Defining Help Panels

The IPF tag language contains "header" tags with levels from 1 to 6; by default, levels 1 to 3 define the start of a new help panel, and are automatically included in the table of contents for online documentation. Each help panel therefore begins with one of these header tags, followed by the help text to be displayed within that panel.

Figure "Simple Help Panel Source"

The res= attribute specified in the :h1 through :h6 tags is used by IPF to uniquely identify the help panel, and to enable an application to link to that panel when the user requests help. See Linking Help Windows With Applications for further information.

The x=, y=, cx= and cy= attributes define the position and size of the window within its parent. In the case of a help window, the parent is the application window from which the help window was invoked.

The header levels 1 to 3 are used when organizing help panels within the table of contents. Panels defined with header level 3 are grouped under the last defined header level 2, and those defined with header level 2 are similarly grouped under the last defined header level 1. Thus the order of definition within the source file is significant.

Note that multiple help panels may be placed within a single source file, simply by including additional header tags. By default, header levels 4 to 6 will not cause the display of a new help window, but will appear as formatted subject headings within a help panel.


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