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1. 395 326 358 underlying program and generates a help window containing 434 118 345 326 358 a list of topics that are available A help window is created beside the underlying program window that lists those steps 56 References Cited required to complete a desired task The help system dis U S PATENT DOCUMENTS ables that portion of the underlying program window con i taining options that are inappropriate for the user to select at 5 235 679 8 1993 Yoshizawa tal sirasi 395 336 that time in order to complete the desired task In addition Dala ooa taba et al sus Hi 229 338 the help system shows the user how to complete the next 5 388 993 2 1995 McKiel et al 395 336 X t n in the fist of desired st Alt tively th 5 469 540 11 1995 Powers III et al a 305 336 X S CP ANNE ISL OL CESO SEPS A IeIR3 Ve Y PIC use Can 5 481667 1 1996 Bieniek et al _ 395 336 have the help system show the user how to perform all the 5488685 1 1996 Palmer et al 395 336 steps required to complete a given task 5 513 308 4 1996 Mori mu 395 337 5 535 422 7 1996 Chiang et al 395 338 4 Claims 11 Drawing Sheets nyo z 80 RUMBA Assist Displaying a Watermark WAIT Click HERE before continuing From the View menu select Watermark 86 Select a watermark from the Watermark list The Watermark Preview window displays the currently selected watermark If desired y
2. 10 15 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 running in a window that is smaller than the area of the window 82 then the size of the window in which the underlying application is running will be increased In the help window 84 is a list of sequential steps required to perform a given task Adjacent each step in the list is an indicator 86 that shows whether the step has been com pleted For example the current indications 86 are shown as push pins However other icons such as radio buttons or differently shaped bullets could be used To use the help system the user reads the instructions in the list and com pletes each step within the underlying program window 82 After the user has completed a step the help system changes the status of the indicator 86 adjacent the step to confirm that the step was properly accomplished In the lower left hand corner of the help window 84 is a do it all button 88 This button causes the help system to complete each step in the list of steps so the user can watch The do it all button may be faster than performing each step by hand and therefore serves as a shortcut to complete a task A show me button 90 also disposed at the bottom of the help window 84 operates to illustrate the next step in the series of steps required to complete a desired task For example if the user is unsure where to place the cursor the user selects the show me button 90 and the cursor is
3. Parameters Lock Set this to TRUE to prevent the window from painting This should be done before making a jump to another media view file or jump string Call this method again setting Lock to FALSE after the jump is made This helps avoid panel flickering Comments If you call this method with Lock set to TRUE you must call it again with Lock set to FALSE or the panel will never change PutText boolean PutText Control D ControlType Text long ControlID short ControlType bstr Text Parameters ControlID ID value of the edit control 10 15 20 25 30 57 5 825 356 58 45 Control Type Text Return Value Use the control type constants TYPE EDIT TYPE BUTTON TYPE LISTBOX TYPE COMBOBOX TYPE SCROLLBAR TYPE SLIDEBAR TYPE SPINCNTL TYPE LISTVIEW TYPE TREEVIEW TYPE STATIC TYPE NONE TYPE DEFAULT String to be displayed in the edit control The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments PutText enters text into an edit box by pasting from the clipboard This method may put text after existing text To replace text use the SetText method See Also SetText QueryLong Variable long QueryLongVariable VarName bstr VarName Parameters The QueryLong Variable method retrieves the value of a persistent script integer variable This variable is created by the SetLongVariable method VarName Variable name 10 15 20 25 5
4. STDMETHOD BOOL Close RUMBAAssist STDMETHOD BOOL RunSBLScript STDMETHOD ULONG SetClientState STDMETHOD void SetScripPath STDMETHOD BOOL CreateCustomCtrlType Shared COM Script methods STDMETHOD BOOL SetLongVariable STDMETHOD LONG QueryLong Variable STDMETHOD BOOL SetStrinag Variable STDMETHOD LPCTSTR QueryString Variable Methods needed for WdRasist Ocx STDMETHOD void SetClientNotifyWindow STDMETHOD INT SetMedia ViewWindowRects STDMETHOD INT Query Media ViewWindowRects script files are preferably stored on a hard disk within the computer system Having described how the script files drive the help program the following describes how the help program itself is constructed As will be appreciated the help program is designed to be dumb so that it makes as few decisions as possible Instead the script file dictates all the actions of the help program The help program is broken up into several functionally separate pieces They are as follows OLE Automation Interface COM Object interface Method Property handling Script Execution Window Dialog Control handling Control subclassing 55 60 65 THIS REFIID LPVOID PURE THIS PURE THIS PURE THIS HWND LPSTORAGE LPCTSTR USHORT USSHORT PURE THIS PURE THIS LPCTSTR PURE THIS ULONG PURE THIS LPCTSTR PURE THIS LPCTSTR USHORT PURE THIS LPCTSTR LONG PURE THIS LPCTSTR PURE THIS LPCTSTR LPCTSTR
5. menu item The NextUserAction is the id for the menu item which the help program uses to determine if the user has selected the appropriate item Rumba NextUserAction IDM_WATERMARK Rumba NextActionCtrIType TYPE MENU This action will create a dialog box need to describe what to subclass This is done so the help program will wait until a dialog with the specified title Configure Watermark is created It will move on to the next step only after this dialog appears Rumba WillCreateDialog TRUE Rumba DialogCaption Configure Watermark Next set of scripts to run The NextMonitorScript is the script that will be executed when the current step has been completed either by the user or by clicking ShowMe Dolt The NextShow Script is the script that will be executed when ShowMe or Dolt button is selected Rumba NextMonitorScript X WatMrk2 Rumba NextShowScript XWatMrkA end if end if end sub The above script interacts with the help program that is running simultaneously with the underlying program As can be seen the script operates to create a handle to the help program and then determines whether the menu function required to implement the desired task can be selected in the current configuration of the program Assuming that the menu option is available the script erases the screen and recalls from memory the appropriate text with the list of instructions tha
6. Buimoup ay jo Adoz paduoyueun asn U0Z4NGQ yD 24 asooyd uay puo puom NOA suo gdo y 12 S 2 TUNA A SOOUD Nuaw aj ay WOU4 I G6ulwojp juaJuna ay puud Oj sOulmoup NOA uiad uwd nod yajulud 0 0 pD312 uuOD2 Duo payoasu aADY NOA yI Suimoug 0 Dunulig Au0ssoyy da vOWUYoog jj ANT dal suondg J day usn4Q1un0d 5 825 356 Sheet 5 of 11 Oct 20 1998 U S Patent JOM JNOA BUA ACIS Hae 070 SUA a 0J00Q y ay Yim OUHJOM DN 150H SY OF dujJawuo GR ISISSW_VaWnd 5 825 356 Sheet 6 of 11 Oct 20 1998 U S Patent J9JSU0J U0233UU0 J MAA 410 ayy Bg JAO WANNA YADUYATDA ayy uoz uodo punoJbyang x y aso0y QUO UYM MOJID 1X N y YI vondo ay 4219 uaua xa Gop Siy u SUOH do ay NOQO UO OWJOJU JO0u JOJ M40W4 108 AY JO 4u u 20 d 34 250047 3UOD USYM MOJID 4X N 34 4919 NADUYA OM 0 JOJ YDUDAS 0 u011nq aSMOug y asn Aow no paJisap JI HADWAaLOM PazIa as A jUaUUND ay SADYASID MOPUIM M IA 4d HUDWUaLDA AY 451 ADU OM AY WOU HYUDWALOM O 1J3 3S M40u4310A 133 S NuaW MalA AY WOU 4 jGuinuyjuod avojaq 333H NINI iLIVA yowa o Bu o dsi 151554 YAWN 5 825 356 Sheet 7 of 11 Oct 20 1998 U S Patent 00 NAYNYILYA 133135 5400431 08 aya Joj uolydo punouByD0g 1X3 y soou uUOD UBYM MOJID 4XAN AY HIN uoi do ay YINI uau E xna Goyop siy u SUO YO ay NOO uU0110uJO0JU JOU
7. This value is reset to its default with each new script Step long Step Set the Step property to indicate the current step This is used by RUMBA Assist to determine the state of the pins in or out Comments Default is 0 This value is not reset to its default with each new script The Last Script needs to have a Step also to push in the last pin NP gt s TabPosition short TabPosition Set the TabPosition property to specify the tab that the user should select and that needs to be subclassed Tab positions start with zero Comments Default is 1 tabless dialog box This value is reset to its default with each new script WillCloseDialog boolean WillCloseDialog Set the WillCloseDialog property to indicate whether the user action will close the user dialog box Comments Default is FALSE This value is reset to its default with each new script 5 15 5 825 356 45 46 39 WillCreateDialog boolean WillCreateDialog If NextUserAction will create a dialog box set this property to TRUE Comments Default is FALSE This value is reset to its default with each new script METHODS Methods are functions that perform actions on the specified object BranchOnClientState ScriptFileExists SetNextBackScripts CtrlHasText SelectArrow SetRestrictedCtrl GetMenultemState SelectButton SetRestrictedCtrIEx GetOSVersion SelectListBoxID SetStringVariable GetText SelectListBoxString SetText IsButtonChecke
8. YES RETRIEVE SCRIPT FOR SELECTED TOPIC 208 RE SIZE WINDOW OF UNDERLYING PROGRAM 210 GENERATE HELP WINDOW LISTING REQUIRED STEPS 212 U S Patent Oct 20 1998 Sheet 10 of 11 5 825 356 FOR EACH STEP 216 IN SEQUENCE 0F REQUIRED STEPS DO RECALL AND EXECUTE SCRIPT FOR THE STEP IN SEQUENCE OF STEPS 218 DISABLE UNAVAILABLE OPTIONS BY CROSS HATCHING IN APPLICATION WINDOW 220 224 HAS USER COMPLETED THE REQUIRED SUD S TEP 22 9 SHOW STEP AS COMPLETED IN YES HELP WINDOW ERASE HELP 230 WINDOW RESIZE HELP 232 APPLICATION WINDOW U S Patent Oct 20 1998 Sheet 11 of 11 5 825 356 250 HAS USER SELECTED THE SHOW ME RUN THE 252 YES APPROPRIATE SHOW ME SCRIPT SELECTED THE DO IT ALI OPTION 270 FOR EACH STEP IN LIST OF STEPS NOT YET COMPLETED NO 262 PREVIOUS BUTTON SELECTED ane RUN REMAINDER OF SHOW ME SCRIPTS TO COMPLETE DESIRED TASK RUN PREVIOUS SCRIPT IF AVAILABLE 266 NEXT BUTTON SELECTED 2 ALL SCRIPTS COMPLETED RUN NEXT SCRIPT 288 276 5 825 356 1 HELP SYSTEM WITH SEMITRANSPARENT WINDOW FOR DISABLING CONTROLS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to computer systems in general and in particular to on screen help programs BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A
9. task and to perform the step if the user asks to be shown In the example given below the help program is designed to work with the RUMBA product produced by Wall Data of Kirkland Wash The help program is called RUMBA Assist However from the description given those skilled in the art will recognize how the help program can be readily adapted to other programs Following the description of how the script files are constructed is a description of the help program that runs the script files A typical script consists of four parts First it connects to the help program Object Linking amp Embedding OLE Automation object allowing the help program to call other methods and set properties in the object Second it tells the help program what topic to display in the text window Third it sets up what conditions must be met in order for the next step in the list of steps to be executed Lastly the script tells the help program what script to execute on completion of the step and what script to execute if the ShowMe or DolItAll buttons are selected The following is a sample script file consisting of the first script of the Select a watermark script on error resume next Create Ole2 automation object This connects to the help program Automation object Set Rumba CreateObject RumbaAssistComponent if err lt gt 0 then An error occurred so inform the user and exit MsgBox Failed to cr
