How to use Caption Bars HELP button?

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Alright, so I have added the "Help button" to the caption bar of my program, but I am unsure how to use it. Once the button is pressed it changes the cursor to a little question mark and then the user is supposed to click a button and it will display some help text or something. But my question is what is the code for this "Help Button"?
I tried using the below code and it displays that textbox when the help button is pressed and then the user clicks something, but I need to handle different help texts for each button that the help button is used on.

VB

Private Sub Form1_Help(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.HelpRequested
    MsgBox("hi")
End Sub

Thanks! :)

Posted 13-Aug-11 12:52pm

NY Andrew

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Wendelius · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-13T21:38:00

Solution 1

Try using the Control.HelpRequested[^] event for each control.

Posted 13-Aug-11 21:38pm

Wendelius

Comments

NY Andrew 14-Aug-11 15:27pm

Thank you! It works perfectly! That was exactly what I was looking for!

Wendelius 14-Aug-11 15:48pm

That's great! Glad it helped :)

NY Andrew 14-Aug-11 16:35pm

Sorry for having to ask you for some help.. But in that example that you have mentioned it puts the text into a TextBox, but I am trying to show that text in a pop up balloon tip. Any further ideas?
Once again, thank you!

Wendelius · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-14T11:09:00

Solution 2

I added another answer since I felt this is a different question.

Anyway, perhaps the easiest way is to use tooltip. For example try the following in your HelpRequested event:

VB

Dim toolTip1 As New ToolTip()

toolTip1.Show("Some text goes here", Me.Button1, 1000)

More info on ToolTip:ToolTip Class[^]

There are also plenty of great articles at CodeProject for different kinds of balloons etc. For example this one Balloon Tips Galore![^] has both c# and vb implementations. Don't know how it works with newer environments but it may be worth a try.

Posted 14-Aug-11 11:09am

Wendelius

Comments

NY Andrew 14-Aug-11 17:17pm

hmm.. Not really working, but eventually I'll get something to work. I'm looking through those articles right now. Thanks for all the helpful info!!! :)

Wendelius 14-Aug-11 17:24pm

What was the problem? No tooltip showing?

NY Andrew 14-Aug-11 17:28pm

Well, the tooltip is showing, but it shows TWO of the same tooltip.. I tried closing the tooltip when the first tooltip fades away but no luck. When I click the help button on the title bar then click the button it shows the 2 tooltips, and then when I move the mouse away and then back on it it shows the tooltip when it is not supposed to show the tooltip unless the help button has been pressed.

Wendelius 14-Aug-11 17:52pm

Yes, funny. It doesn't seem to play nicely. I noticed same kind of comments in MSDN documentation. I think you can overcome that with something like:


Imports System.Timers
Public Class Form1

    Private tooltipTimer As System.Timers.Timer = New System.Timers.Timer(2000)
    Private toolTip1 As New ToolTip()
    Private toolTipControl As Control
    Delegate Sub TooltipHideCallback()


    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        AddHandler tooltipTimer.Elapsed, AddressOf tooltipTimerElapsed
    End Sub
    Private Sub tooltipTimerElapsed(ByVal source As Object, ByVal e As System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs)
        tooltipTimer.Stop()
        If toolTipControl.InvokeRequired Then
            Dim delegateVar As New TooltipHideCallback(AddressOf HideToolTip)
            Me.Invoke(delegateVar)
        Else
            HideToolTip()
        End If

    End Sub

    Private Sub HideToolTip()
        toolTip1.Hide(toolTipControl)
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_HelpRequested(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal hlpevent As System.Windows.Forms.HelpEventArgs) Handles Button1.HelpRequested
        toolTipControl = Me.Button1
        toolTip1.Show("Some text goes here", toolTipControl, 5000)
        tooltipTimer.Start()
    End Sub
End Class

NY Andrew 14-Aug-11 17:59pm

Well this would be more on the right track, although after the HelpButtons tooltip is gone, if you move the pointer back over that same button, it is STILL showing that text without the user having to push the helpbutton..

Wendelius 14-Aug-11 18:05pm

I'd guess that would happen if the 2000 milliseconds haven't elapsed yet. You could try to handle the MouseLeave event for the control in question and make the call for the HideToolTip there. Then it should remove the tooltip once you leave. Actually with that you don't necessarily need the timer anymore...

NY Andrew 14-Aug-11 18:07pm

That's a good tip! I'll definitely look into that MouseLeave event. Well, guess it's now up to me now. Thank you for all your time and the great suggestions! :)

Wendelius 14-Aug-11 18:09pm

No problem :)