Basic Working Procedures > Creating Topic Files > Using help windows for CHM files

The Microsoft HTML Help (CHM) format uses sets of definitions called "help windows" to configure the appearance, size and behavior of the Windows viewer used to display CHM help files. Help window definitions can also be used to display individual topics in external windows.

Changing the definition of the default help window, which is called Main, adjusts the help viewer features. You can also define additional "secondary" help window types, which can have different features. These help windows are used for opening specific topics in external windows when you link to them. You do this by specifying a different help window type when you define the hyperlink.

Key Information

Help window settings are only relevant for HTML Help output, where they control the appearance and behavior of the Microsoft CHM viewer.

The definition of the default Main help window type controls the size, appearance and controls of the help viewers for HTML Help.

You can change these settings with the Main help window definition in Configuration > Common Properties > Help Windows. The common settings define the position and size of the help viewer, the HTML Help Options tab defines the features and behavior of the help viewer.

See Background colors and help viewers for more details and Help Windows Settings in the Reference section for information on the individual settings. .

1.Select Configuration > Common Properties > Help Windows > {WindowName}

2.Add creates a new secondary help window type, Remove deletes the current window type (you cannot delete Main). For more information see Help Windows and Help Windows Settings in the Reference section.

3.Edit the attributes to change the properties.

In HTML Help you can use additional help window definitions to display topics in external windows when they are opened with hyperlinks. Topics can only be displayed in external windows in HTML Help CHM files and the help window settings have no effect in other help formats.

Important: Help window types can only be used in hyperlinks.
You cannot directly associate a help window type with an individual topic and you cannot set a topic in the TOC to open in an external window when you click on its TOC entry.

1.In the Project Explorer go to Configuration > Common Properties > Help Windows and create at least one secondary help window type definition with Add.

Adjust the settings of the window definition as you want the external window to appear – in addition to the size and position you may want to switch off navigation controls etc. in the help window definition's HTML Help Options tab.

2.In the HTML Help Options tab activate the option Links to secondary help windows open a new help window.

3.When you create a hyperlink to a topic specify the secondary help window type with the Window: setting in the link definition.

When the user clicks on the hyperlink the target topic it will now be displayed in an external window in HTML Help, with all the settings defined for the window type in step 1.

The help window definition no longer sets background colors (it only did this in the now obsolete WinHelp format). In current electronic output formats the background colors are controlled by the HTML page template (you cannot set page and header background colors for PDF, RTF or printed manuals).

See Background colors and help viewers for more information on how to set background colors.