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  1. #1
    NOTLguy is offline Advanced Beginner
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    F1 Context sensitive help in Access 2002

    Is there a way to introduce context sensitive help in Access 2002 using the F1 key?



    Thanks,
    Bill

  2. #2
    ajetrumpet is offline VIP
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    what do you mean? You mean similar to how you can highlight a word in the VBE and press F1 to get help on that particular concept?

    If that is what you mean, do you have your own help files? If you do, you can hyperlink to them by making your own shortcut menus and grabbing the search term by double clicking or something in the field on the form (using the double click event). Does that makes sense?

  3. #3
    NOTLguy is offline Advanced Beginner
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    Quote Originally Posted by ajetrumpet View Post
    what do you mean? You mean similar to how you can highlight a word in the VBE and press F1 to get help on that particular concept?

    If that is what you mean, do you have your own help files? If you do, you can hyperlink to them by making your own shortcut menus and grabbing the search term by double clicking or something in the field on the form (using the double click event). Does that makes sense?
    Answer:

    What I mean is that I would like to include my own help comment, which would pop up after pressing F1 while on a field in a form, that is pertinent to that particular field. Context sensitive. Capturing the F1 key for my own purposes.

    Thanks,
    Bill

  4. #4
    slave138's Avatar
    slave138 is offline Competent Performer
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    I believe you have to create your own help file. The instructions are in the Access Help:

    • Select any object
    • Go to the Other tab of the Properties
    • Put your cursor in the "Help Context ID" field and press F1
    I'm using 2007 so I can't confirm this an option in 2002 but I thought I saw it there before...

  5. #5
    ajetrumpet is offline VIP
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    Quote Originally Posted by NOTLguy View Post
    Answer:

    What I mean is that I would like to include my own help comment, which would pop up after pressing F1 while on a field in a form, that is pertinent to that particular field. Context sensitive. Capturing the F1 key for my own purposes.

    Thanks,
    Bill
    You can do this any number of ways Bill. Using your own help files for something as marginal as this sort of thing would really be a waste of time and effort. What are you thinking about doing?

    All a help file really is, is just data. Thus, you could even store your help information in a MEMO field in a table with another field indicating the help topic. Does that make sense?

    But before you do anything, you need to capture the F1 key by using the keycode() function when they press it inside of a form control. This would be done on the keypress event. And the other thing that you may not be aware of is the fact that you may not be able to use this key. Some keys are reserved by Access, just like keywords are. Access has hundreds of keywords that can be found in the utility databases that open everytime you open one of your own databases, and that is the primary reason why using them can confuse the program and give wild results.

    Maybe instead of that key, consider putting a label or something next to the box that is clickable. Or an image is also fine (too many images though, can grow the db too much). When clicked, pop a help form (or some other entity) up with the relevant information from the help files table.

    Of course, that is just one way to do it. Nothing is stopping you from also creating your own help files with a deployment package, but as I said previously, for a task this small that would be an inefficient use of your time.

  6. #6
    NOTLguy is offline Advanced Beginner
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    Dear ajetrumpet'

    Thanks for all the ideas. I am not sure which direction I may go or even if I will do this. I have added comments in the Status Bar Text and ControlTip Text properties of each field on the forms which is some help.

    Lots to think about,....thanks.

    PS: I am retired so time is plentiful and this is an application for a charity that I volunteer for.

    Bill

  7. #7
    ajetrumpet is offline VIP
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    no problem! good luck with it!

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