Sec. window of HTML Help not working in certain envoronment?

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chfrmeyer
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:07 pm

Sec. window of HTML Help not working in certain envoronment?

Unread post by chfrmeyer »

I'm working on a project including HTML Help for a software that in turn runs as a COM-Add-In for Excel, using Excel as its platform (an evaluation tool).

Just this week I noticed that links within the CHM file that use the secondard window name (or the main window name, for that matter) refuse to work if the Help file was opened from the software to which it was assigned, for example by a help buttom.

When I proceed as follows:

1. Use a help button to open to display a help topic
2. In Using the navigation pane, navigate to a topic including links with (secondary) window specified
3. Click such a link.

the link returns a message to the effect that the HHCLICK message which handles a jump to an additional window wont work

("Das Objekt unterstützt die Eigenschaft oder Methode "hhclick" nicht")

If in Step 1 I open the Help file in Windows (say, by doubleclicking in the Windows explorer) and then proceed as in steps 2 and 3 the same thing works just fine (as it has in other projects used with other software).

I suspect that my issue really is with Microsoft and not H&M - bu could someone else in this environment have come accross such a problem?

Christoph
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Alexander Halser
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Re: Sec. window of HTML Help not working in certain envoronm

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

Hi Christoph,
this is most likely an issue of how the HTML Help API is invoked by your software and it has perhaps to do with Excel and the fact that it is a COM add-in hosted by Excel. Without additional information, it's hard to even guess what could be wrong. What programming language do you use to write your add-in and how is the HTML Help API invoked?

The hhclick() method is a function of the internal HHCTRL Active-X object that is created at runtime by the HTML page. This HHCTRL Active-X object manages the creation of and navigation between multiple help windows. I suspect that the HHCTRL object is not created at runtime and therefore the hhclick() method is not available to the Javascript engine.

In Help+Manual, you have the option to disable secondary windows for CHM files. If you disable secondary windows, all inter-topic links will be encoded as plain <a href=xx> links. With secondary windows, these topic links point to the HHCTRL.hhclick() method, that eventually executes the link.
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
chfrmeyer
Posts: 63
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:07 pm

Re: Sec. window of HTML Help not working in certain envoronm

Unread post by chfrmeyer »

Hi Alexander,

Thank you, your suggestions to say the least helped confirm the suspicion that I already had. The Problem was indeed AddIn-related and is now solved.

The help call for one example was codes as

Help.ShowHelp(this, filename, HelpNavigator.TopicId, "1100");

The problem was solved by replacing such a call with a request to the host program (Excel):

Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.Help(filename, 1100);
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