vcg23.htm

Visual C++与数据库的连接经典实例

<P>Multimedia support

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<P>Advanced graphic support

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<P>Authorable button support: shortcuts and see also buttons

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<P>Easy creation of What's This?<I> </I>context-sensitive help

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<P>SmartHelp OLE control

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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>SmartHelp OLE Control</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>

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<P>The new SmartHelp OLE control included in RoboHELP 95 eliminates the need to program context-sensitive help into any application developed with Visual Basic 4.0, Visual C++ 4.0, Access 95, Visual FoxPro 3.0, or other environments that support the OLE control standard.

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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>WinHelp Video Kit</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>

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<P>The WinHelp Video Kit provides everything you need to integrate video and sound into Windows help systems and to create &quot;live&quot; video product tutorials. The WinHelp Video Kit includes a Software Video Camera, a Video Wizard, a Video Tester, a Video Player, and Video for Windows Runtime.

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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>Moving to WinHelp '95 Kit</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>

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<P>The Moving to WinHelp '95 Kit provides you with the tools to quickly convert Windows 3.x help systems to Windows 95 help systems. It also comes with the first book solely dedicated to Windows 95 help. This kit is intended to make the transition to Windows 95 help fast and easy.

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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>WinHelp HyperViewer</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>

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<P>WinHelp HyperViewer lets you give Windows 3.x help systems the look and feel of Windows 95. WinHelp HyperViewer features a powerful full-text search, multiple-topic printing, and an expandable, collapsible hypertext view of the entire help system.

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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>WinHelp Tool Kit</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>

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<P>The WinHelp Tool Kit is a collection of powerful tools. It includes Help-To-Word, Help-To-Source, WinHelp Inspector, WinHelp BugHunter, WinHelp Graphics Locator, WinHelp Graphics Library, and WinHelp Internet Access. The following list describes some of these tools.

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<P><B>WARNING</B>

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<BR>The WinHelp Tool Kit includes tools that &quot;decompile&quot; Windows help files into Word for Windows .DOC and .RTF files. This functionality is quite valuable when you no longer have access to the original source files, for example. However, you should be careful not to violate copyright laws by decompiling help files for products for which you have no right to do so.

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<LI>Help-To-Word decompiles Windows 3.1x help files into Word for Windows .DOC files. The resulting files are formatted using the styles that WinHelp used. All jumps and pop-ups are marked in green so that they can be found easily. Help-To-Word doesn't convert Windows 95 or Windows NT help files; use Help-To-Source to convert these types of files. This process is useful when you need to create printed manuals from your help files using the formatting that WinHelp uses.

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<LI>Help-To-Source decompiles .HLP format help files (all versions of Windows, including Windows 95 and Windows NT) into .RTF and .HPJ files. The resulting files will contain all topics, jumps, pop-ups, graphics, hypertext links, and other characteristics that the original file had.

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<LI>WinHelp Inspector lets you quickly inspect any help system. Most of the information provided by the WinHelp Inspector normally isn't available without the source files. WinHelp Inspector displays information such as the startup macros, fonts, and DLLs used, the compression, the copyright notice, topic titles, search keywords, and the name, date, and size of the help system.

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<LI>WinHelp BugHunter is used to display all calls made by running applications to any Windows help system (either Windows 95 or Windows 3.x). WinHelp BugHunter is valuable in resolving any broken or incorrect context-sensitive help links between the application and its help system.

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<LI>WinHelp Graphics Locator assists you in searching for graphics (.SHG, .WMF, .MRB, .BMP, .ICO, and .CUR files) and other files in a specific directory, drive, or even across multiple drives. You can also preview these graphics and copy them to their help project directory. The WinHelp Graphics Locator displays information such as the number of colors in the selected graphic, the width and height of the graphic, and so on.

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<LI>WinHelp Graphics Library lets you select graphics such as bullets, buttons, and pictures from the WinHelp Graphics Library and easily integrate them into your help file.

