Adding a help page for a custom component

Tekla Structures

Not version-specific

Tekla Structures

Offline Help

custom components

Environment

Not environment-specific

You can add your own custom help page for your custom components. The help pages are locally stored HTML files and displayed using the standard Tekla Structures help viewer using the built-in offline help feature when the F1 key is pressed in the dialog box.

Add a help url for your custom component.
1. Open the .inp file of your custom component in a text editor.
2. Add the helpurl("unique_id") line to the file and replace unique_id with your own unique identifier. The identifier must not contain spaces and must be valid as a Windows file name. For example:
```
page("TeklaStructures", "")
{
    macro(1, "Balcony")
    {
        helpurl("mycchelp_balcony")
        tab_page("", "Picture", 1)
        {
```
Create a HTML file with your help content.
- You can write the content and code freely as required. The content may be rendered in Internet Explorer's compatibility mode when viewed through the Help Viewer. To prevent this, add the following as the first item in the <head> section of the HTML file:
  <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=Edge"/>
Save the HTML file with your identifier as the file name and check the file extension:
- For Tekla Structures versions 19.0 to 2016i, remove the file extension (.html, .htm, etc.) from the file name: the file name should contain only the helpurl value, for example, mycchelp_balcony.
- Starting from Tekla Structures 2017, make sure the file extension is .html (for example, mycchelp_balcony.html).
Place the file in the correct folder:
- The path to the Help folder location depends on the software version and installation folder:
  - Starting from Tekla Structures 2019, if you install in the default folder, the help viewer looks for these files in
    ProgramData\Trimble\Tekla Structures\<version>\Help.
  - In Tekla Structures 20.0 to 2018i, if you install in the default folder, the help viewer looks for these files in
    ProgramData\Tekla Structures\<version>\Help.
  - With non-default installation folders and in Tekla Structures 19.0 and 19.1, the Help folder is in the Tekla Structures installation folder.
- Save the file in the language-specific folders in the Help folder (for example, in folder enu for English). Add the file (or a translated copy) in the folder of all languages that will be in use.
- For example, the paths to an English help file in versions 2016i and 2019 installed in the default folder would be:
  ProgramData\Tekla Structures\2016i\Help\enu\mycchelp_balcony
  ProgramData\Trimble\Tekla Structures\2019\Help\enu\mycchelp_balcony.html