Getting help about a specific object/property

- Using a library encounters a new problem: getting help about the objects included in it, their subs and methods and the way to work with them. This part describes the commons solutions.

The first thing to look for is the help file, usually associated with a library. If you write your own library, make sure you supply decent documentation. Basic4ppc lists all libraries help files in its help menu, when found under the libraries folder:

Orientation in a library's help file

The convention about library's help file declares the following structure:

1. A help chapter is dedicated to each object in the library.

2. The first topic under each chapter is an overview about the object.

3. A help topic is dedicated, separately, for each property, method, sub and variable under each object.

The following picture illustrates this structure using the ControlEx library.

• It is a good developing practice to always start by reading the help chapter of any new object you did not yet use. This can save a lot of time dealing with compile-time and runtime errors.