nLeft alignmentHelp supports most of the major paragraph formatting features of Word for Windows, and in most cases paragraphs displayed in the Word document look the same in Help. The main difference between a Word document and a Help topic is the display medium: a document is printed on a piece of paper that has a fixed size, but a topic is displayed in a window. Window sizes can vary, and in the case of main and secondary windows the user can change the size of the window after the topic has been displayed. Many of the differences between the look of a topic in Word and the look of a topic in Help stem from Help’s support for sizeable windows.
To support sizeable windows, Help uses a word-wrapping mechanism to ensure that paragraph text is not clipped at the right margin. You can disable the word wrapping by following the instructions in “Disabling Word Wrapping in Paragraphs,” later in this section.
The following sections discuss the paragraph formatting features supported by Help. For information on table formatting, see “Table Formatting,” later in this chapter.
Help supports the following paragraph alignment attributes:
nLeft alignment
nRight alignment
nCenter alignment
These attributes have the same meaning as in Word for Windows, except that left-justified and right-justified text is justified to the Help window’s internal margin of 8 pixels on the left.
Help does not support justified text.
Help supports the following paragraph indentation attributes:
nLeft indents, including positive and negative values.
Left indents are relative to the left window border. Negative values position the left margin of the paragraph to the left of the left window border.
nRight indents, positive values only.
Right indents are relative to the right window border (or the vertical scroll bar, when present).
nFirst line indents, including positive and negative values.
Word defines an implied tab stop at the position of the left indent, but Help does not provide this tab stop. To tab to the left indent position, define a left tab at the same position as the left indent.
Indents have the same meaning as in Word for Windows, but they may have different measurement values. Figure 7.1 shows how Word indents are used in paragraphs displayed in Help.
<Help paragraph. Callouts to show left, right, and first-line indent values>
The Help window’s 8-pixel margin on the left prevents text from bumping against the left window border. You can specify a negative indent to push text or graphics closer to the left edge; however, if your negative indent is too large, you may push the text off the screen where the user can’t scroll to see it. A negative indent of 7 points will move the text to the edge without pushing it beyond the window border.
With a negative left indent, you can bleed pictures off the left window border. For example, the following topic uses a negative left indent of 3 picas to crop the left edge of a picture (Figure 7.2).
<Help bleed>
Help supports all Word paragraph spacing attributes.
The Space Before and Space After attributes add white space before and after a paragraph, which is the same function they have in the word processor, but they may have different values in Help.
Text displayed in the Help window includes a 3-pixel top margin to prevent it from bumping against the button bar. However, bitmaps do not include a margin. So if you use a bitmap in the first paragraph of a Help topic, you should include space before if you want the picture to have white space around it. Otherwise, the picture will display immediately below the button bar with no intervening white space. This is a helpful technique to use when you want to fill the Help window with a picture.
Help supports two kinds of line spacing: Auto and Absolute (or exact). Automatic line spacing (marked with Auto, Single, 1.5, or Double line-spacing attributes) creates a variable line spacing that is determined partly on the height of the largest character (or bitmap treated as a character) within the line. Auto line spacing ensures a safe spacing that adjusts to the content of the paragraph. However, Help’s method for determining the appropriate spacing for an automatically spaced line doesn’t take into account line length, color, and other attributes that can affect the legibility of a paragraph.
Absolute or exact line spacing is determined by the author and is set to the absolute value specified. Absolute line spacing is used when the author wants more control over the way paragraphs appear in Help. It can be used to add white space and create more openness, or it can be used to reduce the white space between lines and tighten up the paragraph. If you want to condense or expand the line spacing in a paragraph, use the Exactly line spacing attribute, and specify a point size for the line. Or, if you are using Word for Windows 1.1, specify the exact line spacing that you want, but use a negative value to indicate that the spacing is “absolute” or “exact.”
Help supports the following types of tab stops:
nLeft-aligned tabs
nRight-aligned tabs
nCenter-aligned tabs
nDefault tab stops (up to 32)
Although Help supports these tab stops, very complex combinations of alignment and tabs may not appear the same in Help as they do in Word for Windows.
Help does not support leader characters or decimal tabs. Decimal tab stops are treated as left tab stops.
In paragraphs with first-line indents, Word defines an implied tab stop at the position of the left indent. Help does not provide this tab stop. To tab to the left indent position, define a left-aligned tab at the same position as the left indent.
If you include embedded windows in your Help file, do not use right-aligned or center-aligned tabs to position the embedded window. Use indents instead.
In many cases, Word tables are more flexible and easier to use than tabbed paragraphs. For information on using tables, see “Creating Tables,” later in this chapter.
Help supports the following paragraph borders:
nAny combination of left, right, top, and bottom borders, including boxed paragraphs (all four borders)
nThin single borders (1 pixel wide)
nThin double borders (each line 1 pixel wide)
nThick single borders (2 pixels wide)
Figure 7.3 shows which line-width choices in the Word for Windows version 2.0 Border Paragraphs dialog box translate to the supported border types (thin single, thin double, and thick single).
<Word Border Paragraphs, circles/callouts identifying which line values produce which border types>
Help does not support the following border attributes:
nColored borders (Help draws all borders in black)
nShadowed borders
nHairline borders
nAdjustable distances from text
nParagraph shading or background coloring
nTable-cell borders (set in the Border Cells dialog box)
Paragraphs inside tables can have borders, but the table itself cannot have borders. For more information, see “Table Formatting,” later in this chapter.
Word combines border attributes in consecutive paragraphs. For example, if two consecutive paragraphs have a boxed border, Word draws a single box around both paragraphs rather than drawing boxes around the individual paragraphs. Help does not combine border attributes of consecutive paragraphs; for consecutive boxed paragraphs, Help draws individual boxes around each paragraph.
Disabling Word Wrapping in Paragraphs
By setting the Keep Lines Togetherparagraph attribute, you can prevent Help from word-wrapping a paragraph. When the window border is sized inside the right boundary of the paragraph, Help adds a horizontal scroll bar and clips the right edge of the paragraph. If the paragraph is several lines long, you’ll need to place forced line breaks where you want the lines to break.
To prevent a paragraph from wrapping
1.1.Place the insertion point anywhere in the paragraph.
2.2.From the Format menu, choose Paragraph.
The Paragraph dialog box appears.
3.3.In the Keep Paragraph box (Word 1.1), select Together.
Or, in the Pagination box (Word 2.0), select Keep Lines Together.
4.4.Choose OK.
To create a line break in a nonwrapping paragraph
1.1.Place the insertion point where you want the line to break.
2.2.Press SHIFT+ENTER.
Note:
Windows Help does not support the standard meaning of the Keep With Next paragraph attribute. In Help, this property specifies that the paragraph should be included in the nonscrolling region of the Help window. For information about using this formatting property, see Chapter 9, “Defining Topic Windows.”
Because Windows Help treats any font or style change as a word break, punctuation characters may wrap to a new line and become orphaned from the sentence they belong to if they follow a hot spot or a bitmap reference. In these cases, the punctuation character follows Help codes that require format changes (from double-underline to hidden text to normal text, for example). Because of the format change, Help treats the transition as a word break and wraps the trailing punctuation when necessary (depending on how the user resizes the Help window).
To prevent this from occurring in your Help file:
nIf the punctuation follows a hot spot, include the punctuation mark in the hot spot (before the hidden text).
nIf the punctuation follows a bitmap reference, use a nonbreaking space between the bitmap reference and the punctuation mark.