HelpContextID, HelpFile Properties

Applies To

HelpContextID property — ActiveX control, Bound Object Frame control, Chart control, Check Box control, Combo Box control, Command Button control, Form, Image control, Label control, List Box control, Option Button control, Option Group control, Page, Report, Tab control, Text Box control, Toggle Button control, Unbound Object Frame control.
HelpFile property — Form, Report.
Description
The HelpContextID property specifies the context ID of a topic in the custom Help file specified by the HelpFile property setting.
The HelpFile property specifies the name of a custom Help file for the current form or report.

Setting

For the HelpContextID property, enter a Long Integer value between 0 and 2,147,483,647 representing the context ID of the Help file topic you want to display. The default setting is 0.
For the HelpFile property, enter a string expression that contains the path and file name of a custom Help file created with the Windows Help Compiler.

You can set these properties by using the property sheet, a macro, or Visual Basic. These properties don't apply to controls on reports.

Remarks

Note To create a custom Help file, you need the Windows Help Compiler and a rich-text format (RTF) text editor, such as Microsoft Word.

You can create a custom Help file to document forms, reports, or applications you create with Microsoft Access.

When you press the F1 key in Form view, Microsoft Access calls the Windows Help application, loads the custom Help file specified by the HelpFile property setting for the form or report, and displays the Help topic specified by the HelpContextID property setting.

If a control's HelpContextID property setting is 0 (the default), Microsoft Access uses the form's HelpContextID and HelpFile properties to identify the Help topic to display. If you press F1 in a view other than Form view or if the HelpContextID property setting for both the form and the control is 0, a Microsoft Access Help topic is displayed.