ADK/ADT: How to Create Pop-up, Context-Sensitive Help

MORE INFORMATION

• Create a working Help system by setting the HelpContextID and HelpFile properties for your forms to a valid Windows Help file.
• Redirect the F1 key to call a user-defined function that opens the Help file using the HELP_CONTEXTPOPUP option.

1. Open a new module and declare the Windows API WinHelp() and FindWindow() functions by entering the following lines in the module's Declarations section:

   Declare Function WinHelp% Lib "User" (ByVal hwnd%, ByVal _
      szHelpFile$, ByVal uCmd%, ByVal dwData&)
   Declare Function FindWindow% Lib "User" (ByVal szClass$, ByVal _
      szTitle As Any)
   						

   NOTE: You may have some Microsoft Windows API functions defined in an existing Microsoft Access library; therefore, your declarations may be duplicates. If you receive a duplicate procedure name error message, remove or comment out the declarations statement in your code.
2. Enter the following line to add the constant for HELP_CONTEXTPOPUP:

   Const HELP_CONTEXTPOPUP = 8
   					

3. Enter the following code in the module:

   Function Help ()
      Dim Cid As Integer, Dummy As Integer
      On Error Resume Next
      ' Get the HelpContextID of the active control.
      Cid = Screen.ActiveControl.HelpContextID
      ' The error is 2474 if no control is active.
      If Cid = 0 Then
         ' There is no control context ID, so check the form and get
         ' the HelpContextID of the active form.
         Cid = Screen.ActiveForm.HelpContextID
         ' The error is 2475 if no form is active.
      End If
      ' If there is a context ID, open the Help file with context.
      ' FindWindow() returns the handle of the Microsoft Access window.
      ' Specify your custom Help file for the second argument.
      If Cid > 0 And Cid < 32767 Then
         Dummy = WinHelp(FindWindow("OMain", 0&), "C:\Myhelp.Hlp", _
         HELP_CONTEXTPOPUP, Cid)
      End If
   End Function
   					

4. Create the following new macro called AutoKeys to redirect the F1 key:

         Macro Name   Condition   Action
         --------------------------------
         {F1}                     RunCode
   
         AutoKeys Action
         ------------------------
         RunCode
            Function Name: Help()