In WinHelp, an image with clickable areas is called a Segmented Hypergraphic, or SHG file for short. You can insert SHG files into Fast-Help and when you compile for HtmlHelp they will be automatically converted into client-side image maps. Equally, you can double-click on an image in Fast-Help, whether it is a PNG, JPG, GIF or BMP file, and draw hotspots on it. When you compile for WinHelp or HtmlHelp it will be handled automatically in the background for correct platform.

Adding a Hotspot

When you double-click an image the "Image Properties" screen will appear. In the top right the "Hotspots" field tells you how many hotspots are in the image. Click on the square toolbar icon and then click on the image, holding down your mouse button and then drag a rectangle around a part of the image and then release your mouse button. On the right of the screen the Hotspots tab will now be selected and you will see the hotspots properties. A hotspot must have a destination Topic to Jump To. Click on the Jump Type field and select either a Topic, Popup, Macro jump or an Internet link or Flyover hint. Macro jumps are only supported in WinHelp. Currently Popup jumps are only fully supported by WinHelp. In HtmlHelp they are converted to Topic jumps. An Internet link is simply a url and a Flyover Hint is a hint that appears when the user passes the mouse over that HotSpot.

Click in the "Jump To" field and use the ellipsis button to select your Topic/Popup. Click [OK] and compile to test. You can now click on that part of the image and it will jump to the destination Topic/Popup.

Resizing

You can also drag and drop a hotspot into a new position. To resize a hotspot, move your mouse over the bottom right corner. Your mouse pointer will change, now click and resize.

Deleting a Hotspot

Click on the hotspot to select it, then click the [X] toolbar button to delete it.

WinHelp Macros

The syntax for WinHelp Macros is slightly different than normal macros. For example, you can normally type:

  !EF("calc.exe")

and this will work in a normal link, but in a HotSpot, you need to leave out the leading exclamation mark.