Important Notice

The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software, purely for historical purposes. If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming, you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully out of date.

◄Using Section►                                       ◄Up► ◄Next► ◄Previous►
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
                             About On-Line Help
 
This topic describes how to use the WM_HELP message in your applications.
 
One of the key elements of user-friendly software is readily available
on-line help. MS OS/2 provides functions and messages to support the
implementation of a help system in your application. This topic discusses
the features of MS OS/2 that support on-line help and suggests techniques
for implementing a help system. The two main components of the system
support for help are the WM_HELP message and the help hook.
 
The WM_HELP message is defined by the system to notify an application when
the user wants help. The WM_HELP message contains context information that
allows the application to respond with information appropriate to current
conditions. The system posts a WM_HELP message in the following situations:
 
♦  During accelerator-table translation for a keyboard event, if the
   keystroke corresponds to an accelerator-table entry with the AF_HELP
   attribute. The system default accelerator table translates the F1 key
   into a WM_HELP message. The WM_HELP message is posted to the focus
   window. If the F1 key is pressed while a menu has the focus, the help
   message goes to the menu, which calls the help hook.
 
♦  When a menu item with the MIS_HELP style is chosen. All applications
   should define at least one menu item with the MIS_HELP style in the menu
   bar. This menu item is typically labeled "F1=Help".
 
♦  When a push button with the BS_HELP style is pressed. (Note that this
   includes the case in which the Help button is pressed in a message box
   that has the MB_HELP style.) The WM_HELP message is posted to the
   button's owner window, which is typically a dialog frame window.
 
The processing required to respond to the WM_HELP messages that originate in
these three situations is discussed later in this topic.
 
The Help menu item and the F1 accelerator key provide a standard
user-interface to the help system. They allow the user to get general help
about the application. The BS_HELP push button style allows applications to
provide help within dialog boxes. You should provide a Help push button in
every dialog box; the help message should explain the purpose and
consequence of any action that could be taken by using that dialog box.
 
Your application should process the WM_HELP message to provide
context-appropriate help to the user. In the case of the Help menu item or
the F1 accelerator key, the WM_HELP message is posted to the focus window.
The focus window can process the message or it can pass it to the
WinDefWindowProc function, which sends the message to the parent window. If
you have a client window with several child windows that can accept the
focus, you can intercept the WM_HELP message in the client window procedure
as the message is passed up from the child window with the focus. The state
of the application when the help message is received determines the
appropriate help, which may be a list of help topics or information about
the window that has the focus.
 
There are limits to what can be accomplished by intercepting the WM_HELP
message. In particular, the application does not receive WM_HELP messages
generated while a menu item is selected. For example, if the user presses
the F1 key while selecting a menu item, the WM_HELP message goes to the menu
window. The menu window does not pass the message on; instead, it calls the
help hook.
 
The help hook allows you to install code that is called by menu windows and
frame windows when they receive WM_HELP messages. You must install a help
hook for your application if you want to provide help for selected menu
items, since there is no way to intercept the WM_HELP message that
originates while a menu item is selected. In addition, if you don't process
a WM_HELP message in your client window, the message is passed to the frame
window, which calls the help hook.
 
 
                                      ♦