• Add Fields to List Dialog Box
• Alpha Five Basics
• Automatic Backup and Revision Control of Layouts and Field Rules
• Automatically Populating Linking Field Values when Doing Data Entry
• Calculated Fields
• Calculated Values
• Changing the Caseof Words
• Coded Fields
• Controlling a Field's Width
• Copy Previous Field
• Creating a Field Rule Event
• Creating a Posting Field Rule
• Creating a Simple List
• Creating and Using a Summary Field
• Creating and Using an Email Smart Field
• Creating and Using Calculated Values
• Data Field Control Properties
• Default Values
• Defaulting a Date Field to Today's Date
• Define an Alpha Five View Query
• Dial Phone Number in Field
• Display Help Topic
• Exporting Fields from a Table
• Expression Builder
• F1 Context Sensitive Help
• Field Rule Field Events
• Field Rule Record Events
• Field Rules
• Field Rules Table Lookups
• Field Rules: Field Types
• Filtering Records to Exclude a Single Field Value
• Find Tables that Contain a Field Name
• Form Level Field Rules
• How Auto-Increment Fields Work
• Improvements V9
• List Box Table Lookup
• Mask Style
• Microsoft Word Integration
• Modifying a Form Field on the On Change Event
• Multi Field Quick Filter Dialog Box
• Override Field Definitions Dialog
• Overview of Field Rules
• Parent-Child Dialog Example
• Placing a Calculated Value on a Form
• Placing a Data Field on a Form
• Placing Bitmap and JPEG Image Fields
• Placing Image File Reference Fields
• Placing Smart Fields on a Form
• Query Builder
• Quickly Sorting and FilteringRecords
• Re-EvaluatingField Rules
• Recalculating Calculated Fields
• Required Fields
• Resize Fields to Fit Data
• Retrieving Distinct Field Values
• Returning a Different Field Than You Display
• Right-Click Menus
• Select Fields Dialog - Generic
• Select Text in a Field
• Skipping Over Fields
• Sorting and Selecting Overview
• Specify Filter Dialog
• Specify Order Dialog
• Specify Table Name Dialog
• Tracking Changes to Table Fields
• Types of Field Rules
• Update Example
• Using a Coded Lookup Field
• Using Field Rules to Generate A Table Lookup
• Using Field Statistics
• Using Object Properties for Table Lookups
• Using the Fields Panel
• Validation Rules
• When Calculated Fields are Calculated
• Xbasic View Record

 

F1 Context Sensitive Help

Description

You can define context sensitive Help for any object on a form or for the form itself. If the user gives focus to a field for which custom Help has been defined, and then presses F1, the custom Help for that object is displayed. However, if no custom Help has been defined at the object level, then the custom Help defined at the form level will be shown. Also, if no object on the form has focus, pressing F1 will bring up the form's Help.

The Help topic can be displayed from a standard Windows Help file (either an old style .hlp file, or a new style .chm file), or it can be displayed from an internal Alpha Anywhere Help file. External Help files must be created with special Windows Help Editors, such as auto help. On the other hand, Alpha Anywhere comes with a simple mechanism for creating internal Alpha Anywhere Help files. No third-party editors need be purchased to create an Alpha Anywhere Help file. Alpha Anywhere Help file can include rich text Help entries with hyperlinks. To set up a Help topic for an object:

1. Right-click on the object and select Properties....

2. In the resulting Field Properties dialog display the Help Entry tab.

   

3. Define Bubble Help for the object. The Bubble Help appears when the mouse is over the object. Click the Edit button to open a larger text box for editing.

   

4. Select the Use Custom Help check box to override the Alpha Anywhere default Help entry and replace it with another.

5. Use the Help Source File drop-down list to select the source file type (".chm", ".hlp", "A5").

6. Make a selection in the Naming Convention list.

   • "User Specified Help File Name" - Select this option and click the Specify Help Name button to select the Help file name.

   • "Automatically Generated Help File Name" - Select this option and click the Show Help File Name button to view the Help file name.

7. Enter a custom title for the Help dialog in the Help Window Title.

8. (Available for Alpha Anywhere Help source only.) Enter the name of the chapter in the Chapter Name field.

9. Enter the topic name in the Topic Name field.

10. (Available for Alpha Anywhere Help source only.) Click the Edit Help Topic button to edit the contents of the help topic. The screen below shows the Alpha Anywhere Help File Viewer, with Help for the Credit Card Number field: