A topic file contains help text, as well as the statements and macros that define the format of the text and the position of the graphics. Every topic file consists of one or more topics. A topic is any distinct unit of information, such as a contents screen, a conceptual description, a set of instructions, a keyboard table, a glossary definition, a list of jumps, a picture, and so on.
Windows Help displays only one topic at a time, but a user can view any topic in a help file by using a link to the topic or searching for keywords associated with the topic.
You create topic files directly by using a text editor and inserting help statements. You can create them indirectly by using a word processor that generates rich-text format (RTF) files. The help statements are an extended subset of the RTF statements, which provide a wide variety of formatting capabilities.
For complete syntax of the RTF commands, see the Help Author's Guide (HCW.HLP) included with the Help Workshop.