nThe window titleThe first time the user requests Help, the main window appears in its default state on the screen. The default settings determine the size, placement, and background color of the main window. After the Help window displays, the user can change any of those attributes. Help authors can also define attributes for the main window that override the predefined defaults.
The title bar at the top of the Help window displays the name of the Help file or any title text that the author specifies in the [OPTIONS] or [WINDOWS] section of the Help project file (see Chapter 16, “The Help Project File,” for details). If the author doesn’t specify a title, “Windows Help” appears in the title bar (Figure 1.2).
A Help title can have as many as 50 characters. Help centers the title in the available title bar width; however, if the user resizes the Help window so that the title text is wider than the window, the title is truncated from the right (Figure 1.3).
If the user opens a version 3.0 Help file, the title appears in Help 3.0 format: [Title string] Help - <Help filename.hlp>, as in Figure 1.4.
The initial size of the main Help window is approximately two-thirds of the total screen width. Windows Help reserves a 2-pixel space around the Help window borders to keep the window from jamming against the edge of the screen display. The default size is large enough to accommodate the Help button bar without forcing the standard buttons to wrap (Figure 1.5).
Note:
To create international versions of Windows Help, the default size of the main window varies slightly depending on the length of the foreign-language text on the standard Help buttons. This variable is stored in the WINHELP.EXE resource file.
Users can resize the Help window, like other windows, by dragging the window borders or by using the Size command on the Control menu. They can also minimize or maximize the Help window. Any changes the user makes to the size of the main Help window are saved in the [Windows Help] section of the WIN.INI file.
Note:
Because Help does not define minimum limits for the size of the main window, the user can make the Help window so small that it is unusable.
When it first appears, the main window is positioned to the far right of the screen and extends the full height of the screen. Users can move the main window as they would move any other window in Windows—by dragging the title bar or by using the Move command on the Control menu. If the user moves the main window, the new position is recorded in the [Windows Help] section of the WIN.INI file.
The default background color for the main window is the color the user defines using the Color application in the Windows Control Panel. However, the main window may appear with a custom background color if the author defines one for the Help file (Figure 1.6).
Authoring Predefined Attributes
Depending on the type of Help file you are creating, you may want to change Help’s predefined defaults for the main window. For example, you may want to have the main Help window start up in a certain location on the screen when users request Help. Also, many types of information have different presentation requirements. Step-by-step procedures may work well in a tall, fairly narrow window. Tables of key equivalents, on the other hand, require a wider window. Other systems, like certain instructional models, require a fixed page size in which users view the information without scrolling.
Help authors can define any of the main window attributes discussed in this section:
nThe window title
nThe size of the window
nThe location of the window
nThe background color
Main window attributes are set in the [WINDOWS] section of the Help project file (see Chapter 16, “The Help Project File,” for details).