded window macros.  Use commas as you normally would and ThinHelp will convert them for you.

Related topics:

Getting started: How does ThinHelp handle bitmaps?

Working with dynamic graphics libraries

Attaching macros to ThinHelp bitmaps

Troubleshooting the ForeHelp interface


ThinHelp’s ForeHelp interface will automatically convert your macro to text which is compatible with the “no-commas rule” in embedded window macros.  Use commas as you normally would and ThinHelp will convert them for you.


File selection from the ForeHelp interface
File selection from ThinHelp’s ForeHelp interface

Files in the current archive:

Displays a list of all files currently packed inside the archive you are working on.

Files selected for display:

Shows the name of the file (usually) or files (for animations) to be used in this embedded window.

Note: Custom animation sequences will be displayed in the order in which you add the files to the archive, not the order in which you select them for display.

Add file: and Remove from archive:

These buttons call up the listboxes used to add files from the Baggage dialog.

...more info?

Edit/View:

This button launches the editor or viewer associated with the file type you have selected.

...more info?

Unselect file:

Removes a file from the list of files to be displayed in this embedded window.  Make sure README.TXT files from any custom bitmap libraries such as the Knit Picker libraries do not appear in this window.

File selection string:

This “expert mode” option allows you to manually enter a filemask for autoselection of multiple files.  (Note that ThinHelp’s file masking uses partial filenames and does not require or support the * or ? wildcard characters.)

Related topics:

Working with dynamic graphics libraries

Defining custom animation sequences

Troubleshooting the ForeHelp interface


Valid file types for use in ThinHelp embedded windows:

BMP:	standard Windows BMP file

SHG:	SHED.EXE-generated Help hypergraphic

JPG:	JPEG compressed bitmap

MSK:	Transparency mask bitmap for a BMP or JPG.

PAL:	Palette definition file used by JPEG graphics

 When using ForeHelp, the ThinHelp editor expects to find certain file types in the archive.  When using ThinHelp without the editor you can use any extension you want for your files and ThinHelp should still recognize and use them if they are valid.  But the editor itself expects all selected files to have valid ThinHelp-compatible file extensions.  This helps to insure that no disastrous results occur when, for example, a README.TXT file is accidentally selected for display as an embedded window bitmap, or a .DOC file meant to be extracted using HLPLHA.DLL is referenced as an embedded window bitmap.


For example, if you have PaintBrush selected as the editor for .BMP files, selecting a .BMP file from the list and clicking Edit/View will load the bitmap into PaintBrush for editing.  Youll need to check and perhaps change your Windows file associations for Help bitmaps if this button does not load the file into an editor or viewer you want to use.


ThinHelp display options

256 color JPEG dithering

This section is needed only for JPEGs and is probably best left alone until you become more familiar with ThinHelps palette handling.

Standard palette colors:

Selects the base number of gradations of each hue of Red, Green and Blue to be assigned exclusively to this bitmap from the standard 256 color palette.

Additional colors for this image:

Enter the number of unique colors you’d like to assign to this image to enhance it.

Animation properties

Multiple properties may be selected for the same embedded window.  These properties are not needed for display of single (static or non-animated) embedded window bitmaps.

Play once:

Starts the animation when the embedded window topic is opened or, in a long topic, when the animation area is scrolled into the main topic window.

Start when clicked:

This sets your animation to play only when clicked by the user.  Only works if no hotspot macro or Push-generated hypergraphics data file has been assigned to this animation.

Scroll bar:

Adds a scroll bar and left-right scroll buttons to the bottom of your animation.  Used primarily for procedural help to allow users to step through animation frames one at a time as slides.

Advance rate:

Sets the frame advance rate in milliseconds per frame.

...more info?

Metafile on last frame:

This is needed only if you have created a .SEG file for this animation which uses a metafile hotspot.  Using this option will display the metafile only over the last frame instead of over all frames in the animation.

Window style

Add button border

This should be selected only if you intend to make this bitmap or animation into a depressable embedded window button.  Not recommended for use with transparent bitmaps or transparent animations.

