Rich Text Format Subset Supported by Windows Help

ID: Q75010

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) versions 3.0, 3.1

SUMMARY

The Windows Help Compiler version 3.0 does not support all of the formatting options that word processors, such as Microsoft Word for Windows or Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, are capable of creating. This document briefly lists many of these unsupported formats.

The complete specification of the Rich-Text Format (RTF) is included in the Microsoft Word for Windows Technical Reference (Microsoft Press).

MORE INFORMATION

Most of the time, unsupported format information is ignored by the Help Compiler without any warning messages.

The following items are not supported by Windows Help 3.0 in any form:

Absolute-positioned objects
Annotations
Bookmarks
Document formatting properties
Document information
Headers and footers
Index entries
Style sheets
Table of contents entries
Tables

NOTE: In Windows Help version 3.1, Word for Windows tables are supported.

The following items are used for specified purposes in the Help Compiler:

Footnotes

Note that the footnotes are "overloaded" and used for build tags, context strings, browse sequences, keywords, alternate keywords, and topic titles by the Help Compiler.

The group containing footnote text begins with the control word "\footnote". Footnotes are anchored to the character that immediately precedes the footnote group. If automatic footnoting is defined, the group can be preceded by a footnote reference character, identified by the control word "\chftn". The following is an example of a group containing footnotes:

NOTE: The "\chftn" control word is ignored in version 3.1 of the Help compiler.


...
\ftnb\ftnrestart \sectd \linemod0\linex0\endhere \pard\plain \ri1170
\fs20 {\up6 Mead's landmark study has been amply annotated.\chftn
{footnote \pard\plain \s246 \fs20 {\up6\chftn }See Sahlins, Bateson,
and Geertz for a complete bibliography.}
It was her work in America during the Second World War, however, that
forms the basis for this paper. As others have noted, \chftn {footnote
\pard\plain \s246 \fs20 {\up6\chftn A complete bibliography will be
found at the end of this chapter.}
this period was a turning point for Margaret Mead.}
\par
...

Character Formatting Properties

The last group of RTF control words controls character formatting properties. A control word preceding plain text turns on the specified attribute. Some control words (indicated by an asterisk following the description) can be turned off by the control word followed by 0 (zero).


   Control Word   Meaning
   ------------   -------

   \plain         Resets application's default character formatting
                  properties

   \b             Bold*

   \i             Italic*

   \strike        Strikethrough. Overloaded. Used to indicate a jump term
                  (hot spot).

   \scaps         Small capitals*

   \v             Hidden text. Overloaded. Used to indicate the context
                  string of the jump destination.

   \f#            Font number. (Replace # with the appropriate number.)

   \fs#           Font size in half-points (default is 24) (Replace #
                  with the appropriate number).

   \ul            Continuous underline*

   \uldb          Double underline Overloaded. Used to indicate a jump
                  term (hot spot).

In order to read negative \expnd values created by Word for the Macintosh, Windows Help uses only the low-order 6 bits of the value read. Word for the Macintosh does not emit negative values for \expnd. Instead, it treats values from 57 to 63 as -7 to -1, respectively (the low-order 6 bits of 57 to 63 are the same as -7 to -1).

Special Characters

Special RTF characters are listed below. If a character is not recognized by the RTF reader, it is ignored and the text following it is considered plain text. The RTF specification is flexible enough to allow new characters to be added for interchange with other software.


   Control Word   Meaning
   ------------   -------

   \'hh           A hexadecimal value, based on the specified character
                  set (may be used to identify 8-bit values).

An ASCII 9 will be accepted as a tab character. The code \<ASCII10> (line feed) or \<ASCII13> (carriage return) is treated as the control word \par. The backslashes must be included or RTF will ignore the control word. It is also desirable to insert a carriage-return/line- feed pair (without backslashes) at least every 255 characters for better text transmission over communication lines.

Additional query words: no32bit 3.00 3.10

Keywords : kb16bitonly
Version : WINDOWS:3.0,3.1
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :