Welcome to the TMFMHelp 1.11 Popup Help Control component for 32-Bit Delphi.
This component allows you to add Popup Help to all your Delphi programs with a minimum of coding. Users will find your programs more professional in appearance and easier to use. You will save time and effort because your customers may not need to wade through the entire Help topic if they can get a quick answer directly from your panel. In short it can help turn good software into great software and will help sell more of your products.
The style of Popup Help is very similar to that used by Microsoft in Windows 95/98, but this component will allow you to add Popup Help in any environment where your 32-bit Delphi program can run. Some important benefits of the TMFMHelp Component over the Windows equivalent are:
· User access to the Popup Help can be via the F1 key, a right mouse button "What's This?" type menu, or the familiar "arrow+question mark" type mouse pointer that the user can click over any control, text or region on a panel. See Methods in TMFMHelp
· The TMFMHelp component allows you to provide Popup Help for any window, whereas the WS_EX_CONTEXTHELP style available in Windows 95/98 can only be used in windows that do not have minimize or maximize buttons.
· The TMFMHelp component extends the function of Popup Help by allowing the specification of a Context ID (Selected Control: More Text Help Context ID ) that will link to the correct section of your application's Help File. If you specify a Context ID, an additional "hot spot" appears on the Popup Help window with the words "More Help..." that links to a more in-depth discussion about the subject in your Help File. The hot spot text can be changed for foreign language or other special requirements with the MoreText Property.
· The TMFMHelp component is very easy to use. It is a pure Delphi VCL (Visual Component Library) which links to your application without requiring you to distribute any additional files.
· To add popup help to a form:
1. Add a TMFMHelp component to the form.
2. Set the properties and Help Text that you want for the other controls via the HelpText Property.
You will probably want to add popup help to every form in every application you write.
· One line of code is then enough to activate Popup Help in response to (presumably) a speedbutton, one line will supply F1 style Popup Help, and one more line can enable Right Mouse Button "What's This?" style Popup Help. See: Methods in TMFMHelp.
To learn what TMFMHelp can do, run HELPDEMO.EXE, see: Running the Demo. Study the demo source code, and read this helpfile. If you don't already have it, get the Demo from the links at the MFM site on the World Wide Web:
Warning: An unlicensed version of this component in a program that is running outside the Delphi development environment will issue "Unlicensed" messages when you use the Popup Help function.
bmc c01_01.shg 
More:
Overview: Typographic Conventions
Overview: New Features of TMFMHelp