Every project file consists of one or more sections. Each section has a section name, enclosed in brackets ([]), that defines the purpose and format of statements and options in the section. Following are the sections used in project files:
| Section | Description |
| [OPTIONS] | Specifies options that control the build process. This section is optional. If this section is used, it should be the first section listed in the project file, so that the options will apply during the entire build process. |
| [FILES] | Specifies topic files to be included in the build. This section is required. |
| [BUILDTAGS] | Specifies valid build tags. This section is optional. |
| [CONFIG] | Specifies Help macros that define nonstandard menus, buttons, and macros used in the help file. This section is required if the help file uses any of these features. This section is new for Windows 3.1. |
| [BITMAPS] | Specifies bitmap files to be included in the build. This section is not required if the project file lists a path for bitmap files by using the BMROOT or ROOT option. |
| [MAP] | Associates context strings with context numbers. This section is optional. |
| [ALIAS] | Assigns one or more context strings to the same topic. This section is optional. |
| [WINDOWS] | Defines the characteristics of the primary Help window and the secondary-window types used in the help file. This section is required if the help file uses secondary windows. This section is new for Windows 3.1. |
| [BAGGAGE] | Lists files that are to be placed within the help file (which contains its own file system). This section is optional. |
Every project file requires a [FILES] section. This section names the topic files. Most project files also have an [OPTIONS] section that specifies how to build the help file. A very useful option in the [OPTIONS] section is the COMPRESS option, which specifies whether the help file should be compressed or uncompressed. Compressing a help file reduces its size considerably and saves valuable disk space.
The following example creates a compressed help file from two topic files, MAIN.RTF and MENUS.RTF:
[OPTIONS]
COMPRESS=TRUE
[FILES]
MAIN.RTF
MENUS.RTF