XLL+ Class Library (7.0)

The Help file

Locating the Help File

When the add-in project was created, a skeleton help file was added to the project. You can find it in the Solution Explorer in the "Help Files" folder, named Tutorial1.help.xml.

When the help generator builds its help project, it collects together all the add-in functions in all the source files of the current project, along with the definition of the project itself, and writes the definitions to some temporary xml files in the Help sub-directory.

Then the generator merges the contents of the help file Tutorial1.help.xml to create the contents of the help project. Finally, it calls the HTML help compiler (hhc.exe) to build the finished product, Tutorial1.chm.

Contents of the Help File

Open the file Tutorial1.help.xml and have look at it. By default, it contains some suggested content that is commented out. You can use this as a template for your own content.

The root element of the file is always the Help element. This may contain any or all of the following elements:

Element Description
Project This contains settings that apply to all pages, and also any additional content you want to appear on the front ("Contents") page.
Section This element controls one of the Category pages. It contains switches to control the default content of the page, and also any additional content you want to add to the page.
Function This element controls the help page for one name function. It contains switches to control the default content of the page, It may also contain any additional content you want to add to the function's help, or to the descriptions of its arguments.
AdditionalFile This element adds one user-supplied HTML file to the help system. You can apply standard formatting to the page, or you can instruct the help generator to copy your file directly without changes.

Next: Editing the Help file >>