Open a .CHM file to a Specific Topic?

Question

I have created a .CHM file and then when I open it in c# I get the First topic. I want to open it to a specified topic. This is the code I use right now to open it.

Help.ShowHelp(this, "./Resources/ServerHelp.chm");

I want to be able to open it to a specific topic like Audio. I tried using

Help.ShowHelp(this, "./Resources/ServerHelp.chm", HelpNavigator.Topic, "Audio");

and it showed me page not found. Can i get some Help with my Help please !! :P

possible duplicate of [open specific part of table of contents of chm file c# or vb.net](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19129639/open-specific-part-of-table-of-contents-of-chm-file-c-sharp-or-vb-net) — Aaron Palmer, Mar 10 '14 at 12:40
Please, do not include information about a language used in a question title unless it wouldn't make sense without it. Tags serve this purpose. — Ondrej Janacek, Mar 10 '14 at 12:40
okay, I searched here on stack overflow and still couldn't get it to work cause all the steps where not clearly explained. So when I figured it out, I thought I would just put it out here, now I realize I could have just answered the other persons question. ill keep that in mind for future reference. — Prince Champappilly, Mar 13 '14 at 09:58

score 24 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 05 '14 at 15:16

This can be achieved by the following steps:

Identify what names the chm uses to refer the internal topics. This is done by
- Open the CHM file, and right click in the topic page and select Properties.
- The property called: Address (URL) Contains the topic page name at its end.
Here is an example:
```
mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files\Silsila%2011\Silsila.chm::/Audio.htm
```
Here the topic page name is "Audio.htm"

Call the Help.ShowHelp() function with the correct parameters as shown below

Help.ShowHelp(this, "./Resources/Silsila.chm", HelpNavigator.Topic, "Audio.htm");

That should do it. you can fine the topic name of the pages you want using Step 1, and then use Step 2 to open the help file on that page.

Thanks. What about when your "context" is now a form and you still want to trigger to display the CHM at the default topic? In that context "this" is not accepted because "this" is not a winform etc.. — Andrew Truckle, Sep 28 '21 at 19:24

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 12 '23 at 16:47

The same also works to create a windows shortcut opening a specific page. Use that as "target" command line :

C:\Windows\hh.exe ms-its:[file_name.chm]::[page_name.htm]

If you do not know [page_name]: from the chm help viewer, try to print the target page on a virtual printer like PdfCreator. The output filename automaticaly generated will probably contain [page_mane].

With thanks to sazr for the intial syntax !

Open a .CHM file to a Specific Topic?

2 Answers2

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