Help: The Help Project File

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This article describes the Help Project (.HPJ) file that AppWizard creates for you.

The Help Project file provides information used by the Windows Help Compiler. You can view the .HPJ file using the Microsoft Help Workshop (HCW.EXE); you can also use a text editor. Following is the .HPJ file for the Scribble sample application. When you create your project with AppWizard and choose the Context-Sensitive Help option, your application’s .HPJ file will look similar:

[OPTIONS]

CONTENTS=new_index

TITLE=Scribble Application Help

COMPRESS=true

WARNING=2

REPORT=Yes

BMROOT=..,.

ROOT=..,.


[FILES]
afxcore.rtf
afxprint.rtf

...

[ALIAS]
HIDR_MAINFRAME = main_index
HIDR_SCRIBBTYPE = HIDR_DOC1TYPE
HIDD_ABOUTBOX = HID_APP_ABOUT

HID_HT_SIZE = HID_SC_SIZE
HID_HT_HSCROLL = scrollbars
HID_HT_VSCROLL = scrollbars
HID_HT_MINBUTTON = HID_SC_MINIMIZE
HID_HT_MAXBUTTON = HID_SC_MAXIMIZE
AFX_HIDP_INVALID_FILENAME   = AFX_HIDP_default
AFX_HIDP_FAILED_TO_OPEN_DOC = AFX_HIDP_default

...

[MAP]
#include <C:\progra~1\devstu~1\vc\MFC\include\afxhelp.hm>
#include <hlp\scribble.hm>

This file lists options used by the Windows Help Compiler, the topic files with the .RTF extension to be used for the help build, bitmap files to be included in the build, equivalencies between context strings, mapping files, and more.

Of particular interest is the [MAP] section, which in this example points to two included files with the .HM (help mapping) extension.

Note   Keep in mind when you name your .HPJ file that the name cannot contain spaces. Including a space in the file name causes help to compile incorrectly.

The article Help: The MakeHm Tool explains more about help-context mapping. For more information about Windows Help project files, see the Tools User’s Guide for Microsoft Win32.