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Online Help, Context-Sensitive

Online Help, Context-Sensitive. Good for finding out a screen component is or does, checking the field-edit rules not good for how-to, background/overview information Guidelines do not rely too heavily on context-sensitive help cannot link to on-line help windows

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Online Help, Context-Sensitive

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  1. Online Help, Context-Sensitive • Good for finding out a screen component is or does, checking the field-edit rules • not good for how-to, background/overview information • Guidelines • do not rely too heavily on context-sensitive help • cannot link to on-line help windows • users need at least three types: descriptive, procedural and background, Most help is procedural • some items do not need any help • when? Less often than we might think, use label, tooltip, status bar to replace help

  2. Online Help, Context-Sensitive (II) • Accessing • on Windows, F1 • most go to the help menu and use the search option • Usability • See if users try to use, if do, first determine whether the interface needs to be fixed • See how users access help • Do users get what they expect? • Use a talk-aloud protocol to find out what domain questions users have, include them in the online help

  3. Online Help, Procedural • Good for quickly learning a procedure • Guidelines • in Win95, often appears in secondary help windows • size of panel contains only as much information as fits on an index card, users read only as much as needed to do the next step • Usability tests • use talk-aloud protocol

  4. Online Help, Reference • Often the paper documentation in electronic form • finding out what is going on behind the scenes • accessing technical info quickly • Guidelines • a backup for printed documentation • search the entire text for answers to questions • always handy • put online what is done online, on paper what is off-line • e.g., detailed domain info

  5. On-line Help • HelpFile (hlp or chm) • App object or 專案屬性 • HelpContextID • if set, the topic file with the id will be displayed • if not, the container’s HelpContextID is used • can be set in code • What’s This • set the form’s WHatsThisHelp to true • set the control’s WhatsThisHelpID to the proper id

  6. Help Menu • Use ShowHelp in Common Dialog Control • set HelpFile • set HelpCommand to cdlHelpContents • call ShowHelp to show the help windown • To show a particular topic • set HelpCommand to cdlHelpContext • set HelpContext to the proper id • call ShowHelp

  7. Constructing a help System • In the New Topic Wizard, choose the category "book." Scroll through the templates in the category and select "Table of Contents" to begin your project. • Customize the Template • To add a link to the Table of Contents • click on the window to bring it to the front • choose the image link tool from the Object Toolbox and drag it into the Table of Contents window

  8. Creating Your First Help File • Create a New Topic • Under the file menu, choose "New Topic.” • Add Items from the Toolbox to Contents • Choose the Title icon from the toolbox and drag it into the topic window. • Do the same with the heading and subheading objects. • Next add three of the "bulleted list item" objects. • Edit the Topic • Save The Topic

  9. Create a Second Topic • clicking on the file menu and choosing the New Topic Wizard button on the toolbar. • Choose a Topic Template • choose the category "book" Scroll through the templates in the category and select "preface.” • Customize the Preface • Highlight the word Preface and type "Why I like Soup" and type your name where you see the word "author.” • Save the Project

  10. Add and Move Paragraphs • Add an additional paragraph below the first subhead by dragging the paragraph icon from the toolbox and dropping it below the first paragraph • Now move the paragraph you just added to below the second subheading by clicking along the left edge of the text and dragging the text. • Add an Image • From the object toolbox, click and drag the image icon, Double click on the image icon to see the image source dialog box.

  11. Add a Link • first click on that window to bring it to the front • choose the link tool from the Object Toolbox and drag it into the topic window, just below the title. • Highlight the link and rename it "Preface." • Click on the action icon in the tool bar of the Contents window. • User can quickly go from one topic to a related topic by clicking on a link. Users can easily spot links because they underlined, and appear in a specific color.

  12. Build and Run the Project • Save your project again. From the Run menu, choose "Build and Run” • Accept the defaults in the Build Wizard dialog. • Test the Links

  13. The Image Link and Text • Highlight the text to the right of the image and type "Introduction." • While the text is highlighted, choose the image alignment icon from the top. • Click on the action icon in the tool bar of the Table of Contents window. • The dialog box will appear

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