

HOC User's Guide

Abbott's Help On Cue				November 28, 1998

Ver 2	February 19, 1999
(1) h2HelpController now uses Tab Control in lieu of many command buttons. 
(2) The Form Loader feature has been added.
(3) Logic has been develops that exports to ODE Help writer.
(4) ODE Help master forms are included with MDB.

Introduction

The Help On Cue (HOC) MDE demo consists of all the help tables, queries, forms, reports, and modules required for installation and utilization of its features. You must obtain the MDB version of the demo to be able to use the HOC software in your application.

The HOC research software can often take some time to perform all its research functions. We use the hour glass wait symbol to ask you to "please wait". If it appears obvious (no disk activity) that the research logic is in some type of loop use the cancel button to terminate the logic. 

Because there are so many different ways of programming its not always possible to successfully determine via VBA code what is the best way to handle a discovered coding technique. Should your form or table be able to consistently abort or loop the HOC logic we would like to see a sample of the object and assist you in a possible fix to the problem. Use our email address to send us the form or table.

We elected to release HOC in its source form, when sold. We did this so that the Access programmer can become more knowledgeable on how to use and develop programming tools to research access tables and form. If you have developed a technique to better use the principles contains in HOC please feel free to discuss this usage with us.

The HOC produces intermediate research TXT files should you wish to review them. These TXT files are stored in the \Windows\Temp file at this time.

We did not develop the HOC concept to stop at the level of source as being released. It was our intention to write VB code to take the Help ID Number and its associated Help Memo and create What's This context help using the standard Microsoft Help program. Because we use the HOC as is, at this point in its development, we have decided to release it as a low level Access help development product.

Version 2 - We've researched and developed query and Word steps to use the Help On Cue gathered data and can now get the ODE Help tool to make the What's This? topic and map interface work.

Documenting Your Application

1. Back up the application original source. 
2. This software will not harm your original application, but should a hardware failure occur while the HOC its performing its various functions unpredictable results may occur.
3. Open the application to be researched. 
4. Go to the File Menu and select the Get External Data feature.
5. The HOC software needs to be installed in a library. You can call this library HelpOnQ.
6. Have the Get External Data function locate the HOC source.
7. Click on all tables (queries, forms, reports, module) that start with h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, or Abbott. Copy these into your application.
8. Using the h2HelpDelete query delete the information in the h2Help table. 
9. The h2Help  table must start out clean for each application. 
10. Use the h2HelpController form to run all research steps.
11. Perform the Red Button steps first and in this order, DocForms then DocCtrls (now Tab One)
12. The CodeHelpID command has two option buttons. Click on the Write Enter/Exit Code Y/N to have the logic generate and insert coding into each form's CBF module. If you do not wish for all modules to be coded set on the Approve Module Coding Y/N option. (also on Tab 1).
13. The CodeHelpID logic will always update the ContextHelpId number into the h2Help table.
14. Use the Remove Abbott Coding command button to strip out generated coding.
15. Once some research has been done and your original h2Help table gets built you can research and update this table, or, wipe it clean and make a new table each time you run HOC.
16. Information in the h2Help table is cumulative. 
17. Use the h2Help report to prepare a listing of all table data fields in the application. This report is very helpful as you use the various tables in your development.
18. The h2Help table allows you to key update data field and others memos. 
19. If you add new fields to the data table they will be discovered and merged into the existing h2Help
20. Unbound text, combo, and other data display and entry boxes are placed into this h2Help table.
21. Unbound field name references will have a period suffix appended to their name. 
22. Unbound example, if you have a consist need for usage of a certain unbound text box(s) such as txtFromDate and txtThruDate (an other name variations) and if it is prompted on numerous forms as runtime by using the same variable name on all forms you can have a consistent help memo prompt for what's expected in this parameter.
23. As each new data field is discovered in a table it is assigned a Help ID Number. These numbers start with 1000 and work upward.
24. As controls are discovered on a form they are assigned a Help ID number. These numbers start with 7000 and work upward.
25. If you have a command button standard, such as each form will have a Form Exit button, and you name this command button the same each time it is created, the research logic will allow you to use a command definition.
26. For example, if you always call the command button to exit a form, cmdExit, you can write up a definition memo once and all named cmdExit buttons will refer to this Help ID number.
27. When you are finished with developing help for your application you should weed out all commands, etc, that do not have a need to be documented in the h2Help table.
28. In the demo provided for this software you are asked to explore the form and subform window focus function so that you can see under what conditions the HOC can not be used. 
29. A form with two subforms will not allow for the focus to be placed into the HOC text form.
30. The HOC help development tool is only designed to be use by the application programmer.
31. If HOC is released as part of your application make sure you review and comply with this 2nd tier distribution of HOC.
32. There are no guarantees that this HOC software will work on any future updates of access or windows operating systems. It appears likely that it will. Only MS knows. Well maybe not.
33. V2, Form Loader. The form loader feature has been added and can be found on the Tab Four. This will allow you to cycle through your forms without having to put Help On Cue command button on your application forms.
34. V2, Queries have been developed that can produce MS Word docs that can in turn be used by the ODE Help Tool.
35. V2, MS Word docs have been developed which will generate ODE Help input documents that can then be used to make the What's This F1 topics.
36. V2, If you didn't give a Command button a formal application name it gets ignored. Try to use a naming conventions such as cmdExit for all Exit Commands, cmdFind for all search commands, cmdPrint for all preview print reports, etc.
37. Ten minutes to make F1 - What's This?. Its real great! And we almost gave up!!
Abbott's Computer Services
7070 W 43rd Houston, TX 77092-4444 Phone 713/460-2844 Fax 713/460-1413 Email abbott@bztech.com