10. SetEnabledC trl boolean SetEnabledC trl Conrrol D long ControlID3 The SetEnabledCtrl method enables a control in a dialog box When a dialog box is displayed the default is for all controls to be disabled Parameters ControlID ID value of the Control 10 15 20 25 30 75 Return Value 5 825 356 76 54 The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments The state of the controls are reset to the default with each new script Maximum of 20 enabled or restricted controls allowed per script Generally used in a showme script See Also DisableControls SetRestricted Ctrl SetEnableCtrlEx boolean SetEnableCtrlEx ControlID ControlType long ControlID short ControlType Parameters The SetEnableCtrlEx method disables a control in a dialog box Used only when the DisabledControls property is set to FALSE which enables all controls in a dialog box ControlID ID value of the Control ControlType Specifies the type of control Use the SetEnableCtrl for most cases This method is for distinguishing between controls with the same window ID Cannot be used for windows or tabs Use the control type constants TYPE EDIT TYPE_BUTTON TYPE_LISTBOX TYPE_COMBOBOX TYPE_SCROLLBAR TYPE SLIDEBAR TYPE SPINCNTL TYPE LISTVIEW TYPE TREEVIEW TYPE STATIC 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 77 78 55 Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails
11. Tics Number of tic marks to move the slide indicator along the trackbar control A negative value slides the indicator to the left A positive value slides the indicator to the right The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments Generally used in a showme script Wait void Wait 7imeQut long TimeQut Parameters The Wait method puts the current process to sleep TimeOut Time in milliseconds that the current process sleeps 10 15 5 825 356 89 90 61 Comment Use ShowMeDelay for fixing Do It timing problems Use wait to pause between steps in a ShowMe script Return Value None See Also ShowMeDelay is As can be seen from the above the present invention provides an interactive help system whereby a user is shown how to complete the steps required to complete a desired task In addition the steps performed by the user are actually implemented on the underlying program being run by the user Therefore when the user leaves the help system the changes made while the help system was operating will have been implemented The present invention does not require the user to memorize the list of steps described in the help system and then attempt to recreate them without the benefit of the help system running at the same time Furthermore because the present invention disables that portion of the screen containing options not available to the user the chance that a us
12. dialog or window to appear and tells us the title of that window In the code for this action the help program determines if the window that was activated is the one it is looking for Many times however the window doesn t have the title set when the help program gets the activate message The window is usually not visible at that time either In this case the help program subclasses the window with a Wait Proc which just waits for the WM_SHOWWINDOW message unsubclasses itself and checks for the title When the help program determines that it has the correct window it subclasses it and the tab if it is a tabbed dialog box that was specified in the script should be the tab that is currently visible If the help program subclasses the dialog and WillCreateDialog is true then the help program launches the NextMonitorScript HCBT_DESTROYWND This method checks to see if it is one of the windows that the help program has subclassed If it is the help program unsubclasses at this time It also must adjust the hatch window to hatch the previous dialog the dialog window that was subclassed just before the current dialog It is here that the help program checks the WillCloseDialog property This is the opposite of the WillCreateDialog in that it waits for the dialog to close When it closes if WillCloseDialog is true the help program launches the NextMonitorScript Hatching The disabling is accomplished by creating a semi trans
13. events 5 825 356 15 WM_PARENTNOTIFY Sometimes a tab on a tabbed dialog box can be created dynamically and we must subclass it We get this message in the parent dialog box with a WM_CREATE parameter to let us know to check for a new tab on the dialog Tabs Tabs on a tabbed dialog box are separate windows and process a slightly different set of messages They process a subset of the messages that a normal dialog would process and use them for the same things The help program only looks for the following M_SETCURSOR M_ COMMAND M SIZE M MOVE M SHOWWINDOW M_INITMENUPOPUP M_MENUSELECT M_NOTIFY M WINDOWPOSCHANGING M RBUTTONDBLCLK M LBUTTONDBLCLK M HELP Controls M NCHITTEST Used to eliminate unwanted mouseclicks WM_ ENABLE Used to keep the application from changing the state of the control We don t want a control being enabled by the underlying application when the help program explicitly disables it WM_ DESTROY Used to eliminate the information the help program keeps on all controls that are subclassed WM_RBUTTONDBLCLK WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK Used to eliminate unwanted double click events WM_ PAINT Used to monitor when the hatched window needs to be updated If a control paints it means that we need to repaint the hatched window on top of it or we get unhatched portions of the underlying program window showing through With the preceding set of messages captured from all the dialogs ta
14. from the listbox When this string is selected the next script is called Comments Default is 0 This value is reset to its default with each new script Fither SelectionText or SelectionTextID may be set but it is not necessary to set both See Also SelectionText 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 41 42 37 ShowMeDelay long ShowMeDelay When the user hits the Do It All button they are in Dolt mode The ShowMeDelay is the amount of time in milliseconds to pause before the next showme script runs in Dolt mode This is because Dolt mode is so fast that some times you need to pause before the next action so the system can catch up See Also NextMonitorScript Wait ShowHatch boolean ShowHatch Comments TRUE displays the hatch FALSE hides the hatch The hatch is the dark gray covering that hides disabled controls Some dialogs do not paint correctly when the hatch is displayed This property is reset to the default TRUE before each script is run See Also DisableControls SetEnabledCtrl SetEnabledCtriEx SetRestrictedCtrl SetRestrictedCtrlEx ShowPanel boolean ShowPanel Comments TRUE displays RUMBA Assist using the current PanelType FALSE hides RUMBA Assist and the application See Also PanelType 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 43 44 38 Skip boolean Skip Set the Skip property to TRUE to allow RUMBA Assist to advance to the next script without a user action Comments Default is FALSE
15. moved by the help system to the appropriate spot in the window 82 of the underlying program and the step is executed An exit button 94 closes the help program of the present invention and returns the user to the underlying application with the changes made that were performed while the help system was running FIG 5 illustrates how the present invention operates to show a user how a step is performed The cursor is moved by the computer system over the correct position in the underlying program window 82 and the application is caused to respond to the cursor as if the user had made the command by hand For example when the help system instructs the user to select the View menu the cursor is placed at the correct position in the window 82 and the View menu 96 is brought down In addition the help system may place a balloon or bubble indicator 98 at the appropriate position in the window that informs the user what to do next To prevent the user from selecting the incorrect options in the window 82 of the underlying program the majority of the window is disabled by placing a crosshatched screen over the active window The only portions of the window that are not disabled are those that may be selected by the user For example FIG 6 shows a dialog box prompting the user to select a watermark background Therefore the majority of the dialog box is disabled except for the controls that allow the user to select a watermark and its
16. placement By disabling the controls in the active window which the user should not select the chance that the user can make an error is decreased The details regarding how the controls in the active window are disabled are described in further detail below FIG 7 shows the steps performed by the computerized help system of the present invention to allow a user to retrieve information regarding a desired task and to display those steps required to perform the task Beginning at a step 200 the computer system determines whether the user has selected the help program If not the computer system continues to display the underlying application at a step 202 until the help program has been selected Once the user has requested help through the help program a window of the type shown in FIG 3 is created at step 204 that displays a list of topics about which information may be obtained The 5 825 356 5 computer system then determines whether the user has selected a task or topic from the list at step 206 If no topic is selected the computer system loops back to step 204 until the user selects an available topic or exits the help program Following the selection of a topic the computer system retrieves from memory or the digital storage media a script that informs the help system what information should be displayed for the user at a step 208 At a step 210 the window in which the underlying program is running is re sized and is placed
17. task FIG 3 illustrates the first display screen produced by the help system of the present invention when a user has requested help from an underlying program When the user selects the help system the window in which the underlying program was displayed is overwritten by a help screen 70 that displays a series of icons or context jumps 72 74 76 82 that symbolize the topic about which information can be obtained To view the information on a given topic the user places a cursor over the corresponding icon and selects it The user may then be presented with further subtopics to select in order to narrow the topic about which help is desired Once the user has found the topic about which informa tion is desired the help system of the present invention generates a screen 80 like that shown in FIG 4 The screen 80 is comprised of two sections The first section 82 is a re sized window of the underlying program that was oper ating when the user requested help Surrounding the window 82 of the underlying program is a help window 84 in which the sequence of steps required to complete a task are shown Preferably the window 82 of the underlying program is always displayed as the same size so that if the window of the underlying application were originally larger than the area of the area of the window 82 the window of the underlying application will be made to appear smaller than before Alternatively if the underlying application were
18. the help program For example if the underlying program has a new control for the help program to be able to identify the underlying program could set this as a new control type by calling CreateCustomCtrIType NewCtrIType TYPE NEWCTRL and the scripts could then identify controls with the class name NewCtrlType The help program is started by the underlying program by performing a CoCreateInstance on the help program s COM object and calling the Start RUMBAAssist method on the returned pointer Pitfalls Since the help program subclasses all the windows that an application brings up or at least all the windows it wants to interact with it is important to not release the help pro gram s COM object from memory until ALL other windows have been destroyed This is because the windows sub classed may get subclassed again on top of the existing subclasses If this happens the help program cannot release its subclass and just puts the subclass procedure into a passthru mode that sends the data through to the next procedure in the subclass chain If the help program is removed from the computer memory before this window has been destroyed the help program will fault because the subclass procedure immediately preceding the help pro gram s subclass procedure will try to call the help program s hook procedure which no longer exists Method Property handling Methods and Properties are called from the scripts The
