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[Sedgley]

I have an application created in August 2022 which uses the %ht code to access several pages of help for the user. It worked well.
A few days ago I discovered that clicking on a link in the help system no longer works.
To be more precise: I can get to the Main Help Screen specified by the %ht code, but clicking on a link on this screen has no effect.
The EXE file is unchanged. Any ideas what could cause this?

[mecej4]

On my Windows 11 system, a few days ago Windows updated itself and after that I could not open my old help files. Apparently, Microsoft is trying too hard do kill any "legacy" help support files such as c:\Windows\winhlp32.exe .

There are third party downloads that you may consider to solve the issue, such as :

https://ssuitesoft.com/software/mswindowswinhlp32pack.htm .

[wahorger]

Are you using WinHelp as your base, or is this a link to an external page?

If your base is WinHelp (16 or 32 bit): The vendor software with which I write help files and turn them into HTML help (.CHM) speaks to these older forms as being deprecated at some point, and support is lacking.

[Sedgley]

The help pages are provided as a Clearwin+ HYPERTEXT resource. In HTM files compiled with the Salford Resource Compiler. As per Chapter 19 of the Clearwin+ manual.

[wahorger]

Thanks for the clarification.

[PaulLaidler]

%ht is native to ClearWin+. As far as I recall there are no external engines.

Please send/post a demo program so that we can check it out.

[Sedgley]

A simple example is

[PaulLaidler]

Sedgley

Does this program demonstrate the fault when you run it on your machine?

Which operating system are you using? Is it a 32 bit or 64 bit application?

[Sedgley]

It's a 32-bit application and I am using Windows 10.
It was working properly until a few weeks ago, when this fault appeared.

[PaulLaidler]

Sedgley

When you run the program that you posted above, does it exhibit the faillure that you have described?

[Sedgley]

Yes it does. When the mouse cursor is placed over the link it changes to a pointing hand but clicking has no effect.

However it worked correctly previously.

[PaulLaidler]

Your demo program works for me on Windows 10.

I can see that there appears to be a narrow border to the "button" where the mouse becomes a hand but a click does not work. But when the mouse is moved to a more central position clicking works correctly. If this is the problem then it can be fixed.

Otherwise you could try adding a callback function (with ^) and also a grave accent (see the help for %ht) to see if a failed click triggers a callback.

[PaulLaidler]

If all else fails, check that you are using 100% in your desktop display settings and "Scale and layout" (right click on the screen and select "Display settings"). It shouldn't make a difference but I can't think of anything else for you to try.

[Sedgley]

Changing the screen display settings didn't solve the problem.

As suggested I changed %ht to %^`ht and added a callback function. The callback was invoked only on the first entry to the hypertext system. Subsequent clicks had no effect at all.

The same executable on an old machine under Windows 8.1 works correctly. The links work and the callback function is invoked on each and every click.

It just seems to be my machine that is the problem.

[Sedgley]

I just got a message from Microsoft that an update to Windows 10 was available.

I installed the update and the problem is solved! All hypertext links in my current and historical apps are now working correctly.

Serendipity or what?