AX1721
You can associate an Axiom form with a custom help code, in order to display form-specific help text when users are in the form.
When a help code is specified in the form properties, the help icon in the right-hand side of the Task BarThe gray bar that displays across the top of browser-based Axiom files, as well as various feature pages of the Web Client. The Task Bar provides access to various tasks that are specific to the current area, page, or document. opens a help panel to show the associated help text, instead of opening Axiom Software Help.
Example help panel showing file-specific custom help
Users can still open Axiom Software Help as needed by clicking the link at the top of the panel.
The form-level help code can be used by itself, or in conjunction with Form Help components placed within the form itself. For example, you may have overall help text that applies to the entire form, and then context-sensitive help text for specific sections or specific inputs within the form itself.
NOTE: The form-level help code cannot be used with embedded forms. Only the help code for the parent form will be used in this case.
To specify a help code for an Axiom form:
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From the top of the Form Assistant task pane or the Form Designer dialog, click Edit form properties.
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In the Form Properties dialog, complete the following settings:
Item Description Help Code
Enter the help code that you want to associate with the form. The code must match a form help code defined in the Custom Help Admin area of the Web Client.
Help Source
By default, this is blank, which means Database is the help source. This should be left as is. The other supported options are intended for product development use (see Other uses of the help code).
The following example opens the custom help code named "income_statement":
TIP: You can also specify a help code by editing these fields at the top of the Form Control Sheet.
It is also possible to associate a form with help content from Axiom Software help files, instead of with the custom help codes. This is primarily used by product developers to provide help for standard files that are delivered with packaged products. Most clients probably never need to use this feature on their own files, but should be aware that the feature exists.
The Help Source can use the following additional options to display help from Axiom Software help files:
- Product: The specified help code is found in a product help file. The Product Name field is used to specify the product help file.
- Desktop: The specified help code is found in the Desktop Client version of the platform Axiom Software help file.
- Web: The specified help code is found in the Web Client version of the platform Axiom Software help file.
For example, the settings could be completed as follows:
- Help Code: Spotlight_Report
- Help Source: Product
- Product Name: Strategy Management
When a user opens this form and clicks the help icon in the task bar, the help panel opens and displays the content tagged as Spotlight_Report from the Strategy Management help file, to provide context-sensitive help for the form. The Spotlight_ convention tells Axiom Software to display the content in the help panel (otherwise, the full help file is opened in a new browser tab). The spotlight content likely contains links to other help topics for more information; clicking one of these links will open the product help file in a new browser tab.
If you copy a product asset to make a custom version for your own use, you may want to clear these fields or edit them to use a custom help code that you have created.
