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-->>Hi to all, now I was about to document the help file of my applicatiion and I thought "How or what kind of controls will I use to have something like waht Microsoft has in a Word application where I can just write the documentation in in such a way user can easily have a reference to a certain topic just by providing the links on the control that has the documentation"...
-->>I tried to prepare the documentation in word application and put some links that allow me to navigate on various topics when it is opened out side the application and it worked fine,but when ijust link it to my application and load it an error occur saying unsuported features or something like that...
-->>Now I tried to use a richtext control on the form and then during the load procedures of the form it loads the file as .rtf as I saved it with the same format...
-->>Prety good it loads the file right But I cant or I dont have a clue on how to make it look like word applicatiion help form with just link of topics to help users for quik reference...
-->>Any advice on coontrols that I may use or something needed to do so?

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— good thread. 's HTML suggestion is the simplest reliable route: HTML gives real anchors, a TOC, images and styling, and can be rendered inside your app via the WebBrowser control or compiled into a CHM for context-sensitive help. The WinForms RichTextBox will display RTF but only detects plain URLs (it raises LinkClicked) and does not support Word-style bookmarks/cross-references, which is why your Word links fail when loaded as RTF.

Use local HTML + WebBrowser for fastest, most flexible result. Put a small help folder beside your EXE (index.html + topic pages). Use a TreeView or ListBox as the left-hand TOC and call Navigate on node selection. Example VB.NET patterns:

' load index
Dim htmlPath As String = IO.Path.Combine(Application.StartupPath, "help", "index.html")
WebBrowser1.Navigate(New Uri(htmlPath).AbsoluteUri)

' navigate to topic from TOC node (node.Tag = "topic2.html")
WebBrowser1.Navigate(New Uri(IO.Path.Combine(Application.StartupPath, "help", node.Tag.ToString())).AbsoluteUri)

If you want compiled help (single-file, searchable, F1 context help), create HTML pages and compile to a CHM with HTML Help Workshop, then use HelpProvider/Help.ShowHelp in WinForms:

HelpProvider1.HelpNamespace = IO.Path.Combine(Application.StartupPath, "help", "MyHelp.chm")
HelpProvider1.SetHelpNavigator(Button1, HelpNavigator.Topic)
HelpProvider1.SetHelpKeyword(Button1, "topic1.htm")

Quick troubleshooting notes: Word -> Save As HTML (Filtered) to reduce Word-specific markup before packaging; avoid embedding raw .doc/.docx (requires Office automation and breaks if Office is not present); ensure help files are installed to the same relative folder as the EXE; CHMs can be blocked from network shares, so ship them locally. If you prefer to keep RTF, handle RichTextBox.LinkClicked and open links with Process.Start, but for in-app topic anchors HTML is the better choice.

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Member Avatar for jhai_salvador

how about writing it in basic html?..

Member Avatar for Bile

-->>Well if it does so I hope it 'll be helpful...
-->>But the thing is I don't even have an idea of what is basic html unless you are...
-->>refering to the hyper text markup language basics I am a lil' bit familiar with...
-->>if not the one then what basic html is and How do I apply it in my application...
-->>I mean what comtrols should I use to accomodate it (basic html)
-->>Tanx jhai.

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