Class wwHelp

The wwHelp object is exposed as an Automation interface that provides access to the help project and generation engine. With the COM object you can automate all aspects of interaction with the help project which includes:

The interface provides much more functionality, but these are the highlights. See the detailed methods for additional information on the functionality available.

ProgId: wwHelp.wwHelp

Example

' VB code sample using COM set oHelp=CREATEOBJECT("wwHelp.wwHelp") *** Open the help project - Force to reopen oHelp.Open("d:\installs\wwhelp\sample\webmonitor.hbp",True) oHelp.LoadTopic("Class wwIPStuff",True) *** Assign a template to use for rendering oHelp.SetTemplate() *** Return an HTML string of the topic lcHTML = oHelp.RenderTopic() *** Display topic in browser oHelp.Preview() *** Display topic in a Web Browser Control oHelp.Preview(loWebBrowserCtl) *** Properties lcProjFile = oHelp.cFileName *** oData Member contains topic data lcTopic = oHelp.oTopic.Topic lcBody = oHelp.oTopic.Body lcPK = oHelp.oTopic.PK

Class Members

MemberDescription
addConfig Adds a Configuration Record to the table. Pass the project title optionally. You can also pass INDEX and it will create an Index Topic
addConfig() as Variant
addspecialrecord Adds a special record type. Specify a type of record to add: CONFIG or INDEX are currently used.
addspecialrecord(lcType as Variant,lcProjTitle as Variant,lcCompany as Variant,lcLanguage as Variant,lcIconFile as Variant) as Variant
Close Closes the currently open help project.
wwHelp::Close()
compileproject Runs the Help Compiler to build the final CHM HTML Help file.
compileproject(llSilent as Variant,lcWorkshopPath as Variant) as Variant
copytopic Copies an existing topic and assigns new Ids
copytopic(lcParentPk as Variant) as Variant
createobject Allows creation of a new object in the project and passing back a reference to the client.
createobject(lcClass as Variant) as Variant
deletetopic Deletes the currently active topic from the project file.
o.deletetopic(llDeleteTree)
displaybranch Runs through a hierarchical branch recursively. Calls OnDisplayBranchTopic which can be used to hook display logic.
displaybranch(lcParent as Variant,lcAction as Variant,llTop as Variant,lcAction2 as Variant) as Variant
Error Occurs when there is a run-time error in a method.
Error(nError as Long,cMethod as String,nLine as Long) as Variant
formathtml HTML formatting routine that is used for formatted HTML display. Handles line breaks, HTML tag display and HTML tag markup using the tag Help Builder's markup.
formathtml(lcHTML as Variant,llUnformat as Variant,llDontParseTopicLinks as Variant) as Variant
generatehtml Generates HTML files for all topics in the project. Files are sent to the same path as the project.
generatehtml() as Variant
generateindex Generates the index and project files for the HTML Help project.
generateindex() as Variant
generatetoc Generates the Table of Contents file for the Help project.
generatetoc(lnLimitSize as Variant,llAddDates as Variant,llSilent as Variant,lcIconFile as Variant,llAllowServerSearch as Variant) as Variant
generatetocex Generates only the TOC portion of the TOC for display.
generatetocex(lnLimitSize as Variant,llAddDates as Variant,llSilent as Variant,lcIconFile as Variant) as Variant
GetData Retrieves a Help oData object without affecting the current topic. Pass BLANK as the Pk to create an return object. Useful to allow copying data or saving data.
GetData(lcPK as Variant) as Variant
gethreflink Returns a full HREF link based on the current setting of View mode. This determines whether a WCS script link is inserted or a link to a filename. Return value based on the lViewerMode flag.
gethreflink(lcTopic as Variant,lcPK as Variant,lcExtraTags as Variant,lcAnchor as Variant) as Variant
getimageidfromtopictype Returns an Image ID for a topic type from the local lookups table
getimageidfromtopictype(lcType as Variant) as Variant
GetProperty Retrieves a property stored with SetProperty in the Properties field of the help object. Properties are returned in typed format depending on their original input value.
o.GetProperty(lcProperty, @laProperties)
gettopicfilename Creates a legal file name from a topic by stripping out spaces and illegal characters.
gettopicfilename(lcPK as Variant) as Variant
GetTopics This method allows you to retrieve topics as an array. You may optionally specify a filter string which is used as part of a SQL WHERE clause.
o.GetTopics(lcCursor, lcQuery)
GOCONFIG Goes to the Configuration Record. Creates it if it doesn't exist.
GOCONFIG() as Variant
insertinheritancetree
insertinheritancetree(lcInheritanceField as Variant) as Variant
insertseealsotopics Inserts HTML for all the related topics. Topics are returned as a string of HREF links. This is used directly on the template form and wrapped with formatting tags.
insertseealsotopics() as Variant
istopic Quickly checks to see if a topic exists based on a PK.
istopic(lcPK as Variant) as Variant
LoadTopic This method is used to retrieve a specific topic. The topic is searched for by either Pk or Topic field depending on the lTopic parameter. If .T. search is performed by topic otherwise it's assumed the PK is used.
oHelp.LoadTopic(cPk,lTopic)
newtable Creates a brand new help table and project directory structure. Automatically creates configuration and index records as well as the full directory structure including templates and images directories in the subtree.
o.CreateProject(lcFileName,lcTitle)
newtopic Creates a new empty topic in the oTopic member of the object. NewTopic creates a ready to use topic with a PK and created timestamp set. Simply set properties and call SaveTopic.
o.newtopic()
