Preventing Word Wrap in Microsoft Windows Help Files

• Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows versions 3.1 and 3.0
• Microsoft Win32 SDK, versions 3.5, 3.51, and 4.0

SUMMARY

By default, the Microsoft Windows Help application wraps lines of text to reflect the size of its window. However, there are situations (such as a table of information) in which wrapping text is undesirable. The information below presents two methods of preventing a section of text from changing when the Help application window changes sizes. These techniques apply to version 2.0 of the Microsoft Word for Windows-based application.

MORE INFORMATION

Method 1

This method, which is compatible with versions 3.0 and 3.1 of the Microsoft Windows Help Compiler, involves two steps:

1. Place either a hard or a soft carriage return at the end of each line.

2. Format the section with the "keep lines together" paragraph attribute. From the Format menu, choose Paragraph, and select the Keep Lines Together check box in the Paragraph dialog box.

Method 2

This method, which is compatible only with version 3.1 of the Help Compiler, is to create a one row, one column table in Word for Windows. Set the width of the table as desired and allow the text to wrap within the table normally. Windows Help will duplicate the word breaks in the table provided that the font used to author the table is selected by the Help engine when displaying the table. If Help uses a different font, the text may wrap differently, even though the table keeps the specified width.

Note

When you use either of these methods, if the Windows Help window is not large enough to display the entire width of a topic, Help displays a horizontal scroll bar rather than wrapping the text to make it visible.