.Gid File Location Determined by .Cnt File Location in Help

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.51
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.51

SUMMARY

In some instances, it may be desirable or necessary to have all Help files together in a common directory rather than in individual default storage locations (such as the system root directory for the Help files shipped with Windows NT or the application root directory for the Help files shipped with various Windows applications).

If you move only the .hlp files to the new common directory, their associated .gid files are created and/or updated in the original directory and not in the new common directory, because Windows NT Help creates and/or updates the .gid files based on the location of their associated .cnt files.

To ensure that the .gid files are updated in the new common directory, move the related .cnt files to the new common directory and either move the current .gid files to the new common directory (in which case they are updated in the common directory) or delete them from the original directory (in which case they will be re-created in the new common directory).

MORE INFORMATION

Windows NT 3.51 uses a Help engine based on the Windows 95 Help engine. With this Help engine comes the implementation of several new support files (listed below) in addition to the standard Help files (.hlp).

FTS

Files of this type contain key words and/or phrases for full-text search queries. If such a file does not exist for the base Help file being opened by Help, you are prompted to create one by the Find Setup Wizard.

CNT

Files of this type enable the use of multiple help file grouping for the Help Topics dialog box by providing the indexes to the relevant Help files.

FTG

Files of this type are generated by the Help engine when a Help file is opened for which a .cnt file exists. They contain the data necessary for cross-file, full-text Help file searches.

GID

Files of this type are hidden files generated by the Help engine when a search is performed in a Help file. These .gid files contain the indexes displayed on the Index tab of the Help Topics dialog box.

NOTE: Files of the type .ind (full text search index), used by earlier versions of Windows NT Help, are no longer used or supported by the new Help engine.

To ensure that all Help-related files are in a common directory, move all of the above defined files, along with the .hlp files, to the new location (with the possible exception of the .gid files, which can be deleted, as noted in the Summary section above).

NOTE: To ensure that Windows NT Help can locate these files in their new location, update the path environment variable to include the new common directory, by using the System Control Panel.