1.Open the Project Files section In the Project Explorer and click on Topic Files, or a subfolder if you have created one and want to use it (see Creating new topics in Topic Files for more details).

2.Click on Add File in the Project tab to create a new topic.  

3.Select Popup In the Topic Class: field. Note that you cannot select this class when creating topics in the TOC. You can only do this for topics accessed from within the Topic Files section!

4.You must enter a context number if you want to use your popup topics as field-level popups displayed in your application in CHM files without the main help. This is required by the Microsoft HTML Help API for field-level popups and if your popup topics do not have help context numbers they will not be exported to the internal popup text file in the CHM it.

(See the Premium Pack help chapter for details on using field-level popups in WebHelp with Premium Pack 3 skins. )

The HTML Template and topic header settings are irrelevant for these topics because popups do not use HTML templates or headers. When you create hyperlinks to popup topics in your help they will automatically be displayed as popups.

See Using Context-Sensitive Help for information on calling popups directly from your application. See this topic for instructions on creating field-level CHM popups displayed in your application.

How popup topics are handled depends on your output formats. If you want popups in HTML Help CHM files and WebHelp you must activate JavaScript popups, otherwise links to popup topics will be displayed as normal topics.

HTML Help's native plain-text popups are very limited and they are not supported within the main help. You can only use them in field-level popups that are displayed in your application without the main help file. Normal JavaScript popups can be used as field-level popups in WebHelp if you are using the Premium Pack 3 responsive skins.

HTML Help and WebHelp:

In the Project Explorer select Configuration > Publishing Options > HTML Help/WebHelp > HTML Export Options. The settings are at the bottom of the page. The settings are shared for both formats

•Export popup topics as JavaScript popups
This enables JavaScript popups for both HTML Help CHM files and WebHelp. If you want to use popups within your help in these formats you must enable this option. Popup links in the project's topic files will be displayed as JavaScript popups in both formats when this option is activated. If it is turned off, popup links will display the target topics as normal topics. You can still use plain-text field-level popups in your application in HTML Help CHM files because the plain-text popup file is always included in the CHM, even when JavaScript popups are activated.

•Customize popup appearance
Select this to configure the formatting, colors and behavior of your JavaScript popup topics.

JavaScript popups are generated by Help+Manual. They support formatting, links and graphics but they cannot be used as field-level popups. They can only be displayed within your help file by other links in your help file.

Native CHM plain text popups are only available in HTML Help CHM files and can only be used as field-level popups that are displayed directly in your application without the main help. They only support plain text without any formatting, graphics or links. They cannot be

Popups in eBooks:

Windows eWriter Help files have exactly the same popup support as WebHelp. Popups are not supported in ePUB or Kindle Mobi eBooks.

Controlling popup width in HTML Help field-level popups:

•In HTML Help's plain text popup topics the only way you can control popup width is by entering a hard line break (ENTER) at the end of each line. This popup format is only used in field-level popups.

Controlling popup width JavaScript popups:

•In JavaScript popups you can control popup width precisely by entering the entire text of the popup in a single-cell table with a fixed width.

•You must set the width of the single-cell table you use for this to an absolute value in pixels. Select Size Table Manually and enter the value in pixels. Don't use percentage values for this!

You can speed up the process by defining a topic content template for your popup topics or using snippets. See Content templates for topics and Re-using content with snippets for details.

Any link within a project to a topic defined with the Popup class will automatically be displayed as a popup in any of the output formats where popups are supported (HTML Help, Windows eWriter Help and WebHelp with JavaScript popups activated). Just create a normal link to the topic. Popups are not supported in ePUB or Kindle eBooks.

When you use popup topics in secondary TOCs the popup topic files your links refer to will not be included automatically as they are when you use the primary TOC. The All Builds include option assigned to all topics by default only works automatically in the primary TOC.

When you are using multiple TOCs in your project and publishing a secondary TOC, any popup topics you link to must be included explicitly. You can do this in two different ways:

Option 1: Dead links handling options

Go to View > Program Options > Compilers and set the dead links handling option to Silently include linked topic. This is the simplest solution but it will also automatically include any excluded topic files that you may have referenced with regular topic links. So you should always check your compiler report for topics like these that you may have not wanted to include. You can then handle the links with conditional text to exclude them automatically.

Option 2: Set the build options of your popup topic files

Alternatively you can set the build options of your popup topic files to the output formats that support popups, which are WebHelp, CHM, eWriter, and Visual Studio Help (if you are using that). The eWriter format will be included automatically if you set WebHelp, so generally you will only need to set CHM and WebHelp.

1.Right-click on the popup topic file in Project Files > Topic Files and select Include in Builds in the context menu.

2.Set the include options to WebHelp, CHM and (if necessary) also VSHelp.

3.Repeat for all your poup topic files.

Output Format

Supported Popup Types

Where Supported

HTML Help (.CHM):

Plain-text popups integrated in the main help file. Context numbers are required for these popup topics!

Formatted JavaScript popups stored in the main help file.

Plain-text popups are only supported as field-level popups in applications. If you want popups in the help text you must activate JavaScript popups.

Formatted JavaScript popups can only be used in the help text. They are not supported for context-sensitive help.

Browser-based HTML
(.HTM):

Fully-formatted JavaScript popups integrated in the individual HTML files.

JavaScript popups can only be used in help topics. You cannot link to them from your application.

eWriter Help:

Same popup options as WebHelp

Same as WebHelp

ePUB and Kindle Mobi eBooks:

Popups are not supported. Popup links are automatically converted to plain text.

N/A

Adobe PDF and printed user manuals:

Popups are not supported. Popup links are automatically converted to plain text.

N/A

Word DOCX:

Popups are not supported. Popup links are automatically converted to plain text.

N/A