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Microsoft HTML Help Question

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by galahad04

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I have a question about Microsoft HTML Help (uses file extension .chm). I have created a link from a web page to a .chm file that I want users to be able to click and access. However, when the link is clicked, a dialog box pops up in Windows XP asking me if I want to save or open the .chm file. I would like to know how to disable this message box so that instead of propting the user whether to save or open, the .chm file will automatically open. Any ideas on how to do this? Please help!

7 replies

by jdaz

To my knowledge, the *.chm file has to be on the local disk of the user to be opened automatically.

You can tell the user to download the *.chm file and store it at a particular place on the hard drive when he/she accesses the website for the first time (Easier way will be to zip the *.chm file and have a default path to extract). After that you can use

window.showHelp('C:/abc/xyz.chm')

to open the help file. Hope it helps.

More on showhelp method at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/methods/showhelp.asp

by haris

Microsoft HTML Help (CHM file format) is a set of technologies for delivering help and Web content using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML Help is designed for authors or developers who create content for software programs, multimedia titles, intranets, extranets, or for the Internet. HTML Help provides navigational controls that enable users to easily find and sort information. HTML Help also provides a set of tools that assist authors in creating and organizing content delivered with thenavigational controls.

In fact chm files are compiled HTML files. Each chm file contains one or more html pages ompiled in the form of a single compressed file.

Chm files are Win98 and 2000 native help files. Therefore if you double-click on them in Windows explorer they will be automatically opened by windows. Since these are comiled help files they can be opened only in windows and not on web servers. you need to put html files for web access.

You will also find the notes at the following link useful.
http://www.helpware.net/htmlhelp/linktochm.htm#

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