Help on HelpProvider

13 Sep 2006 10:28 AM

lgbjr

hi All,

I'm building the help system for a VB.Net 2005 winform application (some
tooltips and a HelpProvider, etc.). For the HelpProvider, there are controls
that I would like to have "What's This" support by using the ? button in the
form header, but.....

I don't want to give up the Min and Max buttons. So, If I create my own ?
button on the form somewhere, what do I put in the Click Event? I never used
VB6, but in all of my searching, I found the VB6 equivalent, which is
form.WhatsThisMode.

I'm assuming that I'm not the only one that has ever wanted the ? button
function without giving up the Min and Max buttons, but after googling for 4
hours, I just can'f find the right combination of keywords to lead me to a
solution!

TIA
Lee

13 Sep 2006 1:19 PM

Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]

"lgbjr" <lgbjr@nospam.cnrgi.com> schrieb:
> I'm building the help system for a VB.Net 2005 winform application (some
> tooltips and a HelpProvider, etc.). For the HelpProvider, there are
> controls that I would like to have "What's This" support by using the ?
> button in the form header, but.....
>
> I don't want to give up the Min and Max buttons. So, If I create my own ?
> button on the form somewhere, what do I put in the Click Event? I never
> used VB6, but in all of my searching, I found the VB6 equivalent, which is
> form.WhatsThisMode.

Typically forms which are resizable and can be minimized have a main menu
item "Help" containing a menu item "What's this" which enables the "What's
this" help mode. You can use p/invoke with 'PostMessage' to enable the
"What's this" help mode:

\\\
Imports System.ComponentModel
....
Private Decalre Auto Function PostMessage Lib "user32.dll" ( _
    ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, _
    ByVal Msg As Integer, _
    ByVal wParam As Integer, _
    ByVal lParam As Integer _
) As Boolean

Private Const WM_SYSCOMMAND As Int32 = &H112
Private Const SC_CONTEXTHELP As Int32 = &HF180

Public Sub WhatsThisMode()
    If _
        Not PostMessage( _
            Me.Handle, _
            WM_SYSCOMMAND,
            SC_CONTEXTHELP, _
            0 _
        ) _
    Then
        Throw New Win32Exception()
    End If
End Sub
///

--
M S Herfried K. Wagner
M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
V B <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>

14 Sep 2006 10:46 AM

lgbjr

Herfried,

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. works great!

Lee

Show quoteHide quote

"Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]" <hirf-spam-me-here@gmx.at> wrote in message
news:%23wHGGxz1GHA.4752@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> "lgbjr" <lgbjr@nospam.cnrgi.com> schrieb:
>> I'm building the help system for a VB.Net 2005 winform application (some
>> tooltips and a HelpProvider, etc.). For the HelpProvider, there are
>> controls that I would like to have "What's This" support by using the ?
>> button in the form header, but.....
>>
>> I don't want to give up the Min and Max buttons. So, If I create my own ?
>> button on the form somewhere, what do I put in the Click Event? I never
>> used VB6, but in all of my searching, I found the VB6 equivalent, which
>> is form.WhatsThisMode.
>
> Typically forms which are resizable and can be minimized have a main menu
> item "Help" containing a menu item "What's this" which enables the "What's
> this" help mode. You can use p/invoke with 'PostMessage' to enable the
> "What's this" help mode:
>
> \\\
> Imports System.ComponentModel
> ...
> Private Decalre Auto Function PostMessage Lib "user32.dll" ( _
>    ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, _
>    ByVal Msg As Integer, _
>    ByVal wParam As Integer, _
>    ByVal lParam As Integer _
> ) As Boolean
>
> Private Const WM_SYSCOMMAND As Int32 = &H112
> Private Const SC_CONTEXTHELP As Int32 = &HF180
>
> Public Sub WhatsThisMode()
>    If _
>        Not PostMessage( _
>            Me.Handle, _
>            WM_SYSCOMMAND,
>            SC_CONTEXTHELP, _
>            0 _
>        ) _
>    Then
>        Throw New Win32Exception()
>    End If
> End Sub
> ///
>
> --
> M S   Herfried K. Wagner
> M V P <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/>
> V B   <URL:http://dotnet.mvps.org/dotnet/faqs/>