19. the help system was initiated at step 232 If the answer to step 224 was no and the user has not completed the desired step the computer system then deter mines whether the user has selected the show me option at step 250 FIG 9 If so the computer system runs a show me script that causes the computer system to complete the next step The computer system then returns to step 226 FIG 8 and shows that the user has completed the step If the answer to step 250 is no and the user has not selected the show me option the computer system deter mines whether the user has selected the do it all option at step 260 If so the computer system begins a loop at step 270 that determines which of the required steps have not yet been completed At a step 272 the computer system runs the remainder of the show me scripts to complete the desired task A step 276 determines whether all remaining scripts have been completed If not the computer system returns to step 270 If the answer to step 276 is yes and all scripts have 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Global Variables Dim Rumba As Object sub main 6 been completed the computer system returns to step 229 FIG 8 and determines if the user wishes to exit the help program In some instances it is not possible to tell what action a user may take to successfully complete a step Consequently the event that signifies the completion of
20. the more difficult ones to obtain The help 10 15 20 25 30 20 program uses the method described above to find sub menu items no matter what user interface is being used In order for this algorithm to work both the height of a menu item and the height of a menu separator must be computed The menu item is easy In Windows 95 just call GetMenultemRect on a menu item in a popup window popup window must be visible in older versions just use GetSystemMetrics SM CYMENU to obtain the height Separators are more difficult When a popup is opened it must be determined if the popup has any separators If it does the number of separators and menu items on it must be counted Calculate the height of the popup window using GetClientRect on the popup then subract off the height of all the menu items What is left is the combined height of the separators Divide by the number of separators and the height of a single separator is determined Mediaview control The help program of the present invention uses the Microsoft s Mediaview 1 3 library with a 3rd party OCX wrapper to display the text menus lessons associated with the scripts This is just a typical help engine which is embedded in an OLE frame window When the user selects an option from the menu presented by Mediaview the help program of the present invention receives an event which tells it to run a macro The macro name is the name of the script file which is promptl
21. within the window containing the list of the required steps that is generated at a step 212 Pro cessing then proceeds to the steps shown in FIG 8 At step 216 the computer system begins a loop that processes a series of scripts each of which is associated with a step in the list of steps required to complete a given task At step 218 the computer system recalls a script associated with the step and executes it At a step 220 the controls in the active window 82 that should not be selected by the user are disabled by overlaying a crosshatched screen over them At step 224 the computer system determines whether the user has completed a step If so then the indicator adjacent the description of the step is modified to show the step has been completed at a step 226 The computer system then determines whether all steps in the sequence have been completed at a step 228 If not all of the steps have been completed the computer system returns to step 216 and recalls the next script associated with the next step in the sequence of steps If all the steps have been completed the user is asked whether they wish to return to the main help menu or exit the help program at step 229 If the user does not want to exit the help program processing returns to step 204 If the user wishes to exit the help program the computer system erases the help window at step 230 and re sizes the window of the underlying program back to the size of the window before
22. 825 356 59 60 46 Return Value The Return Value is a long word associated with the given variable name If this variable is not set the return value is zero Comments This value is not reset to its default with each new script See Also QueryStringVariable SetLongVariable SetStringVariable QueryStringVariable bstr QueryStringVariable VarName bstr VarName The QueryStringVariable method retrieves the value of a persistent script string variable This variable is created by the SetStringVariable method Parameters VarName Variable name Return Value The Return Value is a string associated with the given variable name If this variable is not set then the return value is NULL Comments This value is not reset to its default with each new script See Also QueryLongVariable SetLongVariable SetStringVariable MsgBoxID This property is PRIVATE and will not be in user documentation long MsgBoxID SrringID Type short StringID long Type The MsgBoxID method displays a message in a dialog box containing a bitmap background Parameters StringID ID of string to be displayed 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 61 62 47 Type Specifies the contents and behavior of the dialog box Value Meaning MB OK The message box contains one push button OK MB OKCANCEL The message box contains two push buttons OK and Cancel MB ABORTRETRYIGNORE The message box contains three push buttons Abort Retry an
23. JO 400431 08 AY jO 1U u 30 d ay 350047 JU0p UBYA MOJO 4XAN aY HIN NADWJIAIOM 0 JOJ YDUDAS 0 U0 jng aSMOug ay asn Avw nok paulsap 4 4043108 PapIa es MjuaJunI ay S VIdSIP MOPUIM MAa AdUd 1MJ40u4 10A 34L IS YADWALOM AY WOUF M40u4 10N8 O 459 9S M4084 10A 133 3S NUaW MIAA AY WOU 4 iDunujuo J0j q JAJA 29 iLIVA 5 825 356 Sheet 8 of 11 Oct 20 1998 Jasuo UOMJAWOT MAA 4 ayy NADUJALOA 2 A3IA33d NAYNYILYA 30u4 10A JnD1Ju0 lt q O h OW MOUS NG I Od 0843108 Z ay Joz uo do punouByD0g 4x3 au soouj d UOD UBYA HOWDY 4XAN AY HIN uodo ay 42D uaya 7 yn Goop siy U Suo do ay INOQO UOIYOWIOJU JO0u JOY Un 4043108 ay JO YUAWAI g ay 95004 d JU0P UAYM MOJJID 4XBN AY NIN HADULJA OM O JOJ YDS 0 U0 3ng aSMOug ay asn AoW nok paulsap Jl 3400843108 pajJajas AjuayunI ay SADYASIP MOPUIM M A 4d NADWIALOM AY ISN HADWJATOM AY WOUF M40u43108 O 1J aS YAOWUa OM 1J3 9S NuaW Mala Y WOJ jSuinuizuod Jjoj q FAIA 429 iLIVA M 40WJ 10A 0 Bu oldsi o o 98 U S Patent bg DL VENNY Cd SISSY YAWN c8 og pa U S Patent Oct 20 1998 Sheet 9 of 11 5 825 356 200 CONTINUE RUNNIN UNDERLYING PROGRAM HELP PROGRAM SELECTED YES DISPLAY LIST OF AVAILABLE TOPICS HAS USER SELECTED A TOPIC 202 204 206
24. NECTED CONNECTED CONNECT_PENDING When the application is not RUMBA a user defined application this value can be anything the application wants to pass down to the script This is the same as the ClientState defined in the OCX RASSIST SBH CloseAssist Set the CloseAssist property to cause RUMBA Assist to close immediately upon running the script This field is normally used by but not restricted to FastPath scripts which need to automatically close RUMBA To determine if the script is running in FastPath mode check the ChainMode property CloseAssist supersedes all other properties and methods ChainMode 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 27 28 30 DialogCaption bstr DialogCaption Set the DialogCaption property to the string of the dialog box caption title to be subclassed Comments Default is NULL This value is reset to its default with each new script Either DialogCaption or DialogCaptionID may be set but it is not necessary to set both Does NOT Support NLS Provided for user customization only See Also DialogCaptionID DialogCaptionID This property is PRIVATE and will not be in user documentation long DialogCaptionID Set the DialogCaptionID property to the ID value of the dialog box caption to be subclassed Comments Default is NULL This value is reset to its default with each new script Fither DialogCaption or DialogCaptionID may be set but it is not necessary to s
25. NextMonitorScript If the user selects the ShowMe option at any time the computer system runs the script that is stored in the location Rumba NextShowScript The help program then retrieves the next script and the process repeats until all the scripts have been completed Each script takes care of changing the status of the indicator i e the pushpin to indicate that that step has been performed The following script is an example of a ShowMeScript that causes the help program to automatically select the WaterMark menu 5 825 356 Global Variable Dim Rumba As Object sub main on error resume next Create Ole2 automation object to connect to the help program Set Rumba CreateObject RumbaAssist Component if err lt gt 0 then MsgBox Failed to create a link to RUMBA 0 RUMBA Assist else Select the WaterMark menu option for the user Call Rumba SelectMenu IDM WATERMARK end if end sub 10 As indicated above it is not always possible to know what step the user may take in order to complete a step For example the user may have more than one valid option that could be selected in order to complete the required step In order to determine when the user has completed the task the help system of the present invention supplies the back and next buttons 102 104 as shown in FIG 6 that he user selects when he or she has completed the desired task If the 19 next button is selected the co
26. PURE THIS LPCTSTR PURE THIS HWND PURE THIS LPRECT LPRECT INT PURE THIS LPRECT LPRECT PURE The only methods that are necessary for starting and using the help program are the IUnknown members since it is a COM object and StartRUMBAAssist CloseRUMBAAssist and RunSBLScript methods Star tRUMBAAssist initializes the COM object CloseRUM BAAssist uninitializes but does not remove the COM object and RunSBLScript executes a script file typically the opening script which displays the menu The Shared COM Script functions are used to set variables that the script files can query This is used to allow the running application to communicate with the scripts The WdRasist Ocx meth ods are not currently used since the help program was not made into an ocx The SetScriptPath method tells the help program where in the hard drive directory structure to find the script files CreateCustomCtrlType allows the underlying program to set up a new control type Control types are based on the 5 825 356 13 class name of the window Some controls have pre defined class types defined by the help program For example a button has the class name button and the help program type of TYPE BUTTON A listbox has the class name listbox and the help program type of TYPE LISTBOX and so on for all the common control types The TYPE identifiers are simply numeric values that the scripts use to identify different control types to
27. TRUE if the method is successful Comments The state of the controls are reset to the default with each new script Maximum of 20 enabled or restricted controls allowed per script Generally used in a showme script See Also DisableControls SetEnabledCtrlEx SetLong Variable boolean SetLongVariable VarName Val bstr VarName long val The SetLong Variable method sets a variable to a long word for use later in a script Parameters VarName Variable name Val Long value to be associated with the variable Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments This variable can be queried using QueryLong Variable See Also QueryLong Variable QueryString Variable SetString Variable SetMVWaterMark boolean SetMVWaterMark Srring Region Fit bstr String long Region long Fit The SetMVWaterMark method sets the MediaView background 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 79 80 56 Parameters String Bitmap name to be used as the watermark Region Where in Media View to put the bitmap Value Meaning SCROLLING REGION Main background NON SCROLLING REGION Upper title area Fit How the bitmap is stretched to fit the area Value Meaning FULL SCALE Stretch or shrink bitmap as needed to exactly fit the window PARTIAL SCALE Stretch bitmap as needed to fit the window Comments Default is NULL no watermark This value is not reset to its default with each
