Using 'F1' to view Windows API web pages

In the 'plain' VBE, the F1 key is used to open the Microsoft documentation web page for the keyword at the cursor.

VBE_Extras extends this functionality to open the Microsoft documentation web page for Windows API Functions (i.e. that you have declared using the 'Declare' keyword), Types, Enums and Consts … as of this functionality first being added to VBE_Extras in August 2025, VBE_Extras is aware of the appropriate web pages for:

• 9,976 Functions (counting Functions that include both an ANSI and Wide variant as 1 … if counted as 2 discrete Functions then that would be many more)

• 2,370 Types

• 371 Enums

• 4,127 Consts

To use this functionality, ensure that 'F1 shows help for Windows API declarations' is checked (in the 'Other' tab of the Settings ... it is checked by default), then place the cursor on:

• The name of a Function, Type, Enum or Const used in the Windows API … then press F1 … if VBE_Extras "knows" the appropriate web page then it will be opened for you in your default browser

• The alias name of a Function (i.e. that is in speech marks following the keyword "Alias") … then press F1 … does the same as in the above bullet

• The library name of a Function (i.e. that is in speech marks following the keyword "Lib") … then press F1 … if VBE_Extras "knows" the appropriate web page for the library "header" that the Function is declared in then it will be opened for you in your default browser. Why the web page for the library "header" and not the web page for the library itself? Because that is how Windows API functionality is organised … each library is made up of 1 or more headers (with each header containing Functions, Types, Enums and Consts) and each header has a web page. Typically, these web pages contain lists (and brief descriptions) of each Function, Type and Enum that the header contains so this can be very helpful for discovering related functionality within the Windows API

  
  

Note that while your 'declared' Windows API Functions must use the correct name (i.e. the Alias name, if one is specified, otherwise the declared name must exactly match the name or index number of the Windows API), any Types, Enums and Consts used with those Windows API Functions do not have to use the correct name, rather they just have to use the correct structure (the correct value types in the correct order) if a Type or the correct value(s) if an Enum or Const. However, if you do not use exactly the correct name for Types, Enums and Consts then VBE_Extras will not be able to identify that it is one defined in the Windows API and so will not be able to open the web page for you.

Note also that the web page opened will always be the English language ("en-us") web page.

Update October 2025

As of release 1.7.1.2, VBE_Extras is aware of the appropriate web pages for:

• 11,347 Functions (counting Functions that include both an ANSI and Wide variant as 1)

• 3,220 Types

• 576 Enums

• 9,858 Consts