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Jennifer Maitland wondered: <<I often create help systems, but I'm not the
one implementing them. So while I run around making help topics for every
single little thing, I don't actually know how developers link these topics
in a context sensitive way to the software... Any ideas on how this
happens?>>
It's pretty straightforward. Most Help software lets you create a file
containing "map IDs" or "context numbers" or various other terms for
labeling each help topic with a unique ID number. All the developers do is
add those numbers into the program code for each dialog box (for example).
How they do this varies from programming languages, but it basically takes
the form of a statement which says "If the help key is pressed while this
dialog box is open, launch the help software and open topic #23." It isn't
any more complicated than that, so don't let a developer tell you this is
too difficult to do; that statement just means they can't be bothered
reading the API manual. <g>
<<I realise this is pushing its way into not really being a technical
writing question>>
Au contraire. Dealing with developers and encouraging them to integrate our
help systems with the software is very germane to techwr-l.
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
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