28. US005825356A United States Patent no 11 Patent Number 5 825 356 Habib et al 45 Date of Patent Oct 20 1998 54 HELP SYSTEM WITH SEMITRANSPARENT 5 550 967 8 1996 Brewer et al cece 395 336 WINDOW FOR DISABLING CONTROLS 5 627 958 5 1997 Potts et al lll l aaa aaa 395 336 75 Inventors Dennis M Habib Redmond Wash OTHER PUBLICATIONS Mindy J Engelberg Coarsegold Craig A Smith Agent Function for Viewpoint Like Inter Calif Kathryn A McNutt Des faces Xerox Disclosure Journal vol 19 No 6 Nov Dec Moines Wash Colby E Kinser 1994 p 481 Woodinville Wash Charles E Lynch Piyawadee Sukaviriya Dynamic Construction of Animated II North Bend Wash Chauncey L Help from Application Context Proceedings of the ACM Williams Redmond Wash SIGGRAPH Symposium on User Interface Software Banff Alberta Canada Oct 17 19 1988 pp 190 202 73 Assignee Wall Data Incorporated Kirkland Hyperwise V 2 0 User Manual IBM Corp 1994 1995 Wash k Primary Examiner John E Breene 21 Appl No 617 440 57 ABSTRACT 22 Filed Mar 18 1996 An interactive help system allows a user to retrieve infor 51 Int CLS aaa Go6F 3 00 mation concerning how to complete a particular task in an 521 US Cl 345 338 345 344 underlying computer program Upon selecting the help 52 Ka aoee 338 345 system the computer system re sizes the window of the 58 Field of Search
29. a step cannot be encoded into a script For example if a user is given several selections of which any one may be valid the help system cannot know in advance which selection the user will choose Therefore the computer system may add a back or next button 102 104 FIG 6 to a dialog box so that the user can inform the help system when a step has been completed The computer system checks to see if these buttons have been selected at steps 262 266 If so either the previous or next script is re run at steps 264 268 If the user has not selected the do it all option or the next previous buttons the computer returns to step 224 and awaits the user to make some attempt at performing the required step As described above the help system of the present invention operates to illustrate the steps required to complete a task by running a series of scripts that are dependent upon the particular type of help the user has requested When the user selects the help menu a script is run that causes the computer system to display the help window and list of available options as shown in FIG 3 When the user selects one of the options the computer system is provided with the name of a script that should be run The computer system retrieves the script from memory and executes the com mands contained in the script Script files are small BASIC programs that direct the help program to display the list of steps required to complete a
30. at should be invoked if the user completes the current step Comments Default is NULL This value is not reset to its default with each new script See Also NextShowScript NextShowScript bstr NextShowScript Set the NextShowScript property to the name of the next script that should be invoked if the user elects to have the computer complete the next step That is the user selected the Do It All or the Show Me button Comments Default is NULL This value is not reset to its default with each new script See Also NextMonitorScript ShowMeDelay NextUserAction long NextUserAction Set the NextUserAction property to the ID of the control that the user should select Comments Default is 0 Unset This value is reset to its default with each new script The control type is set with the NextActionCtrlType property See Also NextActionCtrIType 5 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 33 34 333 NLSHostPrefix This property is PRIVATE and will not be in user documentation bstr NLSHostPrefix When subclassing a dialog box set the NLSHostPrefix property to the location of the MRI directory that contains the DLL with the information about the dialog box being subclassed Value _ Meaning x System A Mainframe N AS 400 D UNIX VAX Comments Default is NULL This value is reset to its default with each new script This function probably will change to take integer values See Also NLSLibrary NLSLibrary Thi
31. bs controls and windows the help program can effectively limit what the user is able to do by eliminating those messages it doesn t want the control to know about It also uses the messages for its own internal state These are used so the help program knows when the underlying program is active when the underlying program has a menu item open and when the underlying program is being moved around on the screen Control Subclassing Controls are subclassed and their enabled disabled state modified immediately after the execution of each script file The help program enumerates all the controls on the current dialog window the last dialog that was subclassed as discussed in the next section subclasses them and deter mines the state of each control based on the following parameters which were set from the script DisableControls Defaults to TRUE This means that the default state for a control is disabled SetEnabledCtrl Ex Controlld ControlType Overrides the disabled setting for the control specified SetRestrictedCtrl Ex ControlId ControlType Overrides the enabled setting for the control specified z zzzzzzzzzzzz 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 16 NextUserAction A single id for a control that will cause the execution of the next script Always enabled Next ActionCtrIType The type of the NextUserAction control When a control is enabled it is both enabled not
32. d Ignore MB YESNOCANCEL The message box contains three push buttons Yes No and Cancel MB YESNO The message box contains two push buttons Yes and No MB RETRYCANCEL The message box contains two push buttons Retry and Cancel Return Value The Return Value is the ID of the selected button Comments Generally used in a showme script See Also RUMBAMsgBoxStr MsgBox long MsgBox Siring Type bstr String long Type The MsgBox method displays a message in a dialog box containing a bitmap background Parameters String String containing the message to be displayed 10 20 25 5 825 356 63 64 48 Type Specifies the contents and behavior of the dialog box Value Meaning MB OK The message box contains one push button OK MB OKCANCEL The message box contains two push buttons OK and Cancel MB ABORTRETRYIGNORE The message box contains three push buttons Abort Retry and Ignore MB YESNOCANCEL The message box contains three push buttons Yes No and Cancel MB YESNO The message box contains two push buttons Yes and No MB RETRYCANCEL The message box contains two push buttons Retry and Cancel Return Value The Return Value is the ID of the selected button ScriptFileExists boolean ScriptFileExists Filename bstr Filename The SeriptFileExists method tests if file exists in the current script path by default this is the System Demo directory Parameters Filename Name of fi
33. d SelectMenu IsListBoxIDSelected SelectTab IsListBoxTextSelected SendKey SlideControl LockMVOcx SetBubblePosition Wait MsgBox SetEnabledC tri MsgBoxID SetEnabledCtrlEx PutText SetLongVariable QueryCurrentTab SetMVWaterMark QueryLongVariable QueryStringVariable BranchOnClientState boolean BranchOnClientState State timeout SuccessScript FailedScript long State short timeout bstr SuccessScript bstr FailedScript 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 47 48 40 Parameters State Desired client state can be CONNECTED NOT_CONNECTED CONNECT PENDING Timeout Maximum timeout is 60 seconds in milliseconds SuccessScript Name of the script to run when State is reached within the timeout FailedScript Name of the script to run when State is NOT reached within the timeout CtrlHasText boolean CtrlHasText Crri D CtrlType The CtrlHasText method determines if there is text in an edit box or combo box Parameters CtrlID ID value of the Edit Control to be tested CtriType TYPE EDIT TYPE BUTTON TYPE LISTBOX TYPE COMBOBOX Return Value The Return Value is TRUE if the edit control contains text and FALSE if the edit control does not contain text Comments Generally used in a showme script 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 49 50 4 GetOSVersion long GetOSVersion Returns the version of the operating system Use the following logic to derive the operating system version ver Rumba GetOS Versi
34. d by the help system of the present invention to show a user how to complete an entire sequence of steps required to implement a desired task DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is an interactive computer help system that provides information to a user regarding how to complete a desired task In addition the computer system will show the user how to perform the steps required to complete the task if desired The help system of the present invention is designed to operate with a conventional computer system of the type shown in FIG 1 The computer system includes a central processing unit CPU 15 having its own internal memory 22 and digital storage mechanism such as a hard disk drive 24 The disk drive and memory are coupled to the CPU via an internal data bus 20 Commands are entered into the computer system via a keyboard 26 and or a pointing device such as a mouse 28 which are coupled to the CPU 15 by a set of leads 30 The computer system may be coupled to other similar computer systems by a local area network not shown Programs executed by the CPU preferably use a graphical user interface that is displayed on a monitor 32 An example of a graphical user interface is the Windows operating system produced by the Microsoft Corporation As will be explained in further detail below the help system of the present invention comprises a computer pro gram that is executed by the CPU 15 simultaneou
35. e bubble Comments Default is Click Here This value is reset to its default with each new script Also if a null string is passed the default will be used Insert a carriage return chr 10 in the string to create a line break The text will be centered per line See Also BubbleTextID SetBubblePosition BubbleTextID This property is PRIVATE and will not be in user documentation long BubbleTextID Set the BubbleTextID property to the NLS ID of the string that should appear in the click here bubble Comments Default is IDS RA BB CLICK HERE This value is reset to its default with each new script Also if zero is passed the default will be used The text will be centered per line See Also BubbleText SetBubblePosition BubbleTimeout short BubbleTimeout Set the BubbleTimeout property to the amount of time in milliseconds that will elapse before the click here bubble shows up If the user makes a mistake before this time out the bubble is displayed immediately 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 25 26 29 Comments Default is 0 Turned Off This value is not reset to its default with each new script See Also SetBubblePosition BubbleText ClientState long Include Files CloseAssist boolean Comments See Also ClientState The current state of the application that launched RUMBA Assist When that application is RUMBA the state will be one of the following DISCON
36. e script This is the same as the SecondaryType defined in the OCX Comments Read only value Cannot be set SelectedInterface long SelectedInterface This property is used when the interface selection dialog is visible and is used with SelectingInterface RUMBA sets this property to the value of the selected interface when SelectingInterface is set to TRUE Comments Default is 0 This value is not reset to its default with each new script See Also SelectingInterface SelectingInterface boolean SelectingInterface Set the SelectingInterface property to TRUE to cause RUMBA Assist to set the SelectedInterface property 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 39 40 36 Comments Default is FALSE This value is reset to its default with each new script See Also SelectedInterface SelectionText bstr SelectionText Set the SelectionText property to the string that the user should select from the listbox When this string is selected the next script is called Comments Default is NULL This value is reset to its default with each new script Either SelectionText or SelectionTextID may be set but it is not necessary to set both Does NOT Support NLS Provided for user customization only See Also NextUserAction NextActionCtrIType SelectionTextID This property is PRIVATE and will not be in user documentation long SelectionTextID Set the SelectionTextID property to the ID of the item that the user should select
