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                                                                                                                                                     S T A R T E C H    S Y S T E M S                          D Y N A H E L P   S Y S T E M    O V E R V I E W          ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ  ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß  DYNAHELP SUMMARY                                                                                                                    The real strength of the DYNAHELP SYSTEM is its ability to        incorporate any text file into an existing help structure,        regardless of the system's current size or its complexities.      The process involves making changes to existing documentation,    selecting a text file from a dynamic menu of files from anywhere  in the realm of your system (networked or not), and letting the   program create all the resources for calls from context           sensitive programs or calls from the main help menu.  The help    databases (.INF's) are created from those text files and are      placed in the default directory - that into which you copied the  DYNAMENU system.                                                                                                                    DYNAHELP PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS                                                                                                         The DYNAHELP SYSTEM is comprised of four programs:                                                                                  Implementing Help Files - PROGRAM CREAHELP                        Main Help Menu          - PROGRAM BDSHELPR                        Help Interface          - PROGRAM HLPINTFC                        Browse Help             - PROGRAM BROWHELP                                                                                                                                                            The following graphic may be helpful in determining how these     programs interface with one another:                                                                                                    ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄCREAHELP                                           ³                                                             DYNAMENUÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄBDSHELPRÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿                              ³  ³                              ³                                ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³            ³                             CONVERTED             ³                                         APPLICATION        HLPINTFCÄÄÄÄÄÄBROWHELP                         PROGRAMS                                                             ³                ³                                                ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  IMPLEMENTING HELP FILES                                                                                                               Program CREAHELP is the module that reads the input text          files from any resource on your system.  These files most         often will be specially prepared for use in this system (see      CREATING HELP FILES below), however, that is not a                requirement.  One may include any file into this system by        simply entering the name of the file.                                                                                               Selecting a file is as simple a using the arrow keys to           direct the program on where to look for your documentation.                                                                         There are four help modification operations that can be           called upon - three adds and one delete.                                                                                              The normal addition of a text file is the default 'ADD            FROM DIRECTORY' selection in the opening menu of CREAHELP.        The only files that may be incorporated with this                 selection are those that have a filename extension of             .TXT.  Pressing <ENTER> causes a menu of options to               appear.  Select the current drive, a sub-directory or             select from any of the .TXT files in the current                  directory.  In each case the object is to arrive at the           display of the appropriate files that are to be called            upon as input.                                                                                                                      If your files are on another disk, simply press <ENTER>           from the current drive notation and a list of drives may          be selected from.  You may also select another directory          from which to select your input.  It is recommended that          the input text files reside in some other directory than          that of DYNAMENU.                                                                                                                   Include your files by simply pressing <ENTER> when the            cursor highlights the proper file.  You will be asked to          confirm your selection.                                                                                                           The two other add options involve the input of a file name        entered by the user.                                                                                                                  The 'ADD/REPLACE ONE FILE' and 'COMPLETELY REBUILD'               options differ only in the sense that the latter provides         a file name of '*.TXT'.  In either case, if an '*' is             included in the file specification, confirmation of the           addition of each file will be required - simply respond           with a 'Y' or 'N'.                                                                                                                  While the pick list of files in the 'ADD FROM DIRECTORY'          option only produces .TXT file names, any .EXT name may be        used with these two options.  It is recommended, that             whenever possible, the .TXT extension be used because only        the file name and not the extension is relevant to the            resulting .INF file name.  To say that another way;               within the help system, the .EXT is not significant.  This        means that all input files are converted to .INF files            without regard for differences in the originating .EXT            name.  Therefore all input text file names should be              unique even if they are stored in separate directories.                                                                             As a means of familiarizing yourself with this process,           select 'ADD/REPLACE ONE FILE', key in C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT,            press <ENTER> and wait for a few seconds.  When the               process has finished, exit to the main menu and select and        press <ENTER> on 'CALL HELP MENU'.  Then press <ENTER> on         'BROWSE HELP FILES', select 'AUTOEXEC.INF' and you will           find your own AUTOEXEC.BAT file now incorporated into the         help system (including help references in this file would         have been very simple - refer to 'CREATING HELP FILES'            below).                                                                                                                             Exit to the main presentation menu and re-enter the CREATE        HELP program.  Select 'DELETE HELP FILE', press <ENTER>,          select 'AUTOEXEC.INF' and press <ENTER>.  Note that after         confirming the deletion of the intended file an                   informational message appears letting you know that there         were no references to that .INF file found in reference           file INFOINDE.DBF.  This is normal since the AUTOEXEC.BAT         file was not specially prepared for inclusion in the              DYNAHELP system.  Deleting a help file is just that               simple.                                                                                                                           In all cases, file INFOINDE.DBF is purged of every reference      to the input file prior to adding references from that file.      If there are none, such as in the case of a first time add,       there is no effect.  Subsequent adds may be accomplished          until you find that changes to your input documentation           files produce the desired results.                                                                                                  The 'DELETE HELP FILE' option is just that - all references       to the .INF file specified will be deleted from the system        and the .INF file will be remove from disk.  Confirmation is      required.  No change is made to the original input .TXT file      and it may be reused.                                                                                                                                                                               MAIN HELP MENU                                                                                                                        Program BDSHELPR is one of two access methods to the              DYNAHELP system.  This method may be coded into any program       or may be used as it is in the example on the DYNAMENU under      UTILITY - see the cell labeled 'CALL HELP MENU'.  The normal      use of this program will be from the main presentation menu.      Seven viewing options are presented in a list from which to       pick.                                                                                                                                 The first four mode options are: CROSS REFERENCE, MAJOR           SUBJECT, PROGRAM NAME & DATABASE NAME.   Use the arrow            keys to select a mode and then press <ENTER>.  This causes        the help reference selection box to be displayed.  Four           options open to the user from this menu.                                                                                            - <ESCAPE> TO EXIT.                                               - PRESS MOST ANY KEY TO POSITION/SELECT A SUBJECT.                - PRESS ENTER TO VIEW THE HIGHLIGHTED SUBJECT.                    - PRESS <ALT-T> TO INVOKE TOPIC MODE AND FROM WHICH TO              SELECT A SUBJECT BY TOPIC.                                                                                                        While the ESCAPE option is fairly self-explanatory,               positioning the cursor to a preferred reference may not           be.  In addition to the normal cursor control keys the            user may press any normal text key to determine if there          are subjects related to that key.                                                                                                   Press any alphabetic key to move to the first reference           for that character; ie, press 'N' if you are looking for a        reference called 'NETWORK'.  If you continue to press 'N'         the cursor will move to the next reference for the letter         pressed until the last reference is located for the letter        pressed.  If there is no match to the key pressed, the            cursor will highlight the next item in the current                sequence.                                                                                                                           If 'TOPIC MODE' is on (see ALT-T below) only the items            related to the displayed 'KEY TOPIC' will be keyed upon.          This is true no matter where in the display you happen to         be; ie, if you have moved to another topic (as determined         by 'CURRENT TOPIC' in the display) you will be                    positioned to the first subject that begins with the key          pressed and, that is related to the 'KEY TOPIC'.                                                                                    TIP:  If there is more than one selection in succession           that might be suitable, select the first one.  Then, if           the succeeding selections  have identical characters in           the first four positions, you need only press <CTRL-END>          when exiting the BROWSE of the .INF file.  You will               automatically be able to BROWSE the next reference no             matter what .INF file it is located in.                                                                                             Pressing <ALT-T> (stands for Alternate Topic) while in the        help reference selection box will provide a menu of topics        to select from - if you press <ESCAPE> no change occurs.          Pressing <ENTER> causes the help reference selection box          to display all references in the system by topic.  The            auxiliary information display change to show both the 'KEY        TOPIC' and the 'CURRENT TOPIC'.  The 'KEY TOPIC' is the           one that was selected the last time ALT-T was pressed and         the 'CURRENT TOPIC' represents the topic for the                  highlighted subject.  They should be the same initially.                                                                            Pressing <ALT-T> when in 'TOPIC MODE' turns off 'TOPIC            MODE'.  The subject order in effect at the time 'TOPIC            MODE' was originally set will be restored.  'TOPIC MODE'          is also set off when you exit to the main menu of                 BDSHELPR.                                                                                                                           Those references with no associated (a blank) topic will          not be displayed (refer to the use of ALT-6 below in              CREATING HELP FILES).  The highlighted subject will be the        first reference related to the selected (KEY) topic.                                                                                Press <ENTER> when you have reached a suitable candidate          for review.                                                                                                                       The next option 'BROWSE HELP FILES' presents a list of .INF       files to pick from.  Simply select a file and press <ENTER>.      The cursor will always be placed at the top of the window on      the first record.  Note that the <CTRL-END> option as             detailed above is not offered on exit from the browsed file.                                                                        The next option is the 'HELP SYSTEM INFO' option.  As you         might have determined by now, selecting this option will          allow you to BROWSE this file.  You may also select this          file from the 'BROWSE HELP FILES' option above or by              selecting any of the associated reference displayed in the        help reference selection box.                                                                                                       The last option is offered at the advice of counsel.  It may      be worth reading since it details the availability of source      code for the programs in the DYNAMENU SYSTEM and rights to        use and distribute these programs.                                                                                                                                                                  HELP INTERFACE                                                                                                                        Program HLPINTFC is used for making context sensitive calls       on the DYNAHELP system.                                                                                                             