---
name: "hyperhelp"
section: "3iwidgets"
platform: "linux"
package: "iwidgets3.1-doc"
version: "3.1.0-9"
release: "Debian 5.0 (Lenny)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/hyperhelp"
---

# hyperhelp(3iwidgets)

Create and manipulate a hyperhelp widget

```

```

## NAME

hyperhelp - Create and manipulate a hyperhelp widget

## SYNOPSIS

**hyperhelp** *pathName* ?*options*?

## INHERITANCE

itk::Toplevel \<- shell \<- hyperhelp

## STANDARD OPTIONS

```
activeBackground	background	borderWidth
closecmd	cursor	exportSelection
foreground	highlightColor	highlightThickness
insertBackground	insertBorderWidth	insertOffTime
insertOnTime	insertWidth	padX
padY	relief	repeatDelay
repeatInterval	selectBackground	selectBorderWidth
selectForeground	setGrid
```

See the "options" manual entry for details on the standard options.

## ASSOCIATED OPTIONS

```
hscrollmode	vscrollmode	textbackground	fontname
fontsize	fixedfont	link	linkhighlight
width	height	state	wrap
unknownimage
```

See the "scrolledhtml" widget manual entry for details on the above associated options.

## INHERITED OPTIONS

```
modality	title
```

See the "shell" manual entry for details on the above inherited options.

## WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

```
Name:   topics
Class:  Topics
Command-Line Switch:    -topics
```

-

  Specifies a list of help topics in the form {?*topic*? ... }. *Topic*  may either be a topic name, in which case the  document associated with the topic should be in the file  **helpdir**/*topic*.html, or it may be of the form  {*name* *file*}. In the latter case, *name* is displayed in the topic menu, and selecting the name loads *file*. If file has a relative path, it is assumed to be relative to helpdir.

```
Name:   helpdir
Class:  Directory
Command-Line Switch:    -helpdir
```

-

  Specifies the directory where help files are located.

```
Name:   closeCmd
Class:  CloseCmd
Command-Line Switch:    -closecmd
```

-

  Specifies the tcl command to be executed when the close option is selected from the topics menu.

```
Name:   maxHistory
Class:  MaxHistory
Command-Line Switch:    -maxhistory
```

-

  Specifies the maximum number of entries stored in the history list

```
Name:   beforelink
Class:  BeforeLink
Command-Line Switch:    -beforelink
```

-

  Specifies a command to be eval'ed before a new link is displayed. The path of the link to be displayed is appended before evaling the command. A suggested use might be to busy the widget while a new page is being displayed.

```
Name:   afterlink
Class:  AfterLink
Command-Line Switch:    -afterlink
```

-

  Specifies a command to be eval'ed after a new link is completely displayed.  The path of the link that was displayed is appended before evaling the command.

```

```

## DESCRIPTION

The **hyperhelp** command creates a shell window with a pulldown menu showing a list of topics. The topics are displayed by importing a HTML formatted file named **helpdir**/*topic*.html. For a list of  supported HTML tags, see **[scrolledhtml(n)](/scrolledhtml/n.md)**.

## METHODS

The **hyperhelp** command creates a new Tcl command whose name is *pathName*.  This command may be used to invoke various operations on the widget.  It has the following general form:

```

pathName option ?arg arg ...?
```

*Option* and the *arg*s determine the exact behavior of the command.  The following commands are possible for dialog widgets:

## INHERITED METHODS

```
activate	center	childsite	deactivate
```

See the "shell" manual entry for details on the above inherited methods.

## WIDGET-SPECIFIC METHODS

- *pathName* **cget** *option*

  Returns the current value of the configuration option given by *option*. *Option* may have any of the values accepted by the **hyperhelp** command.

- *pathName* **configure** ?*option*? ?*value option value ...*?

  Query or modify the configuration options of the widget. If no *option* is specified, returns a list describing all of the available options for *pathName* (see **Tk\_ConfigureInfo** for information on the format of this list).  If *option* is specified with no *value*, then the command returns a list describing the one named option (this list will be identical to the corresponding sublist of the value returned if no *option* is specified).  If one or more *option-value* pairs are specified, then the command modifies the given widget option(s) to have the given value(s);  in this case the command returns an empty string. *Option* may have any of the values accepted by the **hyperhelp** command.

- *pathName* **showtopic** *topic*

  Display html file **helpdir**/*topic*.html. *Topic* may optionally be of the form *topicname*#*anchorname*. In this form, either *topicname* or *anchorname* or both may be empty. If *topicname* is empty, the current topic is assumed. If *anchorname* is empty, the top of the document is assumed

- *pathName* **followlink** *href*

  Display html file *href*. *Href* may be optionally be of the form *filename*#*anchorname*. In this form, either *filename* or *anchorname* or both may be empty. If *filename* is empty, the current document is assumed. If *anchorname* is empty, the top of the document is assumed.

- *pathName* **forward**

  Display html file one forward in history list, if applicable.

- *pathName* **back**

  Display html file one back in history list, if applicable.

## EXAMPLE

```

 hyperhelp .h -topics { Intro Help } -helpdir ~/help
 .h showtopic Intro
```

## AUTHOR

Kris Raney

## KEYWORDS

hyperhelp, html, help, shell, widget