37. eate a link to RUMBA 0 RUMBA Assist else Check if the menu item for this lesson exists 5 825 356 7 8 continued ItemState Rumba GetMenultemState Watermark if ItemState and 3 or ItemState lt 0 then The item does not exist on the menu call Rumba MsgBox Can t find the menu item to perform this task else Hide the text window in the help window Rumba ShowPanel FALSE Jump to the first topic This series of command opens the input file for the text lessons and menus and jumps the waterrnark text within that file Call Rumba TitleOpen DemolTutorX M13 Call Rumba JumpContext watermark Setting the step tells the help program what pin to push in on the list of pins Rumba Step 1 Set up the bitmaps that are to be shown behind the text These bitmaps appear in the windows that display the lesson and the main menu Rumba SetM VWaterMark RABkGnd bmp SCROLLING REGION PARTIAL SCALE Rumba SetM VWaterMark RATitle bmp NON_SCROLLING__ REGION FULL_SCALE Show the lesson panel which is the panel that surrounds the application window and shows the steps Rumba PanelType LESSON_PANEL Rumba ShowPanel TRUE Turn on the help bubble 5 second delay Rumba BubbleTimeout 5000 From the View menu choose Watermark This tells the help program what to allow the user to do The NextActionCtrIType is the type of the action in this case to select a
38. er will make a mistake during the help process is minimized While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention 5 825 356 91 As can be seen from the above the present invention provides an interactive help system whereby a user is shown how to complete the steps required to complete a desired task In addition the steps performed by the user are actually implemented on the underlying program being run by the user Therefore when the user leaves the help system the changes made while the help system was operating will have been implemented The present invention does not require the user to memorize the list of steps described in the help system and then attempt to recreate them without the benefit of the help system running at the same time Furthermore because the present invention disables that portion of the screen containing options not available to the user the chance that a user will make a mistake during the help process is minimized While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows 1 A method of opera
39. et both See Also DialogCaption DisableControls boolean DisableControls Set the DisableControls to FALSE to enable all controls on a dialog box Comments Default is TRUE all controls disabled This value is reset to its default with each new script See Also SetEnabledCtrl SetRestrictedCtrl 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 29 30 31 LastScript boolean LastScript Set the LastScript property to TRUE in final Monitor script to indicate completion Runs the Success Animation and changes the buttons from three buttons Do It All Show Me and Exit to two buttons Main Menu and Exit Comments Default is FALSE This value is reset to its default with each new script NextActionCtrIType long NextActionCtrlType Set the NextActionCtrlType property to the type of control the user should select It must be one of the following values This is used in conjunction with NextUserAction Value TYPE_MENU TYPE EDIT TYPE BUTTON TYPE LISTBOX TYPE COMBOBOX TYPE SLIDEBAR TYPE SCROLLBAR TYPE SPINCNTL TYPE TAB TYPE NONE Comments Default is 1 unset This value is reset to its default with each new script The control ID expected by RUMBA Assist is set by NextUserAction See Also NextUserAction 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 31 32 3323 NextMonitorScript bstr NextMonitorScript Set the NextMonitorScript property to the name of the next script th
40. grayed out and has a hole punched through the hatch When a control is disabled it is grayed out and covered by the hatched window One problem with this is that some controls are created dynamically well after the routine that subclasses enables disables has executed This means that one or more controls may not be subclassed and their state may not be set This is worked around by using the Windows CBT hook as described in the next section Windows CBT Computer Based Training hook and win dow subclassing The help program uses a Message Hook to monitor certain events in the system In particular it uses the Windows CBT Computer Based Training hook to obtain three events from the running application See SetWindowsHookEx in the Microsoft Win32 API reference The help program needs to know when a window is created activated or destroyed This information is used to determine what windows are to be subclassed as described above The help program takes the following actions HCBT CREATEWND Check to see if a script has finished executing If it has then this could be a new control that should be subclassed and hatched over This is the case with dialogs that get subclassed then have controls dynamically created on them HCBT_ACTIVATE Check to see if the window that was activated is one of the windows that the help program are looking for That is in the script the script developer specifies that he is expecting a new
41. he steps of determining whether the user has related the option to illustrate a step and if so recalling from memory a script that instructs the help system to send a command to the underlying program to execute the step 3 The method of claim 1 wherein the help program displays an option to illustrate all the steps required to complete a task the method further comprising steps of determining whether the user has related the option to illustrate all the steps and if so recalling from memory a series of corresponding scripts each of which causes the help program to send a command to the underlying program 4 The method of claim 1 wherein the user may be able to take more than one action to complete a step the method further comprising the steps of generating a command that will present the user with a button that confirms when a step has been completed and monitoring the underlying program for an indication that the user has selected the button indicating that the step has been completed and retrieving a next script once the step has been completed ki ki a Tom QR
42. ieve this get the width of the letter T using this font set the current menu item rectangle to start at the upper left corner of the rectangle of the menu bar set the height of the current menu item to be GetSystemMetrics SM CYMENU start at the left end of the menu and traverse to the right while haven t found it get the text of the current menu item starting from the left end of the menu and find its width set the right edge of the current menu item rectangle to be the left edge of the rectangle plus the width of the current menu item plus 2 times the width of T computed earlier This is the spacing between the menu items If this is not the menu item being searched then move right by one and set the left edge of the current menu item rectangle to if we have moved move the left edge of add the heigh item rect add the height of one menu item to the bottom of the menu item rect else stop looking end if end while else if looking for an item on a submenu note that the submenu must be visible or this doesn t work find the menu popup window there is only one using FindWindow 32768 NULL get both the Client and Window rectangles of the popup window calculate the width of the border on the popup subtract the client rect from the window rect to get the border widths he right edge of menu item rectangle beyond the right edge of the menu bar then border of the menu item rectangle to the left he
43. ift state of the key to be sent Value Meaning 0 Normal State 1 Shift State 2 Control State 3 Alt State VKValue Specifies the VK virtual key value of the key Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments Generally used in a showme script SetBubblePosition boolean SetBubblePosition ControlID ControlType long ControlID short ControlType Specifies which control the bubble points to Parameters ControllD ID value of the Control ControlType Use the control type constants TYPE EDIT TYPE BUTTON TYPE LISTBOX 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 73 74 53 TYPE_COMBOBOX TYPE_SCROLLBAR TYPE SLIDEBAR TYPE SPINCNTL TYPE LISTVIEW TYPE TREEVIEW TYPE STATIC TYPE NONE TYPE DEFAULT Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments If this method is not called then the bubble will be point to the control specified by NextUserAction if defined or will not appear at all if NextUserAction is not defined The default can be specifically requested by using TYPE DEFAULT as the Control7ype In this case ControlID is ignored To prevent the bubble from displaying use TYPE NONE as the ControlType In this case ControlID is ignored To point to a group box specify the ID of the group box in the ControlID parameter and use TYPE BUTTON as the ControlType See Also BubbleText
44. ing Variable See Also QueryLong Variable QueryString Variable SetLong Variable SetText boolean SetText Control D ControlType Text long ControlID short ControlType bstr Text Parameters Uses the Windows API SetWindowText to change the text of a control If the control is a text control such as an editbox or a combobox it changes the contents of the control If the control is not a text control such as a button or checkbox it will change the text on the control ie you could change the OK button to say Click here if desired ControlID The ID of the control ControlType Specifies the type of control Use the SetEnableCtrl for most cases This method is for distinguishing between controls with the same window ID Cannot be used for windows or tabs Use the control type constants TYPE EDIT TYPE BUTTON TYPE COMBOBOX TYPE SPINCNTL TYPE STATIC 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 88 This is the exact opposite of GetText which uses the Windows API GetWindowText It is different from PutText because puttext cannot change the text of a button checkbox etc and PutText uses 87 60 Comments the Windows Paste operation to enter text See Also GetText SlideControl boolean SlideControl Contro ID Tics long ControlID short Tics Parameters Return Value The SlideControl method uses the mouse to move the slide indicator along the trackbar control ControlID ID value of the trackbar control
45. ion will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein 10 15 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 FIG 1 is a block diagram of a computer system in which the help system of the present invention is implemented FIGS 2A 2C are representations of a conventional graphical user interface and a prior art on screen help program FIG 3 is an illustrative example of a help screen produced by the present invention FIG 4 is a representation of the simultaneous display of the help system according to the present invention and an underlying computer program in which help is desired FIG 5 is a representation of how the help system accord ing to the present invention operates to illustrate a step required to complete a desired task FIG 6 is a representation showing how the computer help system of the present invention operates to disable controls that should not be selected by a user in order to complete the desired task FIG 7 is a flowchart of the steps performed by the computer system to generate a sequence of steps that instruct a user how to perform a desired task FIG 8 is a flowchart of the steps performed by the help system of the present invention to show a user how to complete a single step in a sequence of steps and FIG 9 is a flowchart of the steps performe
