Help Object Library: 4.3 Creating Help Files: Defining Files and Contexts

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If all your help resides within single files and links do not cross files (all links are internal to their own files), then defining contexts is simple. However, if links can cross files, you must do a little more work.

When you "define a context," you are notifying the Help Editor that a context with a given name and type exists in the specified file. When all links are internal to a single file, or when you have no links (as with Simple Help), you can simply define contexts for the "same file." However, if you have links crossing files, you must define both the file and context for each external link (similar in function to an "external" definition in your code).

To Define a File

Open the Define File dialog box via the Help Editor menu. Type the name of the file that will have links into it, and click "Add File." You can delete or rename previously defined files.

To Define a Context

Open the Define Context dialog box via the Help Editor menu. Use the upper-left popup list to select which file the new context will be defined for. Use the upper-right popup list to define the type of the file:

Text
A normal text help page. Use this for all contexts in all help types except First Aid as noted below.
TOC
A First Aid TOC page.
Chapter
A First Aid Chapter-level page.
Article
A First Aid Article-level page.

Once you've selected the proper type, name the context and click "Add Context." You can also delete and rename previously-defined contexts.

To Set a Context

Each help page may be recognized as only one context. To set a context

  1. Open the "Set Context" dialog box via the Help Editor menu.
  2. Select some text at the beginning of the help page. Be sure that you have the page's first character selected; otherwise the context name may not "take".
  3. Select the context name from the dialog box, and click "Apply." That page will be set to the selected context.

Pages in the GeoWrite file that do not have help contexts applied will not be generated into the help file. This fact is useful for recording information within the file about the file itself (release dates, draft dates, author name, revision notes, etc.).

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