DOCUMENT:Q142249  18-FEB-2002  [vbwin]
TITLE   :HOWTO: Implement "What's This?" Help in Visual Basic
PRODUCT :Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
PROD/VER::4.0,5.0,6.0
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:KbVBA kbVBp kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVB kbDSupport

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

Starting with Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51, it is possible to right- click on
items and get the "What's This?" window to appear. To set this up in Visual
Basic, you need to use a pop-up menu.

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

This sample uses the help file "Msdev.hlp." You will probably want to create
your own help file. This sample also uses a full path listing to where the help
file is located. As you cannot know where the user will install the program, you
might want to use some dynamic means for determining the path, such as using
App.Path.

Step-by-Step Example
--------------------

1. Create a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.

2. Set the WhatsThisHelp and WhatsThisButton properties for Form1 to True.

3. Add the following code to reference the Hotspot Editor help file to the
   Form_Load procedure:

         Private Sub Form_Load()
         '  your machine
         '  Change this path to where ever Msdev.hlp is located on
            App.HelpFile = "C:\Program
            Files\DevStudio\Common\MSDev98\Help\Msdev.hlp"

4. Add two menu items to Form1 using the following as a guide:

      Menu                   Property            Value
      ----------------------------------------------------
      WhatsThis              Caption            WhatsThis
      WhatsThis              Name               mnuWhatsThis
      WhatsThis              Visible            False

      What's This?           Caption            What's This?
      What's This?           Name           mnuWhatsThisHelp

5. Indent "What's This?" to make it a sub-menu of WhatsThis by pressing the
   right-arrow button on the Menu Editor.

6. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1:

         Public ThisControl as control

7. Add the following code to the mnuWhatsThisHelp_Click procedure:

         Private Sub mnuWhatsThisHelp_Click()
            ThisControl.ShowWhatsThis
         End Sub

8. Add a Command Button control to the form and set the following Properties:

   WhatsThisHelpID = 1
   HelpContextID = 5

9. Add following code to the Command1_MouseUp event:

         Private Sub Command1_MouseUp(Button As Integer, Shift As Integer, _
                                      X As Single, Y As Single)
            If Button = vbRightButton Then
               Set ThisControl = Command1
               PopupMenu mnuWhatsThis
            End If
            Set ThisControl = Nothing
         End Sub

10. Run the application. Right-click on the Command button and then left- click
   on the "What's This?" popup to bring up the Help file.

REFERENCES
==========

See WhatThisHelp, WhatsThisHelpID, HelpFile, HelpContextID

Additional query words: pop up pop-up

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Keywords          : KbVBA kbVBp kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVB kbDSupport 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB500Search kbVB600Search kbVB500 kbVB600 kbVB400Search kbVB400
Version           : :4.0,5.0,6.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

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