Microsoft Help databases use several context prefixes. A context prefix is a single letter followed by a period. It appears before a context string and has a predefined meaning. You may see these contexts in the resulting text file when you decode a Microsoft help database.
Summary: Context prefixes are used internally by Microsoft.
The context prefixes shown in Table 20.4 are used by Microsoft to mark product-specific features. They appear in decompressed databases. However, you do not need to add them to the files you write.
Table 20.4 Microsoft Product Context Prefixes
| Prefix | Purpose |
| d. | Dialog box. The context string for the Help on a dialog box is d. followed by the number assigned to that dialog box. |
| e. | Error number. If a product supports the error numbering used by Microsoft languages, it displays Help for each error using this prefix. |
| h. | Help item. The context string for miscellaneous Help is h. followed by an assigned string. These strings are described in Table 20.5. For example, most Help readers look for the context string h.contents when Contents is chosen from the Help menu. |
| m. | Menu item. The strings that can follow h. are defined by the access keys for the product's menu items. For example, the Exit command on the File menu is accessed by ALT+F, X. The context string for Help on the command is m.f.x. |
| n. | Message number. The context string for the Help on a message box is n. followed by the number assigned to that message box. |
You can use the h. prefix, shown in Table 20.5, to identify standard Help-file contexts. For instance, h.default identifies the default Help screen (the screen that usually appears when you select top-level Help).
Table 20.5 Standard h. Contexts
| Context | Description |
| h.contents | The table of contents for the Help file. You should also define the string “contents” for direct reference to this context. |
| h.default | The default Help screen, typically displayed when the user presses SHIFT+F1 to get the “top level” in some applications. |
| h.index | The index for the Help file. You can also define the string “index” for direct reference to this context. |
| h.pg1 | The Help text that is logically first in the file. This is used by some applications in response to a “go to the beginning” request made within the Help window. |
| h.title | The title of the Help database. |