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<LI>WinHelp Internet Access includes tools to integrate your help files with Internet access. Blue Sky Software is a Netscape development partner, and with the new WinHelp Internet Access, you can add Internet access to any Windows help system via Netscape, Mosaic, and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

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<BR>WinHelp Internet Access opens the door to interactive Windows help by integrating Windows help with the World Wide Web (WWW). Help users can jump from Windows help to any World Wide Web site via the Web Browser (Netscape, Mosaic, and Microsoft Internet Explorer) installed on their desktop. With a click of the mouse, help users can also download any file from the Internet or send e-mail.

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<BR>WinHelp Internet Access includes the following:

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<BR>Internet Access Wizard, which automatically adds the WinHelp Internet Access functionality to any Windows help project.

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<BR>The WinHelp Internet Access sample help file, which includes full source code for Internet access commands to many Internet locations and macro commands for downloading files from the Internet. These sample macro commands are available to help you add Internet access to your Windows help systems.

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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>Mastering WinHelp</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>

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<P>With the Mastering WinHelp video, you can become productive immediately and create professional help systems with a minimum amount of effort. Mastering WinHelp also includes advanced tips for experienced users and a WinHelp sample disk for Windows 95.

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<FONT SIZE=5 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>Creating Help Files from Your Application Manual</B></FONT></CENTER></H3>

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<P>The process of manually creating help files for Visual C++ applications is thoroughly documented in Microsoft's <I>Help Compiler User's Guide</I> and the <I>Help Author's Guide</I>. Today, few help-file authors write help files in the manner described in the <I>Help Compiler User's Guide</I>. Third-party help-file authoring applications, such as Doc-To-Help by WexTech Systems Inc. (New York) and RoboHELP 95 by Blue Sky Software (San Diego), speed the organization and writing of help files. This book assumes that most database developers possess the writing skills that are needed to prepare a better-than-adequate manual for the application. Developers who aren't authors by nature usually employ technical writers to prepare the required written documentation. Therefore, this chapter is oriented toward the design and use of text from the application manual as the basis for your application's help file(s). Almost without exception, Word for Windows is the preferred application for creating the rich text format (.RTF) files needed by the help compiler that you use to create the final WinHelp (.HLP) file. All commercial help-file generation applications are based on Word for Windows.

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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>Using Doc-To-Help to Create Help Files for Database Applications</B></FONT></CENTER></H4>

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<P>Doc-To-Help 2.0, which works with Word for Windows 95, allows users to create and distribute commercial-quality printed documentation and sophisticated Windows 95, 3.1, and 3.0 help files from a single source without compromise in either medium or any platform. Doc-To-Help 2.0 includes the following:

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<LI>32-bit architecture with long filename and UNC support

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<LI>Automatic and nearly instantaneous generation of contents (.CNT) files

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<LI>Authorable buttons

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<LI>Easy inclusion of multimedia elements in Help files

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<P>Users will also find updated versions of the Doc-To-Help Hyperformance Tools, providing Doc-To-Help Navigator, video support, and watermark support for 32-bit WinHelp. The Microsoft Windows 95, 3.1, and 3.0 help compilers are included in this package.

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<P>New to Doc-To-Help 2.0 are Topic Types. Using this feature, help authors can mark topics as conceptual, procedural, or context-sensitive. Doc-To-Help makes sure that the topics appear automatically in the correct Help window and with proper formatting. Doc-To-Help 2.0 also offers a &quot;smart&quot; contents tab feature, which allows the help author to place the Doc-To-Help Navigator in the Help topics contents tab. This gives help authors greater flexibility in creating and controlling the contents tab's hierarchical outline.

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<P>Doc-To-Help consists of the following components:

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<LI>A collection of Word for Windows template (.DOT) files for producing manuals that will be copied to 8 1/2- by 11-inch or 7- by 9-inch paper, as well as a special template (D2H_HELP.DOT) that you use when you produce WinHelp files from the text of your manual. The templates make extensive use of Word Basic code to provide supplemental features, such as semiautomatic indexing.

