Some parts of the SPLOT help system are created in "Windows Help" format, which is not directly supported on newer Windows versions (Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008). The reason why SPLOT still partially uses this help format is described below.
Because the support for this help format must be installed additionaly by the user, you can find here direct links to the installation files as they are provided by Microsoft (these download links point directly to the Microsoft site).
Click one of the following download links, depending on the operating system that you are running:
Windows 8.1:
- Windows Help download page for Windows 8.1
Windows 8:
- Windows Help download page for Windows 8
Windows 7:
- Windows Help download page for Windows 7
- Windows Help installation for Win7 x86 (32-bit) - direct download
- Windows Help installation for Win7 x64 (64-bit) - direct download
Windows Vista:
- Windows Help download page for Windows Vista
- Windows Help installation for Vista x86 (32-bit) - direct download
- Windows Help installation for Vista x64 (64-bit) - direct download
Windows Server 2008:
- Windows Help download page for Server 2008
- Windows Help installation for Server 2008 x86 (32-bit) - direct download
- Windows Help installation for Server 2008 x64 (64-bit) - direct download
Windows Server 2008 R2:
- Windows Help download page for Server 2008 R2
- Windows Help installation for Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) - direct download
Save the file on disk and run it (you must have administrator privileges to install). For more details see the related Microsoft article.
More explanation:
The help system in SPLOT is basically written in "HTML Help" format (.chm files) which is supported under all new Windows versions.
However this help format does not allow to display standalone popup windows, which SPLOT uses for context sensitive help
(the help displayed directly in dialogs for selected controls when the question mark icon is used). So some parts of the help system
are compiled also in "Windows Help" (.hlp files) format, so the context sensitive help can still work. Unfortunatelly, the support
for this older Windows help format is not a default part of the newer Windows versions and it must be installed additionally by the user.
Please note:
1) You don't need to do this addional "Windows Help" installation if you are using older Windows versions (XP, 2000).
2) If you will not install the "Windows Help" support on Windows Vista and later, then the main help system in SPLOT can be still used (Help menu, Help buttons),
the only thing which will not work is the context sensitive help (question mark icon).
3) The Windows Help format is still used by many of other programs, so by installing it you can solve more issues.