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External Help

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    External Help

    I have written a database and now want to include field level help.

    I have worked through the limited help in Alpha but have a problem. I have a CHM help file and if I put just the name of the help file in the help file link it opens ok. But I cannot work out what to include in the name field to open the relevant help page.

    I have done this in Access and Foxpro many times but this is leaving me stumped anyone done this.

    Thanks in advance

    Bernie

    #2
    Re: External Help

    Originally posted by Bernie123 View Post
    I have written a database and now want to include field level help.

    I have worked through the limited help in Alpha but have a problem. I have a CHM help file and if I put just the name of the help file in the help file link it opens ok. But I cannot work out what to include in the name field to open the relevant help page.

    I have done this in Access and Foxpro many times but this is leaving me stumped anyone done this.

    Thanks in advance

    Bernie
    Hi Bernie,

    I haven't done this but another way is to put a Bubble-up help message on the field itself. You can access it through the field's properties. It has saved me a ton of writing.

    kenn
    TYVM :) kenn

    Knowing what you can achieve will not become reality until you imagine and explore.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: External Help

      Hi Berni,

      I hope I have understood your question correctly.

      See thumbnail. Now you can make a Help file that will open each page as form sensitive.
      Regards
      Keith Hubert
      Alpha Guild Member
      London.
      KHDB Management Systems
      Skype = keith.hubert


      For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

      Comment


        #4
        Re: External Help

        Thanks for the responses but the database in question is rather technical content and requires "field level help".

        I am not sure at this stage if the problem lies with the CHM file I have made using Madcap flare or if its the way I am trying to link to it from Alpha five.

        As I say if I don't put a topic name the external CHM help file opens fine at the index page but if I try to put a topic name in the file fails to open.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: External Help

          Hi Bernie,

          In your thumbnail you dont show a Topic name.
          Regards
          Keith Hubert
          Alpha Guild Member
          London.
          KHDB Management Systems
          Skype = keith.hubert


          For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

          Comment


            #6
            Re: External Help

            Yes exactly,

            With no topic the CHM file opens fine

            yet no matter what I put into the topic filed it fails to open the topic.

            In access and Foxpro the topics are given goods when you are preparing the help file which access and foxpro use to look up yet with Alpha it appears to want the topic name


            Bernie

            Comment


              #7
              Re: External Help

              Hi Bernie,

              Please see thumbnail of my help file which is opened on the Main Menu.

              I have a help button which also works off F1 on every page of my app.

              As you can see all the forms are listed and some of the pages have several topics.
              Regards
              Keith Hubert
              Alpha Guild Member
              London.
              KHDB Management Systems
              Skype = keith.hubert


              For your day-to-day Needs, you Need an Alpha Database!

              Comment


                #8
                Re: External Help

                Keith

                Yes I have something similar in the CHM file.

                But I am trying to get field level help to open, but no clues what to put in the topic field

                regards

                Bernie

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: External Help

                  Bernie,
                  Did you ever get this resolved?
                  Alan

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: External Help

                    NO still entirely a mystery

                    In most software aplications to use external help files CHM you have to encode a connection to the help file page Apha makes no mention of this in its useless help file.

                    The client I am working for choose Alpha because of:

                    1. its access to the internet.....from a desktop cleint.......which is proving rubbish
                    2. easy distribustion to clients.....hopefully now solved
                    3. use of external help files at field level.........proving difficult

                    regards

                    Bernie

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: External Help

                      Out of my depth here but I tried linking to [exe_folder]\AlphaFiveHelp.chm and specified one of the keywords (*MIN()) visible in the index as the topic to use. Pressing F1 takes me to the entry as displayed in my screenshot.

                      Then I found this note in the documentation.
                      Note : The help topic name must exactly match an entry in the help file's index.
                      Last edited by Stan Mathews; 09-05-2008, 02:56 PM.
                      There can be only one.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: External Help

                        Bernie,
                        I will probably be attempting something similar this weekend.
                        I will let you know how it works for me.

                        Alan

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: External Help

                          Alan, I was attempting to use the topic name (from the Contents tree) of the CHM, and that won't work. You have to use the Index name corresponding to the desired topic.

                          This seems to work fine for first level entries in the index list. Haven't figured out the syntax for specifying a second or third level sub-index entry. Presumably we have to specify the path to the index entry? An example in the helps would be very useful!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: External Help

                            Maybe someone at Alpha could tell us how it works???

                            I'm sure they tested it and have some documentation, maybe it just didn't make it to our documentation?

                            I hope it's not one of those almost works features, or maybe if it is, Alpha could clean it up on one of the next releases?

                            Alan

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: External Help

                              I will try it out this weekend and see if I can get it to work.
                              Thanks Tom for the information.
                              Alan

                              Comment

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