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<LI>A DLL that is used to convert large bitmap files for incorporation into help files.

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<LI>Licensed copies of the Microsoft Help Compiler, HCP.EXE, the protected-mode version of HC31.EXE, which lets you compile larger help files than are possible with HC31.EXE. Generally, you will want to use the Microsoft Help Workshop program that was described earlier.

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<LI>A set of tutorial and sample files from which many of the figures in this section are derived.

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<LI>A 300-page application manual created with Doc-To-Help.

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<P>Doc-To-Help has a preset collection of styles that are likely to meet your needs if your client or firm hasn't already established a set of graphic-design standards. You can alter these basic styles to suit others' requirements or your own taste in layout and typography.

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<FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#FF0000"><B>Organizing Your Manual to Optimize Help File Conversion</B></FONT></CENTER></H5>

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<P>One of the advantages that authors of application manuals have over authors of developers' guides for software is that the application itself provides the organizational framework for your work. The structure of your application's manual is dictated by the relationship between the forms that constitute the user interface of your application. Thus, a database application manual consists of the following major sections or topics:

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<LI>A table of contents (TOC), which lays the groundwork for the window that appears when the user chooses Help | Contents. The level-1 heading, called the supertitle, appears as the heading of the Contents window.

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<LI>An overview of the application as a whole, including a brief description of the purpose of the application and the underlying database(s). The overview corresponds to the main switchboard form or the start-up form of your application. This window or series of windows appears when the user presses the F1 key or clicks the Help button of a toolbar with the opening form displayed. The overview is a level-2 heading.

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<LI>Instructions on installing the application from the distribution diskettes. You don't include this topic in the help file, because the user can't read the help file until he or she completes the installation.

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<LI>One chapter for each main form of your application. For example, an accounting package would have individual chapters for the General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, Inventory, and Job Cost Accounting modules, each of which is likely to have its own main form. This help window appears when the user presses F1 or clicks the Help button when the control with the focus doesn't have a corresponding subtopic. Chapter headings are level 2 and appear in the Help Contents window.

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<LI>Topics within each chapter that explain the next layer down in the hierarchy of forms. Using the Accounts Receivable module of the accounting system as an example, topics might include Invoice Creation, Printing Invoices, Receiving Payments, and Aging the Accounts Receivable. Topic names appear in green with underscores and usually are identified by larger, bold typefaces. Topics use level-3 headings.

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<LI>Subtopics within each chapter that explain how to enter data in text boxes and how to use any subsidiary forms that are at the next level of the hierarchy. You open subtopic help windows from the main topic (chapter) help windows or by pressing F1 when a control object is assigned a subtopic window. Subtopic names have the same format as topic names but use a font that is one or two points smaller than that used for topic names. Subtopic headings are level 4.

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<LI>A glossary of potentially unfamiliar terms or familiar terms that are used in an unusual context or have an uncommon meaning in the manual. Doc-To-Help converts glossary entries into pop-up windows that you open by clicking highlighted text with dashed underscores.

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<LI>Index entries that create the entries that users see in the list box when they choose Help | Search.

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<P>Figure 23.14 shows a sample Doc-To-Help document, D2HSETUP.DOC, in Word for Windows' outline mode. This help document has three heading levels; thus, D2HSETUP.DOC typifies the structure of help files for Windows applications. Writing your manual with one of Doc-To-Help's standard templates attached simplifies the help-file conversion process. Alternatively, you can convert existing manuals to Doc-To-Help's format by importing the styles contained in the standard Doc-To-Help template. The graphics shown in D2HSETUP.DOC import directly into your help file.

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<P><B><A HREF="23vcg14.gif" tppabs="http://202.113.16.101/%7eeb%7e/Database%20Developer's%20Guide%20with%20Visual%20C++%204,%20Second%20Edition/23vcg14.gif">Figure 23.14. A Doc-To-Help manual shown in Word for Windows' outline mode.</A></B>

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<NOTE><B>NOTE</B>

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<BR>Don't forget that Doc-To-Help has a toolbar that may be