How to Call a Windows Help Search Macro by Using Code

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Developers who write a custom Windows Help file for their application may also want to include program code that invokes their help session and goes immediately to the Search macro. This can be done with one of the following examples.

NOTE: For backward compatibility, Visual FoxPro still supports FOXTOOLS.FLL (included in earlier FoxPro versions), the Visual FoxPro API library that allows calls to 16-bit .DLL functions. However, in Visual FoxPro, the DECLARE command is the preferred method for calling .DLL functions.

The following code shows how to call Visual FoxPro Help and open the Search macro by using Foxtools.fll.

   SET LIBRARY TO HOME()+"FOXTOOLS.FLL"             && Locates Foxtools
   hhand=REGFN("WinHelp","ICIC","I")
   LPZFILENAME=alltrim(HOME())+"FOXHELP.HLP"
   WCOMMAND=258
   DWDATA="SEARCH()"
   declare Integer FindWindow in Win32Api String,String
   hwnd=FindWindow("","")
   HELP
   =CALLFN(hhand,hwnd,LPZFILENAME,WCOMMAND,DWDATA)
   RELEASE HHAND
   SET LIBRARY TO                                   && Releases Foxtools
				

The following code shows how to call Visual FoxPro Help using Declare:

   LPZFILENAME=HOME()+"FOXHELP.HLP"+CHR(0)
   HELP
   help_command=258
   Declare Integer WinHelp in Win32Api Integer, String, Integer, String
   =WinHelp(0,LPZFILENAME,help_command,"SEARCH()")
				

The following code shows how to call a specific Help topic within Visual FoxPro Help:

   LPZFILENAME=HOME()+"FOXHELP.HLP"+CHR(0)
   HELP
   help_partialkey=261
   Declare Integer WinHelp in Win32Api Integer, String, Integer, String
   =WinHelp(0,LPZFILENAME,help_partialkey,"form properties")
				

This example specifically calls the "Form Properties" Help topic. Experimentation with this will demonstrate various degrees of functionality. For example, altering the last line of code such that "form properties" is replaced with "form" will bring up the Search macro with the search index moved to "form."

For more information on creating Windows Help and the Help Compiler, please see the "Professional Features Guide" packaged with the Professional Edition of Microsoft Visual FoxPro.