Help Class
Encapsulates the HTML Help 1.0 engine.
Assembly: System.Windows.Forms (in System.Windows.Forms.dll)
The Help type exposes the following members.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | Equals(Object) | Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | Finalize | Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | GetHashCode | Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | GetType | Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | MemberwiseClone | Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() ![]() | ShowHelp(Control, String) | Displays the contents of the Help file at the specified URL. |
![]() ![]() | ShowHelp(Control, String, String) | Displays the contents of the Help file found at the specified URL for a specific keyword. |
![]() ![]() | ShowHelp(Control, String, HelpNavigator) | Displays the contents of the Help file found at the specified URL for a specific topic. |
![]() ![]() | ShowHelp(Control, String, HelpNavigator, Object) | Displays the contents of the Help file located at the URL supplied by the user. |
![]() ![]() | ShowHelpIndex | Displays the index of the specified Help file. |
![]() ![]() | ShowPopup | Displays a Help pop-up window. |
![]() | ToString | Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.) |
You cannot create a new instance of the Help class. To provide Help for an application, call the static ShowHelp and ShowHelpIndex methods.
You can use Help to show compiled Help files (.chm) or HTML files in the HTML Help format. Compiled Help files provide a table of contents, an index, search capability, and keyword links in pages. Shortcuts work only in compiled Help files.
You can generate HTML Help 1.x files by using HTML Help Workshop. For more information about HTML Help, see "HTML Help Workshop" and other HTML Help topics at Microsoft HTML Help.
The following code example displays a form that contains three buttons that can be used to interact with the Mspaint.chm Help file. The Show Help Index button displays the Index tab for the Help file. The Show Help button displays content in the Help file based on the value that is selected in the Help Navigator list. The Show Keyword button displays content in the Help file based on the keyword that is specified in the Keyword text box.
For example, to show the Ovals Help page by the index value, select the HelpNavigator::KeywordIndex value in the Help Navigator drop-down list, type ovals in the Parameter text box, and then click the Show Help button. To show the "To paint with a brush" Help topic by the keyword, type mspaint.chm::/paint_brush.htm in the Keyword text box, and then click the Show Keyword button.
The example uses the ShowHelp method to display the different Help tabs and Help topics, and the ShowHelpIndex method to display the Help index.
#using <System.dll> #using <System.Drawing.dll> #using <System.Windows.Forms.dll> using namespace System; using namespace System::Drawing; using namespace System::ComponentModel; using namespace System::Windows::Forms; public ref class Form1: public System::Windows::Forms::Form { private: String^ helpfile; System::Windows::Forms::Button^ showIndex; System::Windows::Forms::Button^ showHelp; System::Windows::Forms::Label ^ label1; System::Windows::Forms::ComboBox^ navigatorCombo; System::Windows::Forms::Button^ showKeyword; System::Windows::Forms::TextBox^ keyword; System::Windows::Forms::Label ^ label2; System::Windows::Forms::Label ^ label3; System::Windows::Forms::TextBox^ parameterTextBox; public: Form1() { helpfile = "mspaint.chm"; this->showIndex = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button; this->showHelp = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button; this->navigatorCombo = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::ComboBox; this->label1 = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Label; this->showKeyword = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button; this->keyword = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::TextBox; this->label2 = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Label; this->label3 = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Label; this->parameterTextBox = gcnew System::Windows::Forms::TextBox; // Help Navigator Label this->label1->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 112, 64 ); this->label1->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 168, 16 ); this->label1->Text = "Help Navigator:"; // Keyword Label this->label2->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 120, 184 ); this->label2->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 100, 16 ); this->label2->Text = "Keyword:"; // Parameter Label this->label3->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 112, 120 ); this->label3->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 168, 16 ); this->label3->Text = "Parameter:"; // Show Index Button this->showIndex->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 16, 16 ); this->showIndex->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 264, 32 ); this->showIndex->TabIndex = 0; this->showIndex->Text = "Show Help Index"; this->showIndex->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler( this, &Form1::showIndex_Click ); // Show Help Button this->showHelp->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 16, 80 ); this->showHelp->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 80, 80 ); this->showHelp->TabIndex = 1; this->showHelp->Text = "Show Help"; this->showHelp->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler( this, &Form1::showHelp_Click ); // Show Keyword Button this->showKeyword->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 16, 192 ); this->showKeyword->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 88, 32 ); this->showKeyword->TabIndex = 4; this->showKeyword->Text = "Show Keyword"; this->showKeyword->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler( this, &Form1::showKeyword_Click ); // Help Navigator ComboBox this->navigatorCombo->DropDownStyle = System::Windows::Forms::ComboBoxStyle::DropDownList; this->navigatorCombo->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 112, 80 ); this->navigatorCombo->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 168, 21 ); this->navigatorCombo->TabIndex = 2; // Keyword TextBox this->keyword->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 120, 200 ); this->keyword->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 160, 20 ); this->keyword->TabIndex = 5; this->keyword->Text = ""; // Parameter TextBox this->parameterTextBox->Location = System::Drawing::Point( 112, 136 ); this->parameterTextBox->Size = System::Drawing::Size( 168, 20 ); this->parameterTextBox->TabIndex = 8; this->parameterTextBox->Text = ""; // Set up how the form should be displayed and add the controls to the form. this->ClientSize = System::Drawing::Size( 292, 266 ); array<System::Windows::Forms::Control^>^formControls = {this->parameterTextBox,this->label3,this->label2,this->keyword,this->showKeyword,this->label1,this->navigatorCombo,this->showHelp,this->showIndex}; this->Controls->AddRange( formControls ); this->FormBorderStyle = System::Windows::Forms::FormBorderStyle::FixedDialog; this->Text = "Help App"; // Load the various values of the HelpNavigator enumeration // into the combo box. TypeConverter^ converter; converter = TypeDescriptor::GetConverter( HelpNavigator::typeid ); System::Collections::IEnumerator^ myEnum = converter->GetStandardValues()->GetEnumerator(); while ( myEnum->MoveNext() ) { Object^ value = safe_cast<Object^>(myEnum->Current); navigatorCombo->Items->Add( value ); } } private: void showIndex_Click( Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ ) { // Display the index for the help file. Help::ShowHelpIndex( this, helpfile ); } void showHelp_Click( Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ ) { // Display Help using the Help navigator enumeration // that is selected in the combo box. Some enumeration // values make use of an extra parameter, which can // be passed in through the Parameter text box. HelpNavigator navigator = HelpNavigator::TableOfContents; if ( navigatorCombo->SelectedItem != nullptr ) { navigator = *safe_cast<HelpNavigator^>(navigatorCombo->SelectedItem); } Help::ShowHelp( this, helpfile, navigator, parameterTextBox->Text ); } void showKeyword_Click( Object^ /*sender*/, System::EventArgs^ /*e*/ ) { // Display help using the provided keyword. Help::ShowHelp( this, helpfile, keyword->Text ); } }; [STAThread] int main() { Application::Run( gcnew Form1 ); }
Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
