DOCUMENT:Q85675  06-NOV-1999  [win16sdk]
TITLE   :DOCERR: Windows Help Macros Limited to 512 Characters
PRODUCT :Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:3.1
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:kb16bitonly

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1 
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SUMMARY
=======

The documentation for the Microsoft Windows Help Compiler, version 3.1, states
that the length of a macro is limited to 254 characters. This statement is
incorrect; a macro can be up to 512 characters long.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Help Compiler error messages are listed in Appendix B of the "Microsoft Windows
Software Development Kit: Programming Tools" manual. When a macro exceeds the
allowable length, the Help Compiler returns the following error, which is also
listed on page 237:

   Error 3511: Macro "macrostring" exceeds the limit of 254 characters

This error message is incorrect. The actual limit is 512 characters.

MACROHLP is one of the advanced sample applications provided with the Microsoft
Windows Software Development Kit (SDK). One of the topics in the MACROHLP sample
is titled "Rules for Help Macros." An item in the bulleted list in this topic
incorrectly states that macros are limited to 254 characters.

Additional query words: 3.10 docerr HC HCP.EXE HC31.EXE

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Keywords          : kb16bitonly 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK310
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1

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