ondisplaybranchtopic Gets called for each topic that is accessed by Display Branch. Uses the current alias - make sure to reset it before returning.
ondisplaybranchtopic() as Variant
Open Opens a help project file. If the file does not exist this function prompts for a file unless the llSilent parameter is passed as true.
wwHelp::Open(cFileName,llForceReopen,llSilent)
OpenForm This powerful method brings up the Help Builder User Interface. By passing in a search key you can automatically pre-select a specific topic to display to the user. The lookup can be based on the PK, a Topic or the Help ContextId.
o.OpenForm(cLookup,nType,cFilename)
Preview Shows a topic in the default browser or optionally in a Web Browser control passed.
o.Preview(oWebBrowser)
printtopic Prints the current topic to the printer. A dialog is displayed prior to printing. Optionally pass an HTML string to print.
o.printtopic(lcHTML)
reindex Creates the indexes and packs the help project file.
o.reindex()
RenderTopic Renders the currently active topic using the current cHTMLTemplate (see wwHelp::SetTemplate). The topic is rendered into a string which typically will be HTML, but maybe a macro string to feed to Word or like Word processor.
wwHelp::RenderTopic(lcTopicPK)
RunWizard
o.RunWizard(cWizard)
savetableas Saves the current help table to a new file.
o.savetableas(lcFileName)
savetopic Saves the currently selected help topic to disk. The data written comes from the wwHelp.oTopic member.
o.savetopic(llCompare)
SetError Sets the error settings
SetError(lcMessage as Variant) as Variant
setexpanded Sets the expanded property of the currently selected topic. Writes the change to the table
setexpanded(llExpanded as Variant) as Variant
setoutputpath
setoutputpath(lcTargetPath as Variant) as Variant
SetProperty Sets a property in the Properties field of the Help object. This method allows storage of custom values in a help topic that can be retrieved with GetProperty.
o.SetProperty(lcProperty, lvValue,lcType,lcDescription)
SetTemplate This method allows you to specify a template for use by the next call to RenderTopic. You can specify a template either by:
wwHelp::SetTemplate(cTemplate)
settemplatescheme Changes the Template Scheme to a new scheme. Returns .T. or .F. on success/failure.
settemplatescheme(lcSheme as String,llSilent as Boolean) as Variant
StatusMessage Routine used to display status messages. By default this method implements WAIT WINDOWS. This method can be overridden to redirect output to an alternate location.
StatusMessage(lcMessage as Variant,lnPercent as Variant) as Variant
TocBranch Walks a branch of topics recursively for Table of Contents generation.
TocBranch(lcParent as Variant,loHTML as Variant,llPlainHTML as Variant,llAddDate as Variant) as Variant
tocbranchex Generates a pure HTML viewable TOC branch
tocbranchex(lcParent as Variant,loHTML as Variant,lnLevel as Variant,llPlainHTML as Variant,llAddDate as Variant) as Variant
updatelinks Allows changing all crossreference links from one string to another.
updatelinks(lcOldLink as Variant,lcNewLink as Variant) as Variant
updatepk
updatepk(lcOldPk as Variant,lcNewPK as Variant) as Variant
updateprojectfile Updates the current project file to the latest version
updateprojectfile() as Variant
writedata Writes a Data object to the current help data object
writedata(loTopic as Variant) as Variant
CALIAS Internal alias of the Help file.
CAPPNAME Name of the Help application. Displays in the tile before topic name
cappstartpath Location where Help Builder was started from. This value is crucial when running the wwHelp COM object.
cerrormsg Error Message if lError = .T.
cFileName Contains the full path to the currently open help project file.
cftppath The FTP Path to use to upload the project
chelpcollection Name of the Help 2.0 collection that gets generated. Defaults to the filename stripped of spaces and special chars.
chelpnamespace The Help Namespace used for an Help20 collection.
chidetopiclist List of PKs of topic trees that are not to be included when the final help file is built.
cltag Left formatted HTML tag. Defaults to <<.
COUTPUTPATH
cprojcompany
cprojecticonfile The icon strip BMP file for this project. Optional and blank uses the internal default file of the help engine.
cprojectlanguage The Language ID of the project used. This is a string value that is in the format of: 0x409 English (United States)
cprojectname
cprojpath Path of the project
crtag Right formatted text HTML tag. Defaults to >.
ctitle Title of the help project
lautoinchelpid Set to .T. to automatically increment the Help Context ID for each new topic.
lerror Error Flag - .T. when an error occurred during the last operation
lnewtopic Flag to tell whether the current topic is a new topic. Used by SaveTopic() to determine whether to add a new record.
lprintmode Determines whether we're generating a document for printing. When we do we generate links as # and add an anchor to the top of the topic.
lviewermode The mode that the class is displayed in. .T. displayed inside the viewer with VFPS:// links. .F. normal mode with relative links.
Name Specifies the name used to reference an object in code.
nhtmlformat 0 - Formatted (<> tags to {}/linebreak formatting) 1 - Raw HTML
ocodeparser Code Parser that is used to turn code into syntax colored highlighted HTML
odom Reference to XMLDOM object
oform Reference to an open wwHelp form instance.
oTopic The oTopic member is the key member that allows access to all of the topic data fields. All of the oTopic members map directly to the data fields of the project file. See Topic data field layout for more details.
owwhelpevents Help Builder Event Object reference which allows firing events in an external COM object to allow extension of the class.

Requirements



  Last Updated: 8/26/2008 | © West Wind Techologies, 2008