Transparent color

You can select any of the standard 16 Windows colors here as colors to be used as the transparent background for your bitmap.

...more info?

Placement

Defines how the embedded window will be displayed on the screen by Help.  Character does not mean centered.  Centering is a formatting parameter.

...more info?

Related topics:

Custom color palettes in ThinHelp projects

About transparent bitmaps in WinHelp

Frame-by-frame animations

Animation: advanced techniques and parameter reference

Metafiles: overlaying vector graphics on JPEGs and BMPs

Compressed WAV audio support

Creating embedded window buttons

Troubleshooting the ForeHelp interface


Unless you have tested the animation or been provided with preassigned frame advance rates, a little tweaking is usually necessary to get the playback speed right.  Expect to have to reset this parameter two or three times to achieve the desired result with your first few animations.


The best performance will be achieved through the use of black as the transparent color for this embedded window.

When creating transparent animations, keep in mind that the animation will create a transparency mask from the first bitmap and use this mask as the transparent region for all bitmaps in the animation.

When converting Web GIFs for use with Help, do not expect that the grey you see used as a background in most GIFs to be the same grey selectable from the drop-down palette.  192/192/192 is the standard Windows grey; many Web GIFs use 198/198/198 or 191/191/191 which look virtually identical in shade but do not display transparently with ThinHelp.


Tips and tricks

Determining proper transparent colors

The only colors valid for transparency in ThinHelp embedded window bitmaps are the 16 standard Windows palette colors.  You’ll see these colors when you select the Transparent color dropdown list on the Options dialog.  If you’re using predesigned libraries of bitmaps such as the Knit Picker libraries, you can use the Edit/View button to load the bitmap into your graphics viewer or editor to see for yourself which transparent color has been used for the background.  (Most Knit Picker bitmaps use lime green, or 0/255/0, as the background color.)  Knit Picker archives contain README.TXT files which offer tips for displaying some bitmaps and transparency indices where needed, but the information in these files is of limited value to ForeHelp users.  These files are designed primarily for non-ForeHelp users of ThinHelp.

Multiple instances of the same bitmap

Whenever you want to display multiple instances of the same bitmap, you can avoid going through the ThinHelp editor by copying and pasting the embedding directly in ForeHelp.  Keep in mind that you must drag the cursor completely over the embedding to select it for copying to the clipboard.  Simply highlighting the embedding will not make it copyable.  Once copied, the embedding can be pasted into any other location in the current project with all properties preserved.

Drag-and-drop

The editor supports two types of drag-and-drop from Explorer or File Manager.

From the Baggage dialog: you can drag LZH archives from anywhere on your system onto the dialog window and they will be automatically added to the [BAGGAGE] section of your HPJ file.

From the Files dialog: you can drag individual bitmaps directly onto the dialog window and the file will be added to the currently selected LZH archive for you by the editor.


ForeHelp interface registry information

The ForeHelp interface attaches to ForeHelp’s Text menu under the Insert Special submenu.  If a registry modification should ever result in ThinHelp’s entry disappearing from this location, or if you should ever need to erase the key or modify it manually, here is a RegEdit diagram showing where to find the key.

If modifying the registry to match this example fails to restore ThinHelp to the menu, you will have to change the (Default) value so that it too reads THNHLP.DLL.


Troubleshooting the ForeHelp interface

Embedded windows are not displayed

Build your current project to generate the needed .HPJ and .RTF files for HelpDebug, then run HelpDebug for a diagnosis of the problem.  Its output file will tell you which files were not found where they were expected.  You can then use the editor to add the appropriate bitmaps to the appropriate archives.  This should insure that your bitmaps display properly after the next compile.

Helpfile is displaying an animation instead of a single static bitmap

You probably selected the archive and didn’t select a specific bitmap from it.  You’ll need to go to the Files dialog and insure that a single bitmap is shown in the right-hand list box so that ThinHelp doesn’t assume that you want an animation sequence.  (Animation sequences and single-bitmap archives do not require you to specify the bitmap’s filename, but it is usually good preventive medicine to specify it anyway.)