46. is clicked etc The user selects the Next or Back button ShowMe is selected causing the NextShowScript to be executed Do It All is selected causing the help program to alter nately execute the NextShowScripts and NextMonitor Scripts until user action is required or all the steps are completed 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 The current script tells the help program to automatically skip to the NextMonitorScript Rumub Skip TRUE The client calls RunSBLScript on the help program s COM object interface Window Dialog Control handling The help program subclasses every window that it may care about That includes the underlying programs main application window and all of its sub windows controls and any dialogs that are brought up by the underlying program that the help program has been instructed to sub class see WillCreateDialog and DialogCaption properties This is so the help program can monitor what the windows are doing and respond accordingly The following messages are intercepted Dialogs Windows WM_SETCURSOR Used to eliminate unwanted mouseclicks WM_COMMAND Used to eliminate unwanted menu item control actions WM NOTIFY Used to determine when the current tab on a tab control is changing WM_NCLBUTTONDBLCLK WM_NCLBUTTONDOWN WM_NCRBUTTONDBLCLK WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN Used to keep user from sizing the main application window except on one side
47. le to be found Return Value The Return Value is TRUE if the file is found and FALSE if it is not 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 65 66 49 SelectArrow boolean SelectArrow long ArrowlD Long ArrowID Parameters NEXT ARROW BACK ARROW Comments Use this method to click the Next or Back arrow for the user Usually used in a ShowMe script SelectButton boolean SelectButton Ctr D ButtonPosition long CrrllD long ButtonPosition The SelectButton method moves the mouse cursor to a button and then clicks that button Parameters CtrlID ID value of the button control ButtonPosition Specifies the position on the control where the mouse pointer will be placed Possible Values LEFT RIGHT CENTER Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments Generally used in a showme script 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 67 68 50 SelectListBoxID This property is PRIVATE and will not be in user documentation boolean SelectListBoxID ControllD Id long ControlID long Jd The SelectListBoxID method selects a string from the listbox Parameters ControlID ID value of the listbox control Id ID of the string to be selected from the listbox Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments Generally used in a showme script Either SelectListBoxID or SelectListBoxS
48. menu rectangle of one menu item to the top of the menu 5 825 356 19 continued calculate the height of a menu item in the popup and the height of separator in the popup set the menu item rect to be the window rect of the menu popup add the height of the border of the popup to the top of the menu item rect if the current menu item is a separator bar set the bottom of the menu item rectangle to be the top of the rectangle plus the height of the menu item separator else set the bottom of rectangle plus he menu item rectangle to be the top of the the height of a menu item end if set the current menu item to be the top menu item while the current menu item is not the one we are looking for set the current menu item to the next menu item set the top of the menu item rectangle to the bottom of the menu item rectangle if the current menu item is a separator bar set the bottom of the menu item rectangle to be the top of he rectangle plus the height of the menu item separator else set the bottom of the menu item rectangle to be the top of he rectangle plus the height of a menu item end if end while end if The difference in getting the menu item rectangles between the old preWindows 95 interface and the new interface is that Windows 95 implements a very handy function called GetMenultemRect This function has some problems but it works great to find the top level menu items which are
49. mputer system runs the next script indicated Conversely if the previous button is selected then the previous script assuming there is a previous script is run 15 The following is another example of a script Global Variables Dim Rumba As Object sub main Create Ole2 automation object on error resume next Set Rumba CreateObject RumbaAssist Component if err lt gt 0 then else end if end sub MsgBox Failed to create a link to RUMBA 0 RUMBA Assist Rumba Step 2 Tell the help program what controls Buttons listboxes etc to enable By default all controls are disabled hatched The help program will punch holes through the hatch and enable the controls specified here Once again the controls are referenced by their control id which needs to be unique on the dialog box Call Rumba SetEnabledCtr1 DD WALLPAPER PREVIEW Call Rumba Set EnabledCtrl IDS VIEW WALLPAPER FNAME Call Rumba SetEnabledCtr1 DD VIEW WALLPAPER FNAME Call Rumba SetEnabledCtr1 DD VIEW BROWSE Set the bubble text The text defaults to Click Here if it is not pointing to a menu item and to Click lt menuitem names if it is pointing to a menu item This can be overridden as it is here to be more descriptive Rumba BubbleText Select a bitmap from this list or click the Browse button The script explicitly tells the help program where to point the help b
50. new script Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful SetNextBackScripts boolean SetNextBackScripts Nexr Back bstr Next bstr Back The SetNextPrevScripts method displays a modeless dialog box with two buttons Next and Back When Next is selected the next script Nex in the sequence is run when Back is selected the previous script Back is run Parameters Next Name of script to be run if the Next button is selected Should be the next script in the sequence 10 20 25 81 Return Value 5 825 356 82 57 Back Name of script to be run if the Back button is selected The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments Default is None This value is reset to its default with each new script SetRestricted Ctrl boolean SetRestrictedCtri Control D long ControllD Parameters Return Value Disables a control in a dialog box Used only when the DisabledControls property is set to FALSE which enables all controls in a dialog box ControlID ID value of the Control The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments The control is reset to its default state with each new script Maximum of 20 enabled or restricted allowed controls per script See Also DisableControls SetEnabledCtrl SetRestrictedCtrlEx boolean SetRestrictedCtrlEx ControllD Contr
51. nter over a particular topic and selecting it the user is provided with a brief description of how a particular task is to be completed FIG 2C shows what happens when the user selects a particular topic from the list of topics displayed in the help window As indicated above the user is provided with a short description of the steps the user should implement in order to complete a desired task In the example shown the help program provides instructions to the user regarding how a drawing should be printed To use the information provided the user reads the instructions exits the help program and attempts to implement the steps described in order to complete the desired task i e to print a drawing As will be appreciated by viewing FIGS 2B and 2C the on screen help program shown is not integrated with the underlying program in which the help was requested That is the help program appears in a separate window that can be moved about by a user and the text displayed does not change depending upon the operating parameters of the underlying program To improve upon the on screen help system shown in FIGS 2B and 2C the present invention is an interactive help program that provides instructions to a user that are context sensitive to the operation of the program in which help is being sought In addition the help program of the present invention may provide the user with an illustration of the sequence of steps required to complete a
52. olType long ControllD The SetRestrictedCtrIEx method disables a control in a dialog box Used only when the DisabledControls property is set to FALSE which enables all controls in a dialog box short Control Type 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 83 84 58 Specifies the type of control Use the SetRestrictedCtrl for most cases This method is for distinguishing between controls with the same window ID Cannot be used for windows or tabs Parameters ControlID ID value of the Control ControlType Use the control type constants TYPE_EDIT TYPE BUTTON TYPE LISTBOX TYPE COMBOBOX TYPE SCROLLBAR TYPE SLIDEBAR TYPE SPINCNTL TYPE LISTVIEW TYPE TREEVIEW TYPE STATIC Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments The control is reset to its default state with each new script Maximum of 20 enabled or restricted allowed controls per script See Also DisableControls SetEnabledCtrl SetString Variable boolean SetStringVariable VarName Value bstr VarName bstr Value The SetStringVariable method sets a variable to a string for use later in a script Parameters VarName Variable name val 15 20 25 30 85 Return Value 5 825 356 86 59 String value to be associated with the variable The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments This variable can be queried using QueryStr
53. on platform ver 65536 and 255 major ver 256 and 255 minor ver and 255 Comments In this example if the operating system version is 4 1 then major is 4 and minor is 1 GetMenultemState long GetMenultemState Menu D long MenulD The GetMenultemState method retrieves the state of the given menu item Parameters MenulD ID value of the menu item Return Value The Return Value is 1 if the specified item does not exist Otherwise the return is a mask Boolean OR of the values from the following list Value Meaning x0000 Item is enabled and check mark is not placed next to the item 0x0001 Item is disabled and grayed 0x0002 Item is disabled 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 51 52 42 0x0004 Item is a bitmap 0x0008 Check mark is placed next to the item 0x0020 Item is placed on a new line static menus or in a new column pop up menus with a vertical dividing line 0x0040 Item is placed on a new line static menus or in a new column pop up menus without separating columns 0x0800 Horizontal dividing line GetText BSTR GetText Crr D CtrlType long CrrilD short Cir Type The GetText method returns the text in the specified control Parameters CrrlID CtrlType ID value of the control Type of control Possible values are TYPE MENU TYPE EDIT TYPE BUTTON TYPE LISTBOX TYPE COMBOBOX TYPE SLIDEBAR TYPE SCROLLBAR TYPE SPINCNTL TYPE TAB TYPE NONE Return Value The Ret
54. on that will appear on the screen and noting what controls should be accessed The help program may call many scripts to complete a task All the 10 15 25 12 Windows CBT Computer Based Training hook and window subclassing Detecting step completion Hatching Display of the bubble Menu handling Media View control text and pins OLE Automation Interface Object Linking and Embedding OLE Automation is the means that is used for the script files to communicate with the help program OLE Automation allows the script files to connect to the help program and call methods and properties within the help program The properties and methods that are supported by the help program are listed below OLE Automation is part of the Microsoft Windows OLE2 architecture and is described in detail in a number of readily available books and therefore need not be discussed in further detail COM Object interface The COM Common Object Model interface is another OLE interface that is used by the underlying program to interface with help program of the present invention This is a much more limited interface which is used by the under lying program to start the help program and set some parameters in it The interface is as follows DECLARE INTERFACE IWDRUMBAAssist IUnknown IlUnknown Members STDMETHOD QueryInterface STDMETHOD ULONG AddRef STDMETHOD ULONG Release COM Interface methods STDMETHOD BOOL StartRUMBAAssist
