About Windows Help Files

Windows help files display information by using the following elements:

• Text in multiple fonts, sizes, and colors.
• Secondary windows to present information.
• Cross-reference jumps for links to additional information.
• Pop-up windows to present text and graphics.
• Bitmaps and metafiles.
• Segmented-graphics bitmaps with embedded hot spots.
• Video (.AVI) files.

To create a help file, you need to create the following files: topic, graphics, help project, and contents. A topic file contains the text for the help topic and contains the help statements and macros that define the format of the text and the position of graphics in each topic. The graphics files contain the bitmaps and metafiles you want to display in the topics. The project file contains a description of how to build the help file. The contents file specifies the information in the Contents tab.

You use the Microsoft Help Workshop (HCW.EXE) to build the final help file. The compiler combines the topic, graphics, and project files to create a single help file (with the filename extension .HLP) that you can open and view by using Windows Help. For more information, see the Help Author's Guide (HCW.HLP) included with the Help Workshop.