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                       Building a QuickHelp Database
 
QuickHelp databases consist of ASCII text divided into topics. A topic
consists of the text between .context commands (which specify context
strings), or a .context command and the end of the file. A topic is
displayed when the user searches for a context string that points to that
topic (several context strings can point to the same topic). No topic should
exceed 62K in length.
 
Building the Database
 
The helpmake program is used to build the database after you have added dot
commands and any color changes to the source files. The syntax of the
helpmake command is as follows:
 
    helpmake /e15 /t /a: /ofilename file file ...
 
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/e15  Specifies full compression. If you want to check the database before
      using full compression, use /e0 instead of /e15. Using /e0 will create
      a database with no compression. The helpmake program builds a
      non-compressed database considerably faster than a fully compressed
      database.
 
/t    Specifies that the dot commands are to be compressed into a more terse
      format that is understood by QuickHelp and other Microsoft products.
 
/a:   Specifies that the database uses colon commands. This is a requirement
      for any database that is created specifically for use by QuickHelp.
 
/o    Specifies the output filename. The output filename must immediately
      follow the parameter (no intervening spaces). You should give the
      filename an extension of .hlp.
 
file  Specifies the source files. You may include any number of filenames.
      Filenames may include wildcards.
 
For more information about helpmake, see the ◄Helpmake► topic.
 
Color Changes
 
You can add emphasis to the text in your database by displaying selected
text in green, high-intensity white, or pale red. By convention, italic
words are displayed in green, bold words are displayed in high-intensity
white, and underlined words are displayed in red.
 
To change a section of text to green, type a backslash and an i (\i) in
front of the text. Type a backslash and a p (\p) to return to the normal
display color. All text from the \i to the \p will be displayed in green.
The \p does not need to be on the same line as the \i.
 
To change a section of text to high-intensity white, type a backslash and an
b (\b) in front of the text. Type a backslash and a p (\p) to return to the
normal display color. All text from the \i to the \p will be displayed in
high-intensity white. The \p does not need to be on the same line as the
\b.
 
To change a section of text to pale red, type a backslash and an u (\u) in
front of the text. Type a backslash and a p (\p) to return to the normal
display color. All text from the \i to the \p will be displayed in pale red.
The \p does not need to be on the same line as the \u.
 
Dot Commands
 
Dot commands are commands in your source file that pass control codes to
applications displaying help (such as QuickHelp). Each dot command is on its
own line, and the dot must be the first character on the line. When building
the database, you must specify the /t switch to translate the dot commands
into the terser form that QuickHelp (and other Microsoft products) will
understand.
 
Only the .context command is guaranteed to be recognized by all Microsoft
products that use the database. If an application does not support a
specific dot command, the command will be ignored. The following dot
commands are understood by QuickHelp:
 
    ◄.category►
    ◄.context►
    ◄.freeze►
    ◄.list►
    ◄.paste►
    ◄.popup►
    ◄.ref►
    ◄.topic►
 
Creating Hyperlinks
 
Hyperlinks allow the QuickHelp user to change topics quickly and easily even
when the topic name is more than one word. You create hyperlinks by using
the \a and \v flags. The \a flag starts the hyperlink. The text following
the \a flag is the hyperlink's "hot spot"──the hot spot is the text that the
user tabs to or double-clicks. Following the hot-spot text is the  flag completes the
hyperlink. A hyperlink must fit entirely on one line. You cannot continue
the hot-spot text or the context string over a line break.
 
The following example creates a hyperlink. The words "closing files" are the
hot spot. When the user clicks this hot spot, QuickHelp searches for the
local context string "@close". (The at sign (@) before the word "close" in
this example identifies the context string as a local context string. For
more information on local context strings, see ◄Local Context Strings►,
later in this topic.)
 
    For more information, see closing files.
 
See Also
 
.category, .context, .freeze, .list, .paste, .popup, .ref, .topic
 
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