Overview for Developers
Information for Developers
There are three ways to make DotNet Help calls from your Windows application. The most basic way is to use the command line functionality of the DotNet Help Viewer. The other two ways are to use the HelpViewerClient (HVC) and HelpViewerEmbeddedClient (HVEC) classes. Use the command line version only if your application doesn't have access to the .NET 2.0 framework. Otherwise, you should use one of the other two methods.
Features of the DotNet Help CSH engine
- Open a topic of your choice in the MadCap Help Viewer.
- Launch a Help system with the search results from a search string that you specify.
- Embed Help topics or search results directly into your application.
- Dynamic Help—A Help window automatically shows relevant information based on the user's focus in your application.
Key differences between the HVC and HVEC classes
- HVC only supports basic, non-embedded CSH calls. It also does not provide Dynamic Help functionality.
- HVEC contains built-in functionality for F1 help. F1 help is still possible with HVC, however the developer must manually handle the user pressing the F1 key.
- HVC opens the Help Viewer in a separate process from your application, whereas HVEC opens the Help Viewer in the same process as your application. This means that with HVC, if your application closes, the Help window will remain open. On the other hand, with HVEC, if your application closes, the Help window will also close.
Using the API
The API is available in an SDK that you can download at http://www.madcapsoftware.com/downloads/flare020-ke5g.asp. You must add a reference to the appropriate DLL in your project to use the API.
In Visual Studio 2005, do the following:
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click the project.
- Click Add Reference.
- Select the Browse tab.
- Navigate to the appropriate .dll file and select it:
- Click OK.
Sample applications
There are two sample applications available in the SDK that demonstrate using the HelpViewerClient and HelpViewerEmbeddedClient classes.
Distribution
The Help Viewer must be installed on the user's machine that is using your application. The SDK contains a merge module that you can incorporate into an MSI-based installer to distribute the Help Viewer.
The following are instructions on how to include the merge module using Visual Studio 2005:
- In the Solution Explorer, right-click the MSI installer project.
- Click Add.
- Click Merge Module.
- Browse to the InstallMadCapHelpViewer.msm file and select it.
- Click Open.
See Also