ProHelp 1.0, Release Candidate.
Copyright 1998 (c) by Igor Glukhov.
Date: 10/08/98
Internet: http://www.igweb.pair.com.
E-mail: prohelp@igweb.pair.com

Remarks

ProHelp is Shareware program. The Shareware marketing method lets you try a program before register it. You may try out it for the period of one month. If you wish to keep on using it after one month, you should register it with the author and pay a registration fee (29$). Presently registration is not available. I am going to provide this option soon. Please contact the author in case you wish to use ProHelp before registering. You may see ProHelp in action by downloading Waste Whacker from Doesn't Byte Software.

Overwiev

Components

ProHelp consists of the following two native VCL components:

• TigHelpMonitor. This is a major component. Only one instance of this component is required for the entire application.
• TigHelpButton. This is just the help mode button. TigHelpButton operates in the same manner as well known the “question mark + arrow” button, that resides in many great applications. Any form of your application can has its own the TigHelpButton control. Any type of button can be used instead of the TigHelpButton control without additional coding.

Core Benefits and Features

With ProHelp, your programs will be more professional in appearance and easier to use.

ProHelp can cut development time and technical support time, helping you turn your good software into great software!

ProHelp automatically supports all access methods to the context-sensitive help in the “What’s This?” style for:

• All visible components, including nonwindowed controls.
• Menu commands, including the standard ones (the window control menu commands, the edit control menu commands, etc.).
• All standard objects in the non-client window area.

Using the Tag property or a simplest event handler, you can associate help windows with nonwindowed controls.

ProHelp comes with a lot of automatically installable, fully customizable hints and Help topics for the most standard objects, including the standard dialog’s buttons (Apply, Cancel, Help and OK).

You can control the help window style by simply varying the context number sign.

You can also provide any menu command with two separate hints, corresponding to the enabled and disabled states by using the Hint property.

ProHelp has a many features not given above.

Usage and Customization

Using and customizing ProHelp is as easy as possible. All you need is to place the and TigHelpButton components on the application’s main form, provided that all necessary help windows have been already developed and assigned to the appropriate objects.

TigHelpMonitor has the complete set of properties and events for the customization purposes.

What The Users Say

Tamas Demjen, Hungary

I've downloaded ProHelp for C++Builder 3.0, and this is exactly the component that we've been looking for. Very good work! We'd like to use it in a commercial program. According to the Readme.txt, it costs $29. Is it true? ...

Ward Fitch

Just wanted to congratulate you on a most useful addition to Delphi. I have only been looking at it for 1 hour, but it looks like it will do everything I have wanted to do with a help file, with little coding.

Denis Hanson

After I sent you the suggestion I found cfPopUpWhatIsThis in your documentation. You seem to have thought of everything. I am impressed...

Rhett Price, Viking Gage Inc

Hi, We love your new Help component. It is great! We are getting ready to release our software in the new few weeks though and wanted to get an idea on when the official ProHelp release is estimated to be completed.

Wayne L. McKittrick, Applications Developer & Consultant, Houston, TX

I do not presently have a project where I can actively work with your component. However, I downloaded the demo and am impressed! Definitely enhances an application. I will try it in an actual project as soon as I have a requirement. Congratulations and keep me informed.

Mike Cotton, South Africa

I have tried out ProHelp and it's has some great and easy features. The main feature is the "What's this?". I am writing a large application...

Last modified on December-08-1998.