helpId

Topic group Related topics

Specifies the Help context ID or index entry for an object.

Property of

Most form objects

Description

Use helpId in combination with helpFile to assign context-sensitive help to a control. Context-sensitive help appears for the object that has focus when the user presses F1, or chooses Help | Context Sensitive Help from the default menu.

Warning!

If you assign the F1 key as the shortCut key to your own menu item, pressing F1 executes the onClick for that menu item; it does not display context-sensitive help. Context-sensitive help is also disabled if you assign an onHelp event handler.

The helpId is a string that contains either:

A context ID number, preceded by the "#" symbol, for example:

 #2002

Choosing help displays the topic with that context ID number. If that context ID is not found, Help displays an error.

A help index string, for example

 Deleting accounts

Choosing help searches the index for that string. If only one topic is found that uses that index string, it is displayed. If there are multiple matches, Help displays a Topics Found dialog, letting the user choose which topic to view. If the string is not found in the index, the Help index is displayed, with the helpId property as the current search value.

As with helpFile, you may set a default helpId in the form. If the control that has focus does not have its own helpId property, the form’s value is used.