How to Set Up Multiple Jumps Within a Scrolling Help Context

- Professional Edition of Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows,

  versions 2.0 and 3.0

SUMMARY

This article gives the steps necessary to create a help file similar to the Glossary help file in Visual Basic version 3.0 for Windows. It describes how to implement non-scrolling regions that contain context sensitive jump buttons.

MORE INFORMATION

From the Visual Basic for Windows Main Help Screen, select the Glossary to bring up an alphabetical list of keywords. You can see a non-scrolling region with bit mapped buttons above a scrolling region. When you click a button labeled from A to Z, you are able to jump within the current help screen context. Several steps are necessary for you to re-create this behavior in a Visual Basic application.

NOTE: you will need to use a word processor (for example, Microsoft Word for Windows) that supports Rich Text Format (.RTF) files. This example assumes you are using Microsoft Word for Windows, and describes the appropriate Word commands.

Steps to Create Your Glossary Help File

1. Creating the Non Scrolling Region:

   From within Word, highlight the paragraphs that you do want to be part of the non-scrolling region.

   Select: Format Paragraph Keep With Next to cause the selected text to become non-scrolling at the top of the context topic screen.

   NOTE: Non-scrolling regions cannot appear after scrolling regions in the same topic.

2. Jumping to a location within a context screen:

   To jump to the middle of a topic, put a context (#) footnote at the destination. This footnote gets associated with the footnote you create (for example, GotoMyJump). When you create the hotspot (the double underlined text that appears in color), add the footnote name (GotoMyJump) in hidden text.

   In normal usage, the jump to a context screen brings you to the top of the screen, but that's just because the footnote is placed at the beginning. For the Glossary Help File, the context screen is one continuous document which has multiple entry points dependent upon which jump button is selected.

3. Jumping from a labeled button:

   Do this by making a small bitmap for each letter. Enter the code to display them {bmc MyBmp.bmp} at the top of your topic. Double underline the bitmap to make it a jump. After each bitmap, enter the text to point them to their respective context strings. In this example, it might look like this:

         {bmc MyBmp.bmp}GotoMyJump
   

   You can create multiple context strings (#) in the same topic file, so create one for each letter.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Features Book 1", Help Compiler Guide,

 pg. 37, pg. 41, pg. 117, pg. 119.