Providing MicroHelp

MDI provides a MicroHelp facility that you can use to display information to the user in the status area at the bottom of the frame. For example, when the user selects a menu item, the MicroHelp facility displays a description of the selected item in the status area.

You can define MicroHelp for menu items and for controls in custom frame windows.

Providing MicroHelp for menu items

You specify the text for the MicroHelp associated with a menu item on the General property page in the Menu painter. To change the text of the MicroHelp in a script for a menu item, use the SetMicroHelp function.

Providing MicroHelp for controls

You can associate MicroHelp with a control in a custom frame window by using the control's Tag property. For example, say you have added a Print button to the client area. To display MicroHelp for the button, write a script for the button's GetFocus event that sets the Tag property to the desired text and then uses SetMicroHelp to display the text. For example:

cb_print.Tag="Prints information about current job"
w_genapp_frame.SetMicroHelp(This.Tag)

You can also set a control's Tag property in the control's property sheet.

In the LoseFocus event, you should restore the MicroHelp:

w_genapp_frame.SetMicroHelp("Ready")