Support for .HLP files

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blueznl
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Support for .HLP files

Post by blueznl »

The help file still lists support for .HLP files:
The win32.hlp help-file There is a much smaller alternative to the complete SDK by Microsoft (7.5 MB download). This help is quite old (written for Windows95 in fact), so it does not provide any information on new APIs and technologies introduced since then.

However, it provides good information about commonly used API that is still valid today, as these mostly did not change. This download is recommended if you only need occasional help for API functions, but do not want to download the full SDK.

It can be downloaded from here:
http://www.purebasic.com/download/WindowsHelp.zip

To use it from the PureBasic IDE, just create a "Help" subdirectory in your PureBasic folder and copy the "win32.hlp" file into it.
.HLP's are no longer supported on Windows 10.
( PB6.00 LTS Win11 x64 Asrock AB350 Pro4 Ryzen 5 3600 32GB GTX1060 6GB)
( The path to enlightenment and the PureBasic Survival Guide right here... )
tester
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Re: Support for .HLP files

Post by tester »

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blueznl
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Re: Support for .HLP files

Post by blueznl »

Thx, Tester, but I am somewhat reluctant to install software from 'strange' websites...

Anyway, I would like to suggest the PB team to:

1. add a note regarding support for .HLP files
2. see if it would be possible to support .CHM files in a native way, these are still available... until MS kills those off as well :shock:
( PB6.00 LTS Win11 x64 Asrock AB350 Pro4 Ryzen 5 3600 32GB GTX1060 6GB)
( The path to enlightenment and the PureBasic Survival Guide right here... )
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Re: Support for .HLP files

Post by Dude »

I got HLP files working in Win 10 from doing the steps here:

https://superuser.com/a/1183712

No third-party tools needed (all Microsoft files).

[Edit] In case the link above dies or is removed, here's a reproduction of the steps:

Note: This is for the 64-bit US English version of Windows 10 only!

Download "Windows8.1-KB917607-x64.msu" from here:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... luded-or-h

Then create a batch file (.bat) with this text:

Code: Select all

md ContentMSU
expand Windows8.1-KB917607-x64.msu /F:* .\ContentMSU
cd ContentMSU
md ContentCAB
expand Windows8.1-KB917607-x64.cab /F:* .\ContentCAB
cd ContentCAB
cd amd64_microsoft-windows-winhstb.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.20470_en-us_c3a9a33a1aee3495
takeown /f %systemroot%\en-us\winhlp32.exe.mui
icacls %systemroot%\en-us\winhlp32.exe.mui /grant "%UserName%":F
ren %systemroot%\en-us\winhlp32.exe.mui winhlp32.exe.mui.w10
copy winhlp32.exe.mui %systemroot%\en-us\winhlp32.exe.mui
cd ..
cd amd64_microsoft-windows-winhstb_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.20470_none_1a54d9f2f676f6c2
takeown /f %systemroot%\winhlp32.exe
icacls %systemroot%\winhlp32.exe /grant "%UserName%":F
ren %SystemRoot%\winhlp32.exe winhlp32.exe.w10
copy winhlp32.exe %systemroot%\winhlp32.exe
Put the downloaded MSU file in the same folder as the batch file, and run the batch file with admin rights.

Done! :)
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