context-sensitive help only works for initial topic

[knichols]

My context-sensitive help is not working correctly. I have a dot net help project, with context-sensitive help. All my topics are linked to windows of our application. All seemed fine at first, but it isn't now. When I open our application and press F1 (or select Help from the menu), the first time, the proper help topic for the current window displays. But if I move to another window of the application and press F1, no help topic displays. Instead, the window displays "No Dynamic Help available."

If I exit the application and re-start it, the very first time I press F1, context-sensitive help works. (It doesn't matter what window of the application I am on.) But the second time I press F1, the context-sensitive help does not work.

Does anyone know why this is happening and how to fix it?

I've examined my applicationhelp.h file and all seems fine. Also, I don't know why this problem is happening now.

Ever since we instaled help viewer 4.2, we've had a few issues. Could this possibly be one of them?

[Richard Ferrell]

Is it being called from a dot net application? How are you making the call? with the SDK? Does the test tool work for you?

[knichols]

We used the latest SDK (I sent all that information to our technical arcitect. The analyzer only lists the following as a broken link:

File: applicationhelp.flali
Folder: Project/Advanced/
Link: file://///////////////

I just don't know what this means. I have checked my aliases, and all seem fine. Also, as I said, the first time F1 is pressed, the correct context-sensitive help for our application's active window displays. The trouble is, this only happens the first time.

Any suggestions? I have no idea what could be causing this.

Thank you for the help,

K Nichols

[mswlogo]

May I be so bold as to ask how you even got that far

I can't figure out how your wire and create the context ID's.

All I keep reading and seeing is the old style .h file for C++ which I'm familiar with.

How are the ID's passed to a .Net C# app?

Thanks

[mswlogo]

Ah I found it. Can't believe you have to manually add CSHID's to the table and link them.

I feel like I've gone back 20 years to LaTeX and TeX land with this tool.

Older tools you'd add some sort of tag on the page and it would add it automatically to the CSHID table same for TOC.

[Madcap Guru]

the CSH for Dot Not should work with out you needing to add anything by hand, I would talk to support if you are still having issues.

[mswlogo]

the CSH for Dot Not should work with out you needing to add anything by hand, I would talk to support if you are still having issues.

You have to specify the help ID's somewhere either manually or have them generated from tags.

I would have hoped you put some tag on a document but it appears you have to put them in the CSHID Table then link it.

You have to do something.

[sarah_downing]

I am experiencing a similar issue. If I press F1 to open context-sensitive help, it works fine for the first topic. When I switch to a new screen and press F1, it reopens the help for the first topic. It won't budge from that topic unless I close the application.

I don't quite understand what I would have to do manually - all the help IDs are set up correctly and work when tested within Flare. Also, I did not run into this issue in the past. Any suggestions?

[Madcap Guru]

The CSH test tool works ok? You may want to open a support ticket then

[adlangx]

This is still an issue in v5. I isolated it to Flare. A ticket has been opened.

[mas57]

Any progress on this one? I experience the same problem when trying to use the Embeded Client F1 Help through WPF. It works fine from WinForms though.
Win7. IE8. .NET 3.5

Worked up a nice little workaround to get F1 with External Help Viewer based on this: http://blogs.msdn.com/mikehillberg/arch ... n-wpf.aspx