In most applications for Windows, the part of the window where the user interacts with the computer and performs work is called the application workspace. In Windows Help, the workspace is where information is displayed. Help information is divided into “chunks” called topics. When you open a Help file, the topic (text and graphics) appears in the workspace of the main window (Figure 1.7).
Note:
If the Windows Help application is started without opening a Help file, the “Windows Help” logo appears in the topic area, and the button bar and scroll bars do not appear.
Between the button bar and the scrolling region Help authors can create a nonscrolling region of the main Help window. The nonscrolling region is simply a portion of the window that does not scroll with the rest of the topic information; therefore, no scroll bars are necessary. If a vertical scroll bar displays in the topic, it does not extend into the nonscrolling region. The nonscrolling region is separated from the scrolling region by a hairline (Figure 1.8).
Because the nonscrolling region is an optional region that a Help author defines when creating the topic files, it may or may not appear in the Help window. If it does appear, it can contain the same kind of information as the scrolling region.
The part of the main window that contains the topic information is called the scrolling region. Text within the scrolling region wraps dynamically along the right edge of the window, even when the user changes the size of the window, unless the author creates nonwrapping text.
The scrolling region of the main Help window can include horizontal or vertical scoll bars. However, unlike Help version 3.0, scroll bars do not appear in the scrolling region unless they are necessary. Not displaying scroll bars gives Help authors more space in the scrolling region for Help information.
Windows Help determines whether to display scroll bars when the window is first displayed and each time the user resizes the window. If the topic information extends below the lower window border, Help displays a vertical scroll bar (Figure 1.9).
If the topic information extends beyond the right edge of the Help window, a horizontal scroll bar appears (Figure 1.10).
Once a horizontal scroll bar appears, it remains in the topic, even if the user scrolls to another part of the topic that does not require a horizontal scroll bar.
Note:
Scroll bars behave independently in each Help window. Therefore, scroll bars that appear in the main window do not affect secondary windows.
Help scroll bars work the same as scroll bars in other Windows-based applications with one exception: information in the main window is not updated when the user drags the scroll box. Instead, Help updates the information only after the user stops moving the scroll box and releases the mouse button. This scroll-bar behavior is consistent with Windows-based applications that display large amounts of information in the main window, such as Word for Windows. For a complete description of the scroll bar interface, see “The Mouse and the Keyboard Interfaces” section later in this chapter.
The scrolling and nonscrolling regions of the main Help window can display text and graphics, as well as other multimedia elements. These elements are created in separate applications, such as word processors and paint programs, and are included in the Help file during the build process. Help merely serves as a display engine for the text and graphics you create.
By controlling the way you create text and graphics, you control the way a topic looks to your users. Text attributes—font, point size, type style, color—are determined by Help authors when they create the topic files in a rich-text format (RTF) editor such as Word for Windows. The same is true for other elements. For example, graphics can be full-size or reduced, complete or partial, full-color or monochrome (Figure 1.11).
The scrolling and nonscrolling regions can include text and graphics that are “hot”—they provide links to other Help topics and to more information about the current topic.
Text hot spots are green and have either a solid or dotted underline. Graphics that are hot have no special visual cue. However, whether text or graphics, the pointer changes shape whenever it is over a hot spot (Figure 1.12).
To choose a hot spot
1.1.Position the pointer on the green text or hot graphic.
The pointer changes to a hand.
2.2.Click the mouse button once.
Or press TAB to highlight the hot spot, and then press ENTER.
Note Do not double-click the mouse button when you choose a hot spot because Help processes both clicks separately. Depending on the Help file, the double-click may cause unexpected behavior, choosing two hot spots or executing a macro twice, for example.
Note Pressing SHIFT+TAB highlights the hot spots in reverse order, and CTRL+TAB highlights all the hot spots within a topic simultaneously.
If the hot spot links to another topic, that topic appears in the Help window.
If the hot spot links to more information, Help displays the information in a pop-up window on top of the Help window. To close the pop-up window, click anywhere or press any key.