55. ou may use the Browse button to search for a watermark Click the Next arrow when done Choose the Placement of the watermark For more information about the options in this dialog click 2 then click the option Click the Next arrow when done Choose the Text Background option for the watermark g o rx RUMBA OFFICE File Edit View Comection Transfer Configure Watermark v 8 WATERMARK PREVIEW WI l 1001 Watermark Exit 94 It All e Me 88 90 U S Patent Oct 20 1998 Sheet 1 of 11 5 825 356 30 28 2 24 26 MEMORY DISK DRIVE KEYBOARD 20 15 CPU Sa 32 5 825 356 Sheet 2 of 11 Oct 20 1998 U S Patent Pa Min dja suo YSN UID dj E d o MaA Tl ag a a 5 825 356 Sheet 3 of 11 Oct 20 1998 U S Patent LIV WOIMd SIN0IN U 5J0 03 J3AU Sinogng dij UMOJ O 40 NY S4007 Wo Sn 2108325 5INno n a 0g pud An Saziy JU puo S1U6J 350097 Sais fxs abunyg SUMOJ MAN Jog SDUn4 S JMNoz f abuvy OJ MOH 14 ssaud dj H sn o MOY Uda O sOulmdup a3 03Ja 0 asn uo2 NOA 001 0 S YSNIHTUIN0Y SMOPU M dj H YSNAALUJ J0j S1U31U0 Aunssoyy Jozsi 20g youoag squaguog 5 825 356 Sheet 4 of 11 Oct 20 1998 U S Patent p ds Jgagulud 1533504 ay 70
56. parent window shown as 100 in FIGS 5 and 6 that paints a pattern of dots over what is currently on the window shown to the user To accomplish this the help system uses a feature of the Microsoft Win32 API A transparent cross 5 825 356 17 hatched window is created which gets painted on the screen after all updates have been painted This allows any dialog boxes to be updated before they are disabled The crosshatched window since it is transparent will receive a WM PAINT message of its own so that it can refresh and redraw the hatch on top of any existing dialog boxes in the window However there are some limitations The transparent window does not always receive a WM_ PAINT message when a control is painted In order to get around this problem everything that the hatch window covers must be subclassed meaning that the help program gets to interpret messages sent to the windows before they get to the control The help program lets the control paint and sets a timer waiting for all painting to subside before painting the hatch over the controls The crosshatched window does not cover all the controls on the window screen otherwise the user would not be able to perform any function Therefore the semi transparent window has holes punched in it where the controls can poke through and be operational This is accomplished using the SetWindowRegion function provided by the Win 32 API which allows a window to be broken in
57. pt XWatMrkB he help program is told what type the 5 825 356 11 The above script illustrates several additional features of the help program As indicated in connection with Step 220 described above the help program operates to disable all the controls of the underlying program except for those controls that should be selected by the user The script informs the help program which controls should be enabled at any given time Once the help system has executed the first script for the desired task it reads what options should be enabled For example in the diagram shown in FIG 5 the user is only allowed to select the View menu Therefore everything is disabled except for the view menu Once the window has been properly set up and the appropriate controls enabled the help program waits for a user generated event such as the correct mouse click or a menu selection in order to proceed to the next script When the next action specified by the script has been successfully completed by the user the help program will execute the NextMonitorScript which was set in the current script If ShowMe button was clicked then the help program will execute the NextShowScript which will fulfill the requirements set up by the first script making the help program execute the NextMonitorScript The script files described above are manually generated by a script writer working with the underlying program taking note of the next acti
58. r wants to configure a checkbox A checkbox can be either checked or unchecked The checkbox in question is completely arbitrary in that it is completely a user preference so there is no right or wrong state for the control The help program will have no idea when the user is finished configuring that control so it has no way to detect that the step has com pleted The only solution is for the user to tell the help program when he she is finished configuring the option This is accomplished with the Next Back dialog The script writer will know when this sort of problem will exist so in the script will be the command SetNextBackScripts XWatMrk4 XWatMrk2 This brings up a small dialog box that tracks with the dialog we are currently working with a Next and or Back button on it The XWatMrk4 and XWatMrk2 parameters are the scripts that are to be executed if the Next or Back button is pressed respectively This is how a step can be completed 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 18 without the script having to know what the final state of the control must be Displaying the Bubble The bubble is just sort of a helping hand to lead users through the sequence of steps required to complete a task The text the bubble displays is dynamic and can be changed from the script files The bubble will appear if the script indicates a timeout value as well as specifies directly or indirectl
59. s computers become increasingly complex the software designed to run on such computers becomes correspond ingly powerful As a result many programs require signifi cant time and energy to be spent before a user can operate the program at its full potential To help a user most computer programs are sold with one or more manuals that describe all the features capable of being performed by the program and how to implement those features In addition to the written materials most programs have some sort of on screen help program These help programs are designed to allow a user to quickly search for information regarding a feature and to present the user with a brief narrative concerning how to accomplish the desired feature Despite the apparent simplicity of the on screen help programs they suffer from numerous disadvantages that limit their utility First most on screen help systems provide less information than is contained in the corresponding computer manual Therefore it is often necessary to read the manual in addition to using the on screen help program Secondly in order to implement a task described by the help program the user must memorize the steps described exit the help program and attempt to implement those steps Because the program may not appear to the user in the same fashion as was described in the help program it is often difficult to perform the required steps even after having read the manual or used the on
60. s property is PRIVATE and will not be in user documentation bstr NLSLibrary When subclassing a dialog box set the NLSLibrary property to the name of the DLL that contains the appropriate information about the dialog box being subclassed minus the first letter which is the NLSHostPrefix Comments Default is NULL This value is reset to its default with each new script See Also NLSHostPrefix 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 35 36 34 PanelType long PanelType Can be one of the following values MAIN PANEL LESSON PANEL Comments MAIN PANEL displays the mediaview window without the application LESSON PANEL displays the MediaView window with the application Set ShowPanel to FALSE before changing PanelType to prevent flickering See Also ShowPanel PrimaryType short PrimaryType RUMBA sets the Primary Type property to AS400 DATABASE HP MAINFRAME MULTI Notebook page without RUMBA VAX When the application is not RUMBA a user defined application this value can be anything the application wants to pass down to the script This is the same as the PrimaryType defined in the OCX Comments Read only value Cannot be set 15 20 25 5 825 356 37 38 235 Secondary Type short SecondaryType RUMBA sets the SecondaryType property to Value DISPLAY PRINTER When the application is not RUMBA a user defined application this value can be anything the application wants to pass down to th
61. screen help program Finally most on screen help programs are not context specific That is the information provided remains the same regardless of how the underlying program in which help is desired is operating Because the steps required to implement a feature may vary depending on how the underlying program is operating the user may be given incorrect or incomplete information SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To solve the problems associated with prior art on screen help systems the present invention is an interactive com puterized help system The help system operates simulta neously with an underlying program being run by a user in order to show the user a sequence of steps required to implement a desired task After each step has been per formed by a user the step is marked by the help system as being completed The help system is context sensitive with the underlying program so that the information or sequence of steps given to the user is tailored to how the underlying program is operating If the user does not understand how to implement a step the user can select a show me option that performs the step for the user Finally the user can select a do it all option that shows the user how to perform the entire sequence of steps required to implement a desired task to completion or until user input is required BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advan tages of this invent
62. scripts attach to the help program via the OLE Automation object and the OLE Automation object calls the appropriate methods properties in the help program The methods and properties allow the scripts to control exactly what the help program does A list of all the help program methods and properties are given below Script execution The help program uses the Softbridge Basic Language SBL to implement its scripts SBL allows us to compile and execute the SBL scripts When Start RUMBAAssist is called the help program looks for all script catalog files sbc in the scripts directory set by the SetScriptPath method in the COM object Since there can be hundreds or thousands of script files the scripts are pre compiled and placed into a catalog file to be extracted when requested When the help program is told to execute a script it will first search the catalog files for a script of the same name with SBX pre compiled appended to it If it does not find it it will search for the same file but with a SBL extension un compiled appended to it If it still does not find the file it will look for the SBL file in the Script directory If the file is found in the catalog it is extracted to a read write directory and compiled if necessary into an SBX file The SBL SblRun function is then invoked the compiled file Scripts are executed when The criteria for the completion of a step is met i e a dialog is created a button
63. sly with the program in which the user desires help The program resides either in the memory 22 or can be stored on the hard disk drive 24 FIGS 2A 2C show a typical Windows based computer program having an on screen help program In particular the program shown is the Paintbrush program produced by Microsoft Corporation As shown in FIG 2A most Win dows programs are displayed in an area of the screen called a window 50 The window has a title bar 52 that provides the user with the title of the program The title bar surrounds a working area 54 in which the user can perform the task to be completed by the program In the Paintbrush 5 825 356 3 program shown the user can create drawings or graphic illustrations within the working area Below the title bar is a menu bar 56 that allows the user to perform specific tasks such as opening a file saving work changing the parameters of the program selecting preferred options etc Typically the menu bar 56 includes a special help menu 58 that can be selected by a user to obtain information regarding how a particular task can be completed by the program FIG 2B illustrates a conventional prior art on screen help program that appears when the user selects the help menu The help program is displayed in its own window 60 that includes a separate title bar 62 and menu bar 64 Within the help window are a list of topics 66 about which the user can obtain information By moving a mouse poi