ThinHelp animations become annoying during an editing session

ThinHelp animations are previewed in ForeHelp as you author them, but this could become annoying when you need to concentrate on composition and syntax.  To overcome this, you can either specify the first bitmap in the animation as the only bitmap displayed in this embedded window and change your embedded windows properties at the end of the editing session, or you can copy the embedded window to the clipboard, paste it into an empty topic, and insert extra-large placeholder text where the animation is displayed to remind you to replace it prior to compiling.

ThinHelp bitmaps look awful when displayed in ForeHelp

Don’t assume that what you see in ForeHelp’s editing and test windows will be an accurate reflection of the appearance of your compiled helpfile.  Color palette handling in ForeHelp may be significantly less efficient than it will be in the compiled project.  When in doubt, perform a test compile before assuming that your selected graphics are unsuitable for the project.

ThinHelp’s editor refuses to accept your file selection

You have probably selected a file with an extension incompatible with the ForeHelp editor.  Click here for more information.  If this occurs from the Baggage dialog, it is probably because you did not double-click the LZH archives filename.

Statement and macro templates copied from ThinHelp helpfiles won’t paste properly

ForeHelp users should use these template strings as examples for working with the ForeHelp interface.  The status bar at the bottom of the interface window will give you an exact readout of the string you are authoring so you can compare it to the template example.  (Naturally it won’t have the “parameter cues” enclosed in square brackets though.)

Macros aren’t working from embedded window hotspots

There are a number of possible causes for this problem, and not all of them are obvious.  If HelpDebug’s error table or the help compiler’s error report has not given you enough information to diagnose the cause of the problem, and you are sure that you have entered the macro correctly, check to make sure you haven’t used ThinHelps reserved tilde character (~) in the macro syntax.  The tilde is needed to replace the comma only if you are authoring without the ForeHelp editor.  If you are using the ThinHelp for ForeHelp, you should author all macros destined for ThinHelp embedded windows exactly as you would author them for normal text or bitmap hotspots.

Web links don’t work in ThinHelp macros

This problem is usually the result of a tilde character in the URL itself.  Tildes are often used as directory aliasing characters in URLs, e.g. http://www.commercial.com/~smith might be registered on the host machine to replace http://www.commercial.com/users/html/public/s/smith.  If possible, try to find out if the URL can be referenced in a way that does not require a tilde.  If it can’t, youll need to launch it in another way, perhaps by jumping to a secondary window topic with a hotspot for launching this URL.

Editor dialog refuses to close

You probably have an open program somewhere on your desktop which is displaying one of the files in a graphics library archive used by your helpfile.  Use Ctrl+Esc in Windows 3.1/3.11 to obtain a list of open programs; check your task bar in Windows 95.

If you have Windows 95 and cannot find the open program with the offending file, it is possible you crashed the viewer program and Windows can’t release the image file for use by the ThinHelp editor.  Use Ctrl+Alt+Delete to search for any open programs or tasks which might be causing this program and try to close them.  Regrettably this will not always work, and you may have to close the editor without the file in question and retry the operation after restarting Windows 95.

Other problems

Detailed help with other ThinHelp related problems is available from the main troubleshooting menu linked to the help button.


About to launch Help to RTF...

All files in ThinHelp’s help system include complete, uncrippled functionality with our Help to RTF conversion software for allowing you to create Word-compatible documentation from helpfiles including all bitmaps and embedded window objects.  This feature is reserved exclusively for helpfiles included with Herd Software Development products.  For complete functionality with all helpfiles you will need to own a license to Help to RTF Standard or Help to RTF Pro.

You can use the evaluation version of Help to RTF included in this package to create printable documentation from any of the included helpfiles and optionally load the appropriate helpfile directly into Help to RTF by selecting the Print Some or All Topics... item from each helpfiles File menu.

Select one of the following:

Launch Help to RTF        Learn more about Help to RTF