RAD Studio |  |

Creating the Entries

To make your component's Help integrate seamlessly with the Help for the rest of the components in the library, observe the following conventions:

Each component should have a Help topic:

The component topic should show which unit the component is declared in and briefly describe the component. The component topic should link to secondary windows that describe the component's position in the object hierarchy and list all of its properties, events, and methods. Application developers access this topic by selecting the component on a form and pressing F1. For an example of a component topic, place any component on a form and press F1.

The component topic must have a # footnote with a value unique to the topic. The # footnote uniquely identifies each topic by the Help system.

The component topic should have a K footnote for keyword searching in the Help system Index that includes the name of the component class. For example, the keyword footnote for the TMemo component is "TMemo."

The component topic should also have a $ footnote that provides the title of the topic. The title appears in the Topics Found dialog box, the Bookmark dialog box, and the History window.

Each component should include the following secondary navigational topics:

- A hierarchy topic with links to every ancestor of the component in the component hierarchy.
- A list of all properties available in the component, with links to entries describing those properties.
- A list of all events available in the component, with links to entries describing those events.
- A list of methods available in the component, with links to entries describing those methods.

Links to object classes, properties, methods, or events in the Delphi Help system can be made using Alinks. When linking to an object class, the Alink uses the class name of the object, followed by an underscore and the string "object". For example, to link to the TCustomPanel object, use the following:
Copy Code

    !AL(TCustomPanel_object,1)

When linking to a property, method, or event, precede the name of the property, method, or event by the name of the object that implements it and an underscore. For example, to link to the Text property which is implemented by TControl, use the following:

Copy Code

    !AL(TControl_Text,1)

To see an example of the secondary navigation topics, display the Help for any component and click on the links labeled hierarchy, properties, methods, or events.

Each property, method, and event that is declared within the component should have a topic:

A property, event, or method topic should show the declaration of the item and describe its use. Application developers see these topics either by highlighting the item in the Object Inspector and pressing F1 or by placing the cursor in the Code editor on the name of the item and pressing F1. To see an example of a property topic, select any item in the Object Inspector and press F1.

The property, event, and method topics should include a K footnote that lists the name of the property, method, or event, and its name in combination with the name of the component. Thus, the Text property of TControl has the following K footnote:

Copy Code

    Text,TControl;TControl,Text;Text,

The property, method, and event topics should also include a $ footnote that indicates the title of the topic, such as TControl.Text.

All of these topics should have a topic ID that is unique to the topic, entered as a # footnote.

Copyright(C) 2009 Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
What do you think about this topic? Send feedback!