64. t are to be displayed to the user and jumps to the appropriate place in the text In the example shown the computer system recalls a file called demo TutorX M13 The computer system then jumps to the context point labeled WaterMark within the text All the indicators showing the completion of the indi vidual steps are then reset The statement Rumba PanelType LESSON_ PANEL causes the computer system to erase the screen display shown in FIG 3 and to draw the two windows 82 and 84 shown in FIGS 4 5 and 6 In addition to configuring the screen each script contains an indication of the next user action to be expected The help program is looking for this action and will proceed to the next script when the user performs it The help program has no way of monitoring when the user has performed a given 50 55 60 65 task Therefore the script informs the help program what will be the next action that the underlying computer program will take when the user has performed the desired task For example in the RUMBA program the program creates a dialog box called Configure WaterMark after the user selects the WaterMark option from the menu The script informs the help program of this so that the help program can monitor the list of windows created by the program When the help program sees the new window created it knows the desired step has been performed and then executes the next monitor script stored in the variable Rumba
65. the left edge is still active WM_ENTERIDLE Used during menu selection to let the help program know when a menu popup is done painting WM_SYSCOMMAND Used to keep the user from closing dialogs before the help program is done with them WM_ SIZE Used to keep the hatch window help text bubble and Next Back dialog in the correct place and correct size WM_MOVE Used to keep the help text bubble and Next Back dialog in the correct place and correct size WM_SHOWWINDOW Used to show the Next Back dialog at the appropriate time and to update the hatch window WM_INITMENUPOPUP Used to tell the help program that a new menu has been opened and we need to reposition the bubble so it points to the appropriate item on the sub menu WM_MENUSELECT Tells the help program when a menu has been closed by the user If we were looking to click on the menu we need to go back and open the menu again at this point WM_ACTIVATEAPP Tells the help program that we need to show the text bubble We hide it when the application loses activation WM_ ACTIVATE Used to close any popups that the Media View help engine may have displayed WM WINDOWPOSCHANGING WM WINDOWPOSCHANGED Used to set the help program window behind the under lying program window in the Z Order WM HELP Used so we can eliminate bogus help from appearing when help is invoked on the hatch window WM_RBUTTONDBLCLK WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK Used to eliminate unwanted double click
66. ting a computer system to provide help to a user regarding how to complete a desired task in an underlying program comprising the steps of determining whether the user has initiated a help program that runs on the computer system presenting the user with a list of topics about which help information is available determining whether a user has selected a topic from the list of topics recalling a script from a memory of the computer system the script providing the help program with text that describes a sequence of steps required to complete the desired task in the underlying program as well as an indication of what action will be produced by the computer system where the user completes a step of the sequence of the steps and instructing the help program what controls should be enabled in the underlying program 10 15 20 25 30 35 92 generating a command to the underlying program that creates a semitransparent window over the underlying program to disable the controls of the under program the window having one or more holes disposed over the controls that are to be enabled and repetitively monitoring the underlying program for the indication that the user has completed the step and recalling a next script until each step in the sequence of steps has been completed 2 The method of claim 1 wherein the help program displays an option to illustrate a step in the sequence of steps the method further comprising t
67. to numerous regions The script file tells the help program what controls it wants to be enabled using the control s ID and control type i e TYPE MENU TYPE BUTTON TYPE_LISTBOX etc in order to get a placement on the screen of the control itself Detecting step completion A step is complete when the criteria set up by the script is met Using the subclassing and the CBT hook the help program can determine when certain events occur The help program waits for the events that will cause it to launch the next script In the first script described above the help program waits for the user to select the IDM WATERMARK command from the menu Since the help program also sets the WillCreateDialog property the pro gram will actually wait for a dialog with the title Configure Watermark to appear This event is noticed in the HCBT ACTIVATE event described above If WillCreateDialog was not set then the help program would proceed to the next step as soon as it detected the WM COMMAND message for IDM WATERMARK Of course since the help pro gram would not be expecting a dialog to appear the dialog would not be subclassed With the hook procedure and the subclassing the help program can detect all button mouse clicks creation destruction of windows menu item selections tabbed dialog tab changes listbox combobox selection changes and nearly any other user action Unfortunately this is not enough Suppose for example the use
68. tring may be set but it is not necessary to set both See Also SelectListBoxString SelectListBoxString boolean SelectListBoxString Control String long Control bstr String The SelectListBoxString method selects a string from a listbox Parameters Control ID value of the listbox control String String to be selected from the listbox control 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 69 70 25 j Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method Is successful Comments Generally used in a showme script SelectMenu boolean SelectMenu MenulD long MenulD The SelectMenu method uses the mouse to select a given menu item Parameters MenulD ID value of the Menu Item Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments Generally used in a showme script SelectTab boolean SelectTab 7abPos short TabPos The SelectTab method uses the mouse to select a tab Parameters TabPos Tab position to be selected Tab positions are zero based Return Value The Return Value is FALSE if the method fails TRUE if the method is successful Comments Generally used in a showme script SendKey boolean SendKey KeyState VKValue 10 15 20 25 30 5 825 356 71 72 52 short KeyState long VKValue The SendKey method sends a keystroke to the RUMBA session window Parameters KeyState Specifies the sh
69. ubble In this case the help program is told to point it at the listbox control containing the names of some valid watermarks Note that control is i e TYPE LISTBOX This has to be done in some cases where there are two controls on a dialog with the same id By specifying the type the help program knows exactly which one I want to work with Call Rumba SetBubbleposition DD VIEW WALLPAPER FNAME TYPE LISTBOX Since the help program doesn t always know what the user wants to select and the script can t be written to tell when the user has completed the step the Next Back box is created having a little window with two buttons Next and Back which allow the user to go forward when he is done selecting or backward to change a previous option In this case he is only allowed to go forward thus only one script file is specified When the user clicks the Next button the Xwatmark3 script will be executed the next script in the sequence Call Rumba SetNextBackScripts XWatMrk3 Next set of scripts to run Note that the only time NextMonitorScript will be used in this case is when the user selects Show Me or Dolt option This is because the only other way to move to the next step is to press the Next button there is no NextUserAction that will just launch the next script Rumba NextMonitorScript XWatMrk3 Rumba NextShowScri
70. urn Value is the string in the control IsButtonChecked boolean IsButtonChecked Control D long ControlID 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 53 54 43 The IsButtonChecked method tests the state of a radio button or check box Parameters ControllD ID value of the radio button or check box to be tested Return Value The Return Value is TRUE if the radio button or check box is checked or FALSE otherwise IsListBoxIDSelected This property is PRIVATE and will not be in user documentation boolean IsListBoxIDSelected Contro D Id long ControllD long Id The IsListBoxIDSelected method tests to see if a given item is selected in a listbox based on its ID Parameters ControlID ID value of the listbox Id ID of the string being tested for selection in the listbox Return Value The Return Value is TRUE if the item is selected and FALSE if the item is not selected Comments Generally used in a showme script See Also IsListBoxTextSelected IsListBoxTextSelected boolean IsListBoxTextSelected ControllD String long ControlID bstr Text 10 20 25 5 825 356 55 56 44 The IsListBoxTextSelected method returns whether an item is selected in a listbox Parameters ControllD ID value of the listbox Text String being tested for selection in the listbox Return Value The Return Value is TRUE if the item is selected FALSE if not selected LockMvOcx void LockMvOcx Lock boolean Lock
71. y something for the bubble to point to The bubble window itself is a region window much like the hatch built from two ellipses and two triangles One ellipse and one triangle are used for the bubble itself and the other set is used for the shadow The help program simply figures out how big the ellipse should be depends on the text where the tail or pointer triangle should be The Windows SetWindowRgn function is used to cut it out of its surround ing rectangular window The bubble finds its position in the same way the hatch window knows where to punch holes in the hatch It has a control id and a control type which can be used to find the rectangle of a control When pointing to a menu item it uses the menu selection code described in the next section to find the position where it should place the bubble Menu handling Windows menus can be very difficult to work with especially with Window NT 3 51 and below In older ver sions of the OS there is no easy way to find the rectangle bounding a menu item In newer versions those with the new shell it is less difficult The following is a description of the logic the help program uses to finding a menu If looking for a item on the top level menu just under the title bar then Calculate the rectangle of the menu bar This is done by using GetWindowRect and subtracting off the client area get the font windows is using to draw the menu GetStockObject will retr
72. y executed Any sort of menu system could be used for this but using a help engine has the advantage of already supporting context jumps and such Given the above description of how the help program of the present invention operates the following are the prop erties and methods to be implemented It is considered to be within the skill of a computer programmer with Windows experience to complete the source code 10 15 5 825 356 21 22 27 PROPERTIES Properties hold information on objects They describe the current state of the object or they hold values for a method to use BubbleOrientation NextShowScript ShowHatch BubbleText NextUserAction ShowPanel BubbleTextID NLSHostPrefix Skip BubbleTimeout NLSLibrary Step ClientState PanelType TabPosition CloseAssist PrimaryType WillCloseDialog DialogCaption SecondaryType WillCreateDialog DialogCaptionID SelectedInterface DisableControls SelectingInterface LastScript SelectionText NextActionCtrlType SelectionTextID NextMonitorScript ShowMeDelay BubbleOrientation Short BubbleOrientation Set the BubbleOrientation property to DONT_CARE BOTTOM_RIGHT BOTTOM_LEFT TOP_RIGHT TOP_LEFT Comments Use this property to explicitly set the placement of the bubble relative to the control See Also SetBubblePosition 10 15 20 25 5 825 356 23 24 28 BubbleText bstr BubbleText Set the BubbleText property to the string that should appear in the click her

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