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Class: WinHelp in Category Windows : Help Files from Total Visual SourceBook

Working with Windows Help (*.HLP) files in VB6 and VBA with 32 and 64-bit Windows API calls.

Code is included for opening, searching and closing help files. You can also open "Help on Help", contents pages, the help index, and run macros stored in help files. HLP format help files have been replaced by the more secure CHM help file format. Your Windows settings may prevent the ability to open an HLP file. Many of the Office and Visual Basic products provide tools for searching and displaying help files, but the VBA/VB6 solution is based on the use of the Common Dialog control. If your application is already using the Common Dialog control, it makes sense to use the Help facilities that VB offers. However, if you aren't using this control, and you need to implement support for Windows Help, this class is a better solution. Its size is obviously much smaller than the Common Dialog control, and its operation is very simple.

Procedure List

Procedure Name	Type	Description
(Declarations)	Declarations	Declarations and private variables for the CWinHelp class.
HelpFile	Property	Get the path/name of the currently set help file.
CloseFile	Method	Mark the current help file as closed. Note: Windows Help is both a shared resource and a stand alone program, you cannot programmatically close a help file using the WinHelp API call. Instead, use this function to notify Windows Help that you are done with the help file. This releases the lock on the help file and allows your application to exit cleanly.
HelpOnHelp	Method	Open the Help on Help page. This method has the same effect as opening the WinHelp.hlp file, offering help on using the Windows Help engine.
OpenContentsTab	Method	Open the Contents tab of the current help file.
OpenContext	Method	Open the specified Help context in the current help file. This method opens a specific help topic by specifying the topic's unique Help Context ID numeric value. When you generate a help file, most tools generate a Map file that lists all the generated context ids. Use these values with this method to have your application display context-sensitive help.
OpenDefaultPage	Method	Open the default page of the current help file.
OpenFindTab	Method	Open the Find tab of the current help file.
OpenIndexTab	Method	Open the current help file with the Index tab active.
OpenIndexTabWithSearch	Method	Open the specified help file to the Index tab and supplies the specified search string as the Help search string.
RunMacro	Method	Runs the specified macro in the current help file. A help file macro is a sequence of commands embedded in the help file to perform extended operations.

Example Code for Using Class: WinHelp

' Example of the CWinHelp module
'
' To use this example:
' 1. Create a new form.
' 2. Create a command button called cmdHelp
' 3. Paste the entire contents of this module into the new form's module.

Private Sub cmdHelp_Click()
  Dim clsHelp As CWinHelp
  Dim lngContextID As Long

  ' Create a new instance of the class
  Set clsHelp = New CWinHelp

  ' Point to the help file
  clsHelp.HelpFile = "SAMPLE.HLP"

  ' Use the OpenContext method to display the topic associated with Help Context ID #1
  lngContextID = 1
  clsHelp.OpenContext lngContextID

  ' Display the help file for using Help.
  clsHelp.HelpOnHelp

  ' Open the help file to the default page.
  clsHelp.OpenDefaultPage

  ' Open the help file with the Contents page active
  clsHelp.OpenContentsTab

  ' Open the help file with the Index tab active
  clsHelp.OpenIndexTab

  ' Open the help file with the Index tab active, and puts the supplies the word "Buttons" as the search phrase.
  clsHelp.OpenIndexTabWithSearch "Buttons"

  ' Finally, open the help file with the Find tab active.
  clsHelp.OpenFindTab

  ' Run the macro called MyTest. Uncomment this line after supplying a valid macro name
  ' clsHelp.RunMacro "MyTest()"

  ' Mark the help file as closed.
  clsHelp.CloseFile

  Set clsHelp = Nothing

End Sub

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