Help Exec?

Is it just my imagination, or did Blitz used to have a special 'ExecHelp' command, for running Windows-compliant help files?

Or have I been dreaming again?

I think it exists only inside your MATRIX, but when you're THE ONE, you may implement it by a simple thought.

I could be wrong, but I think it was a dream. Tho when you Exec a CHM File, it should open the help file as usual, no?

Yes, it does. But I think the idea was that if the exec info was passed to the chm handler then if the file was already opened it would not be opened a second time.

I have clever dreams, don't I?

But you could detect if the window is already open when you know the title of the help window.

It's just you, but I'd like the .decls when you find it.
All I have is the user32 function, api_WinHelp(), which seems like a rather awkward to use function with Blitz (But if anyone would like to write a function that accesses that function, I'd be greatly appreciative... It can also do those little help popups, which are like tooltips except more useful)

Funny coincedence, I was just looking at those Windows help files today.

Mr Pick, you were right: api_User32.decls.
But <sigh> this does absolutely nothing:

; api_WinHelp% (hwnd%, lpHelpFile$, wCommand%, dwData%) : "WinHelpA"
Include "blitzsys.bb"
sAppName$ = "TestHelp"
hwnd = DLLFindBlitzRuntimeHwnd(sAppName$) 
Print hwnd
m$ = CurrentDir$()+"help.chm"+Chr$(0)
Print m$
val = api_WinHelp(hwnd, m$, 0,0)
Print val
WaitKey
End

Unless anyone can work out the params, I'm tired of this - it's back to F1 and ExecFile().

Check www.msdn.com
I've seen that sort of function be accessed straight from Blitz using banks for those mystical "Structures" that it wants, which is what WinBlitz3d does, but I don't know how in the world to do that myself.

have you tried just execfileing the chm file? ive not tried it myself but i know it works for html, rtf and urls etc

Probably would work, but those files also allow for handy little help bubbles.
For an example of that, right click on the desktop, go to properties -> themes. Right click on the Theme combo box, and click What's This. I have figured out that that popup window is generated by the same function as api_winHelp thanks to a quick look at WinDowse, the APIguide, and MSDN.