FIX: IDE Doesn't Show Topics of OCX Help Files Correctly (171499)

SYMPTOMS

When creating your own control or using a third-party control, you may see the following problems when invoking context-sensitive help on a Classes or Members item in the Object Browser from within the Visual Basic 5.0 IDE. These problems may occur when invoking context-sensitive help using the F1 key, the What's This button, or the right-mouse button on the object and selecting Help from the popup menu. You may also see these problems when pressing the F1 key after selecting a control that is placed on a form at design-time in the IDE.

The problems you may see are as follows:

If Help Author is switched on (set to 1), you will see the error message "The Window name 'LangRef' was not defined in your project file." You will also see the topic displayed in Visual Basic 5.0's Langref window instead of the control's Help file window.
Macros that make jumps based on keywords do not function. The macros that are affected are ALink, KLink, and JumpKeyword. The error "No additional information is available" is displayed when either the ALink or KLink macro is invoked from a topic shown through context-sensitive help in the Object Browser. Please note that the ALink and KLink macros are typically invoked in Help files from "Related Topics" or "See Also" hotspots. When using JumpKeyword, the Index tab is displayed but the desired keyword may not be listed. If the keyword is listed in the Index tab, a jump to the desired topic may not occur.
Visual Basic's contents tree is displayed instead of the control's when the Contents or Help Topics button is clicked on a topic invoked through context-sensitive help in the Object Browser.

These problems do not happen with intrinsic controls or other controls that were originally shipped with Visual Basic 5.0.

RESOLUTION

All the problems above have been fixed in Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2 (SP2) except problem number 1. This error is only displayed when Help Authoring is switched on. To prevent the error message from appearing, switch off Help Authoring. Help Authoring can be switched by doing any one of the following:

From HCW, select and uncheck the Help Author item in the File menu.
In Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me, add Help Author=0 to the [Windows Help] Section of the Win.ini in the windows directory. You will not need to reboot but you will need to close the Help file and reopen it.
From Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0 in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\Microsoft\Windows Help, you will need to set 'Help Author' to '0'.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This bug has been fixed in Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2.

For more information on the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

170365 : INFO: Visual Studio 97 Service Packs - What, Where, and Why

For a list of the Visual Basic 5.0 bugs that were fixed in the Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

171554 : INFO: Visual Basic 5.0 Fixes in Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 2

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

Problem 1: If Help Author is switched on (set to 1), you will see the error message "The Window name 'LangRef' was not defined in your project file."

Create an ActiveX control that has a couple of exposed properties and set the name of your Help file on the Project Properties \ General tab.
In Object Browser, select the control project. In the classes section, select the control name.
Right-click the exposed property. This brings up the popup menu.
Select the Properties item and set the HelpcontextID.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 on the other exposed property.
In Object Browser, select the first exposed property and click F1. This displays the Help topic in the correct Help window.
In Object Browser, select the second exposed property and click F1. This displays the correct topic but in Visual Basic 5.0's langref Help window.

Problem 2: Keyword macros such as ALink or KLink macros do not work on a topic invoked through context-sensitive Help in the IDE.

In Object Browser, select the exposed property and click F1. If the topic that is displayed has a hotspot labeled either "See Also" or "Related Topics," it is quite probable the ALink or KLink Help macros are being called. If this is the case, then clicking the button can produce the following error message: "No additional information is available."

Problem 3: The wrong contents is displayed when the Contents or Help Topics button is clicked on a topic invoked through context-sensitive Help from Object Browser. Visual Basic 5.0's contents is displayed instead of control's contents.