Component Help Installer

Contents

• Description
• Compatibility
• Installation
• Known Issues
• Update History
• License and Copyright
• About the Author

Description

Component Help Installer can be used as both a stand-alone application and as an add-in expert for Borland Delphi v3 and v4.

In either case the program integrates a given component help file into the Delphi help system. (providing that the help file conforms to Delphi OpenHelp standards). The program can also be used to uninstall help files.

The functionality of the software is provided by a DLL: PJCHI.dll. The stand-alone application is CHI.exe. This calls into PJCHI.dll. A Pascal source file -- PJCHIExpert.pas -- defines the add-in expert. When installed into Delphi this file adds a new menu item to Delphi's Components menu. When this item is selected it calls into PJCHI.dll to perform the installation.

Compatibility

The program requires Windows 95 or later. It has not been tested with Windows NT. It also requires an installation of at least one of Borland Delphi 3 or 4. CHI is not compatible with Delphi 5.

Installation and removal

Installation

Using the installer

The software is distributed in one of two ways:

1. as the self-extracting installation program chisetup.exe -- which is the install program or
2. as a zip archive chisetup.zip that contains chisetup.exe -- if you got the program this way then unpack chisetup.exe from zip archive into a folder of your choice.

To install the software using chisetup.exe proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to where you downloaded/unzipped chisetup.exe and execute the program. This is installer is a console application that will display in a terminal window.
2. When the program pauses either
• press return to accept the default installation path or
• enter the full path where you wish to install the software and press return.
3. A license dialog box will then be displayed. Read the license. To click the Accept button to agree to the license and continue with the installation. Click Decline to halt the installation.
4. The installation will continue and a message will be displayed when it completes. Press return to halt the installation.

Using the stand-alone application

The application -- CHI.exe -- is now ready to use. Simply navigate to it and double click to run. Alternatively, create a shortcut to it on your desktop or in the Start menu. For instructions on how to use the application display the help file.

Installing the Delphi add-in expert

To install the add-in expert do as follows:

1. Copy the file PJCHIExpert.pas to wherever you store your Delphi add-ins and components: often this is in Lib subfolder of the Delphi installation (or in a subfolder of that folder).
2. Start Delphi 3 or Delphi 4
3. Choose the Component | Install Packages menu option.
4. In the resulting dialog box, choose the package into which you wish to install the expert. Click the Edit button and choose to display the package editor.
5. In the packaghe editor, click the Add button and select the Add Unit tab in the dialog box.
6. Enter (or locate using the Browse button) the full path to PJCHIExpert.pas. and click OK.
7. Now compile the package.
8. A new menu option: "Install Component Help" should now have appeared on Delphi's Components menu. Click this menu option to display the expert.
9. For help on using the expert, display the help file.

You may wish to install the expert it its own package. In this case start a new Delphi project and select "Package" from the object repository. Add PJCHIExpert.pas to the package and save it. Then add the new package using Delphi's Components | Install Packages menu option.

System changes

Installing Component Help Installer will make the following changes to you system:

The following files will be stored in the folder where you installed the software (this will be C:\Program Files\PJSoft\Experts\CHI1 by default):

• CHI.exe
• CHI.hlp
• CHI.lic
• Info.htm
• InstallLib.dll
• PJCHI.dll
• PJCHIExpert.pas
• SITLicenseDlg.dll
• UnInstall.exe

The following new registry key will be created:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\PJSoft\Experts\CHI\1.0

Removal

Before uninstalling the software ensure that the expert is uninstalled from all version of Delphi.

The program can be un-installed via "Add/Remove Programs" in Control Panel.

The un-install manually you must:

1. Delete the folder C:\Program Files\PJSoft\Experts\CHI1 (assuming you accepted the default installation path) including all files in it.
2. Remove the registry key 1.0 from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\PJSoft\Experts\CHI
3. Delete any empty subkeys of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\PJSoft.

Known Issues

1. The fact that CHI doesn't work with Delphi 5 has been notified and the program has been fixed to detect Delphi 5 and display a warning message.
2. A Bug was reported with release 1.1 where both the expert and application were failing to run on systems whose locale does not use '.' as the decimal point. This bug was fixed in release 1.1.1.

Update History

Release 1.0
CHI.exe v1.0 of 06/04/2001
PJCHI.dll v1.0 of 06/04/2001
PJCHIExpert.pas v1.0 of 06/04/2001

• Original version.

Release 1.1
CHI.exe v1.0 of 06/04/2001
PJCHI.dll v1.1 of 09/06/2001
PJCHIExpert.pas v1.0 of 06/04/2001

• Modified so that expert won't run with any version of Delphi other than Delphi 3 or 4, or as part of application if no versions of Delphi are detected.
• Added information on how CHI works to help file and made help button display a menu giving choice of help overview or help on how CHI works.
• Made about box give information about both the DLL and the host application.

Release 1.1.1
CHI.exe v1.0 of 06/04/2001
PJCHI.dll v1.1.1 of 23/06/2001
PJCHIExpert.pas v1.1 of 23/06/2001

• Fixed bug that was preventing expert and application from detecting Delphi on locales not using '.' as decimal point.

License & Copyright

This software is copyright (C) 2001 - Peter Johnson, Llanarth, Wales, UK.

The executable file, help file and source code can be freely distributed on a not-for-profit basis providing that:

• the source code is not altered.
• all files included in this distribution, including this file, are distributed together and are not changed.

By not-for-profit I mean that you may recover out of pocket expenses incurred in distributing the code, but you should not make any profit from this.

If you discover any bugs in this implementation, or if you have any update suggestions, please contact me on peter.johnson@openlink.org.

Please do modify the source code for you own use providing it is not re-distributed (see above). I'd like to see any changes you make - I could incorporate them into future versions. Please notify me of changes on at the above e-mail address.

This software is provided as is - no warranty is given as to its suitability for any purposes to which you may wish to put it.

All relevant trademarks are acknowledged.

About the Author

I'm Peter Johnson - a hobbyist programmer living in Ceredigion in West Wales, UK. I write mainly in Delphi, but occasionally dabble in C, C++ and Java. My programs are available for download on my web-site: http://www.pjsoft/contactbox.co.uk/.

I can be contacted by e-mail on peter.johnson@openlink.org.