ACC: HelpContextID Property Accepts Valid Negative Values

ID: Q90808

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 7.0

SYMPTOMS

Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.

When you are creating a Help file using the Microsoft Windows Help Compiler, the HelpContextID must be entered in the [Map] section of the .HPJ file. Values in this section must be positive values in the range 0 to 4,294,967,295.

When you enter a HelpContextId property value in Microsoft Access, you can enter values in the range -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The acceptable value range for the HelpContextID property in Microsoft Access is -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647. Values outside of this range generate the following error message:

The value you entered isn't appropriate for this field.

The HelpContextID value is a number that Microsoft Access passes to the Microsoft Windows application programming interface (API) WinHelp() function, which takes an unsigned long value. Microsoft Access property sheets do not recognize unsigned long values; therefore, large numbers show up as negative numbers instead.

The range of values 2,147,483,648 to 4,294,967,295 for unsigned long values corresponds to the range -2,147,483,648 to -1 for signed long values. In some cases, it may be more convenient to enter values in hexadecimal notation, rather than converting the large unsigned values to their negative signed equivalent. Microsoft Access will automatically convert hexadecimal values to their signed long equivalent values.

The hexadecimal notation for the positive number range is &h0 to &h7FFFFFFF, and the negative number range is &h80000000 to &hFFFFFFFF.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

Create a new item on a form.

Open the property sheet.

Enter -2147483648 for the HelpContextID property. Note that you do not receive an error message.

Change the HelpContextID to -2147483649. Note that you do receive the following error message:

The value you entered isn't appropriate for this field.

Additional query words: help

Keywords : kberrmsg kbusage FmsProp
Version : 1.0 1.10 2.0 7.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb