The File Menu

Commands on the File menu let you open a Help file, print a topic, set up your printer, or quit Windows Help.

Open

The Open command opens an existing Help (.HLP) file.

You can open the Help file for any application that uses Help, even if you are not using the application. For example, you can be working in Notepad and open the Help file for Program Manager to read about using group windows.

If you currently have a Help file open, Help closes that file before opening the new file.

Help uses the File Open dialog box stored in the COMMDLG.DLL file if it is available on the user’s system. Otherwise, Help uses the 3.0 version of the Open dialog box.

To open a Help file

1..From the File menu in Help, choose Open.

The Open dialog box appears (Figure 1.13).

2.2.If the file is on a different drive, select the drive you want from the Drives box.

3.3.In the Directories box, double-click the directory that contains the Help file.

Or press the UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW key to select the directory, and then press ENTER.

4.4.In the File Name box, double-click the name of the Help file you want to open.

Or select the file, and then choose OK.

Instead of using the File Name and Directories boxes, you can type the complete path in the File Name box, and then choose OK.

Print Topic

The Print Topic command prints the text in the topic that is currently displayed in the main Help window.

Help prints the entire topic, including graphics, but it does not print any annotations you might have made. If the topic has a nonscrolling region, it is printed at the top of the page. If the topic has an embedded window, the DLL is responsible for printing the information in the embedded window.

When a user prints a topic, Help displays a print status dialog box that contains the following information: Printing <topic title>. (Help uses the topic title text as defined in the title footnote.) If the topic does not have a name, Help displays “untitled” as the topic title. The user can continue printing or cancel the print job from this dialog box.

If you have connected to and installed a printer in Windows, Help prints to the default printer.

To print a Help topic

1.nFrom the File menu in Help, choose Print Topic.

The Print Topic dialog box appears while Help sends the topic information to the printer (Figure 1.14).

To cancel printing

1.nChoose the Cancel button in the Printing dialog box.

Or press the ESC key.

Print Setup

The Print Setup command selects a printer for Help and changes printer setup information.

Help prints topics on the default printer. If you have installed more than one printer, you can make any of your installed printers the default printer. You can also change the default printer options. The available options in the dialog box depend on the type of printer you have connected to your computer.

Help uses the Print Setup dialog box stored in the COMMDLG.DLL file if it is available on the user’s system. Otherwise, Help uses the 3.0 version of the Print Setup dialog box. When using the version 3.0 dialog box, Help retains the version 3.1 menu command and Print Setup dialog box title rather than Printer Setup.

To set up a printer or change printer options

1.1.From the File menu in Help, choose Print Setup.

The Print Setup dialog box appears (Figure 1.15).

2.2.Select the options you want for this printer.

The options will vary depending on your installed printer.

3.3.If available, choose the Options button to select more options for the printer, and then choose OK when you have finished selecting options.

4.4.Choose OK.

Exit

The Exit command quits Windows Help.

When closing, Windows Help saves any annotations or bookmarks you have created.

To exit Help

1.nFrom the File menu in Help, choose Exit.

The Help window closes.