How to: Implement "What's This?" Help
"What's This?" Help is similar to context-sensitive Help in that it provides Help related to a specific object or control on a form that has focus. "What's This?" Help is useful for providing brief tip-style descriptions or definitions for specific controls. You can implement "What's This?" Help by adding the "What's This?" (?) button to forms. Users access "What's This?" Help by clicking the "What's This?" button (?) in the form's title bar, which changes the mouse pointer to a question mark, and then clicking objects on the form.
When you configure your application to use WinHelp files, clicking the "What's This?" button opens a pop-up window that displays Help text, which disappears when you click elsewhere on the screen. When you configure your application to use HTML Help files, clicking the "What's This?" button opens the Help file and displays the Help topic in the HTML Help viewer.
Tip
Keep "What's This?" Help topics brief and concise so that the pop-up window does not obscure the feature it describes.
To implement "What's This?" Help
Open the form you want in the Form Designer.
On the Window menu, click Properties Window.
In the Properties window, set the form's WhatsThisHelp property to True (.T.).
To display a "What's This?" (?) Help button in the form's title bar, set the form's WhatsThisButton property to True (.T.). Set the form's MaxButton property to False (.F.) and the MinButton property to False (.F.).
To associate a Help topic with the form, set the form's WhatsThisHelpID property to an ID number corresponding to the appropriate topic in the Help file.
To associate a Help topic with a specific control on the form, select the control and set its WhatsThisHelpID property to an ID number corresponding to the appropriate topic in the Help file.
You can also use the WhatsThisMode method to display the "What's This?" Help question mark so users can click objects to display "What's This?" Help topics.
For more information, see WhatsThisHelp Property, WhatsThisButton Property, WhatsThisHelpID Property, and WhatsThisMode Method.
See Also
Tasks
Provide What's This? Help on a Form Sample
How to: Add Context Sensitive Help to Applications
How to: Add Help Buttons to Forms