Hi,

 is there anybody out there who can give me some kind of example
concerning Help files. I want to make Help file for an application, but
so far I haven't found any decent example helping me out.

 Anyone? :-)

 thanx,
Bart.

Check out the best source for help authors: http://www.helpmaster.com

--
Alexander Halser
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.ec-software.com
Help & Manual - the next generation in help authoring

Hi Bart

Assuming you mean HLP help. You need to download the Microsoft Help
Workshop from the MS web site and this will get you the help compiler
and a handy reference HLP file - though it is not really tutorial.

You will probably find it easier to use one of the low cost help file
authoring tools available, of which mine (Helpburger) is a typical and
reasonably straight-forward example. [sorry for shameless plug].

However, A simple example help file follows : save this as SIMPLE.RTF

{\rtf1\ansi
\deff3

{\fonttbl{\f0\froman System;}{\f1\froman Times New Roman;}
{\f2\froman Symbol;}{\f3\fswiss Arial;}}

{\colortbl; \red0\green0\blue0; \red0\green0\blue255;
\red0\green255\blue255; }

#{\footnote H_0000}
${\footnote Contents}
+{\footnote id0001:0000}
K{\footnote Contents}
\plain\pard
\keepn{\f3\b\fs24\cf2 Contents}\par\pard
{\f3\fs18 \par

\pard\plain\f3\fs30\cf2\b Welcome to Untitled
\par
\par \plain\f3\fs26\cf2\b Contents
\par
\par \plain\f3\fs18\cf1  This is a help file without much in it.
But here is a \plain\f3\fs18\cf3{\uldb link}{\v
H_0001}\plain\f3\fs18\cf1  to the second topic.
\par }

\page
#{\footnote H_0001}
${\footnote second topic}
+{\footnote id0001:0001}
K{\footnote second topic}
\plain\pard
\keepn{\f3\b\fs24\cf2 second topic}\par\pard
{\f3\fs18 \par

\pard\plain\f3\fs18\cf1 this is second topic.
\par }

------------------------------------
and this as SIMPLE.HPJ

[OPTIONS]
LCID=0x809 0x0 0x0 ; English (British)
REPORT=Yes
TITLE=Untitled
ROOT=C:\test\helpburger
HLP=simple.hlp

[FILES]
simple.RTF

[MAP]
#define H_0000    0 // Contents
#define H_0001    1 // second topic

[WINDOWS]
main="Untitled",,0,(r16777215),(r12632256)

[CONFIG]
BrowseButtons()

and then compile with the help workshop.

Steve
--
Helpburger - easy and affordable Windows Help Authoring
http://www.euro-share.com/langdale/helpburger.htm

Everyone will chime in with their favorites, but I would suggest Oasis SE as a
fairly simple to learn and use Help editor.  Cut and paste from your word
processor, select your keywords, and compile - presto, a help file.  That it is
free is a plus.
/js

Others have posted suggestions on creating a help file. As you can see,
this is not a Delphi-specific thing, which explains why it is not
documented in Delphi itself.

Once you have a valid help file, it is easy to use it in a Delphi
application. The first thing you need to do is designate it as the
application's help file. If you would be doing this at design-time:

1. Select Project|Options from the IDE menu.
2. In the Project Options dialog, navigate to the Application tab.
3. Set the Help File field to the name and location of your help file.

You can do this at runtime, instead, if you prefer. Set the
TApplication.HelpFile property to the name and location of the help file.

  Application.HelpFile := ExtractFileName(Application.EXEName) +
    'TheHelpFile.hlp';

Once designated, help commands of VCL methods will use that help file. For
instance, the TApplication.HelpCommand method can be used to display the
help file's dialog. Below, the HELP_FINDER command is used as the Command
argument of the HelpCommand method.

  Application.HelpCommand(HELP_FINDER, 0);

You can also implement context-sensitive help. That is when a visual
control (or form) has focus and when you press F1 the help topic for that
control (or form) is invoked. To do this, set the component's HelpContext
property to a nonzero value. Then, in the help file's project file (.HPJ),
map the context ID of a topic to this number in a [MAP] section. After
compiling, that context ID will be associated with the visual control.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Steve Koterski              "Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday,
Felton, CA                  lying in hospitals dying of nothing."
                                                              -- Redd Foxx

You can make an hehlpfile with DotHLP from www.auricvisions.com. The trial is free.
It is as easy as writing a document in word.
You have the DotHlp and the DotCHM version. But the DotHlp version will do.
With DotHlp you can export the helpfile to htm pages too. See my example on http://gallery.uunet.be/charlijo/ which is an export.

Jef Charlier