The following steps should be taken to install a component help file so that it can 
be accessed from within Delphi by selecting the component or one of its properties and 
pressing F1 or from the Contents or Index.

Please note: 
The following steps are used to install the help for use with Delphi3. We are sorry but
we are unable to assist you with other Delphi versions. Installing in other versions may
be quite deferent. For information on other versions, please Read the Help file for your
version of Delphi.

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Delphi 3 Instructions:

NOTICE: (Substitute the actual file name of the .hlp or .cnt file inplace of 'filename' 
in the following steps)

1. Copy the filename.hlp and filename.cnt files and paste them into the Delphi 'Help'
   folder. With Delphi 3 That should be the following Directory;
   'C:\Program files\Borland\Delphi3\Help\' This is 
   assuming That 'C:\' is the drive where you chose to install Delphi. 

2. Open the 'Delphi3.cfg' file with Note pad or other basic text editor.
   ('Delphi3.cfg'should also be located in Delphi's help folder)

3. Add the following line to the end of the 'Third-party Help' section;

   :Link filename.hlp 
   

4. Open the 'Delphi3.cnt' file with Note pad or other basic text editor and make the following 
   two additions. ('Delphi3.cnt' should be located in Delphi's help folder as well)

     a. Add the following line to the end of the 'Index' section;

        :Index filename=filename.hlp
 

     b. Add the following line to the end of the 'Include' section;

        :Include filename.cnt
 

5. Delete all '.gid' files in Delphi's help folder. The '.gid' files are binary files 
   created whenever a Help file is initialized (Ran for the first time). Once these 
   files are deleted and you run Delphi again, They will be recreated and will include the 
   new help file information. '.gid’ files are hidden files. If you do not see them in
   Delphi's help folder, you may have to go into folder options and 'Show hidden folders'.

   NOTICE: If you skip step 5, your help file will not work from within Delphi!

6. Run Delphi and if you have not installed the component, you may do so now.
   Once the component is installed you should be able to drop the component on a form,
   select it or one of its properties, and press F1 to access its help file or view them from
   within the Contents or Index. 
    
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If you are concerned about deleting the '.gid' file please read the following information
from the 'Microsoft® Help Workshop' help file.


About configuration (.gid) files

A configuration (.gid) file is a hidden file that WinHelp creates when a Help file is first 
opened, or when a Help file is updated. A .gid file contains information about the Help 
file, including:

·Binary representation of the contents (.cnt) file, including jumps and commands, after it 
 has been processed. Only topics that were found during processing are stored.
·The filenames and titles of all Help files included in the contents file.
·Keywords from other Help files (if :Index statements were used in the contents file).
·List of which files have full-text search index (.fts) files.
·The size and location of Help windows and dialog boxes.

WinHelp creates a .gid file for each Help file that does not have a contents file, or for 
each contents file, even if that contents file is for a family of Help files. If a user 
deletes a .gid file, WinHelp creates a new one the next time the user opens the Help file.

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If the help file is written properly, these steps should work with any help file written for
Delphi 3. I have done this myself and have linked all of my third party help files with
Delphi 3.