ISnapinHelp::GetHelpTopic method (mmc.h)

Article
02/22/2024

Enables a snap-in to add its compiled HTML Help file to the MMC Help collection file.

Syntax

HRESULT GetHelpTopic(
  [out] LPOLESTR *lpCompiledHelpFile
);

Parameters

[out] lpCompiledHelpFile

A pointer to the address of the null-terminated Unicode string that contains the path of the compiled Help file (.chm) for the snap-in. When specifying the path, place the file anywhere and specify the full path name.

Return value

This method can return one of these values.

Remarks

MMC calls the snap-in's implementation of this method to get the location of the snap-in's Help file. MMC merges the HTML Help files of all snap-ins with the MMC console HTML Help collection file.

The topic hierarchy from the snap-in's Help file will appear in the table of contents when the collection is viewed.

By merging the HTML Help files, MMC creates a single, integrated HTML Help table of contents, index, and search feature. When a user clicks Help on Microsoft Management Console on the main Help menu, MMC opens the merged Help file that includes HTML Help files for all snap-ins in the current console file.

Allocate the lpCompiledHelpFile string with the COM API function CoTaskMemAlloc (or the equivalent) and MMC will release it.

Examples

STDMETHODIMP CComponentData::GetHelpTopic( LPOLESTR *lpCompiledFile )
{
    LPOLESTR lpHelpFile;
 
    if ( !lpCompiledFile )
        return E_POINTER; // invalid argument
 
    lpHelpFile = (LPOLESTR) CoTaskMemAlloc( MAX_PATH * sizeof(WCHAR) );
 
    if ( !lpHelpFile )
    {
        return E_OUTOFMEMORY;
    }
 
    ExpandEnvironmentStringsW( L"%SystemRoot%\\Help\\myhelpfile.chm", lpHelpFile, MAX_PATH );
 
    *lpCompiledHelpFile = lpHelpFile;
 
    return S_OK;
}

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows Vista
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2008
Target Platform	Windows
Header	mmc.h