Any program may be converted/programmed to call on the            DYNAHELP system.  The recommended combination of keys is          <SHIFT-F1>.  Use of the ON KEY LABEL SHIFT-F1 DO HLPINTFC         WITH ùùùùùùùù  is the method of choice.  The reason for this      is that no matter what operation is in effect, the user may       access the specified help.  Using an in line call on help         allows the user to access it only when program control is in      the menu that presents that option.                                                                                                 In designing the call for help, make sure to use a reference      that is known to exist in a relative input .TXT file.  When       a call to  HLPINTFC does not find the intended search token       in this file, HLPINTFC immediately calls the main help menu       as an alternative.   Refer to program 'HLPINTFC' in file          'PROGDIR.INF' and to 'CONVERTING AND WRITING PROGRAMS' below      for more information.                                                                                                             BROWSING HELP                                                                                                                         Program BROWHELP is the module that ultimately displays the       documentation on screen.  It has its own help screen for          understanding the navigation keys to be used to move around       within the document - simply press <F1>.  Try it now.                                                                               The program supports the use of a direct call from any            program without the use of the interface programs - HLPINTFC      & BDSHELPR.  This type of help call probably has limited          use.  However, it has its place when you want to allow a          user to view a particular help file and no other.  The            difference is that no option is available to exit into the        main help menu (see <CTRL-F5> below) or to review additional      references of the same key (see <CTRL-END> below).  No            interface is in place and hence the exit is directly back to      the calling program.  Refer to the program BROWHELP in            PROGDIR.INF for calling parameter details.                                                                                          The optional use of this feature may be coded into any            program or may be used as it is in the example on the             DYNAMENU under UTILITY - see the cell labeled 'DIRECT HELP        CALL'.  Use CTRL-F1 to view the syntax for that call - that       syntax combined with the appropriate implementation of the        SHIFT-F1 key combination may be coded into any program.  Use      ON KEY LABEL SHIFT-F1 DO BROWHELP WITH <SYNTAX> or place the      SHIFT-F1 test in line with other key tests depending on the       given situation.                                                                                                                    EXITING BROWSE HELP                                                                                                                   CTRL-END VS. ESCAPE - <ESCAPE> always causes an exit              without further action.  <CTRL-END> will cause the program        to determine if there are additional like references to be        reviewed.  This determination is made based on a                  similarity between the currently selected reference and           the subsequent reference in file INFOINDE.DBF as displayed        in the help reference selection box.  If the first four           characters match, the screen will automatically display           the documentation for that help reference.  This may              continue while these conditions remain true.  <CTRL-END>          has no effect if the call to BROWHELP was direct (e.g.,           without benefit of one of the interface programs) - the           menu of options will reflect this condition when                  appropriate.  Also refer to the <CTRL-F8> and <CTRL-F9>           below for more information about searching for like               information.                                                                                                                        CTRL-F5 - is only valid from context calls (calls from            within programs converted to provide help via this                system).  Press <SHIFT-F1> from DYNAMENU and then                 <CTRL-F5> to experience this feature.                                                                                                 Suppose that after pressing <SHIFT-F1> from a given               program you find that you need to look elsewhere for              information.  By pressing <CTRL-F5> you will invoke the           full DYNAHELP main menu.  You may then use the menu to            move normally about the DYNAHELP system.                                                                                        PRINTING HELP FILES                                                                                                                   Press <CTRL-F6> to activate a menu of printing options.           The default option is 'PART OF FILE' - you may also print         the 'WHOLE FILE'.                                                                                                                     Printing part of a file consists of moving the cursor to          some point below the point from which the partial print           option was invoked and then pressing <ENTER>.                                                                                       While this mode (SELECTIVE PRINT MODE) is in effect               pressing <ENTER> causes printing to begin - a message to          that effect is presented at the bottom of the screen.             Also, all lines below the point from which the partial            print option was invoked to the point of the current              cursor position will be highlighted with a complimentary          color combination.                                                                                                                  The original line will always remain highlighted to               denote the point from which the partial print option was          invoked, no matter if the cursor is above that point.             To best demonstrate how this works, place the cursor in           the middle of the window, press <CTRL-F6>, <ENTER> and            then press the <HOME> and <END> keys repetitively.                                                                                Press <ESCAPE> to abort the printing option - the cursor          remains in position in that case.  If you opt to print,           the cursor is subsequently repositioned to the line cursor        position in use at the time (SELECTIVE PRINT MODE) was            entered.                                                                                                                          MOVING WITHIN THE DOCUMENT                                                                                                            One additional option that speeds positioning within a            document (especially to lines in the middle of larger             files) is <CTRL-F7>.  Pressing <CTRL-F7> causes a vertical        bar to appear on the right side of the screen.  In this           case, the right side of the window represents the entire          expanse of the file being reviewed.  Simply position the          token at a point relative to a point in the file that you         think is appropriate and then press <ENTER>.  The window          will then display the documentation in the approximate            range of your selection.                                                                                                          SEARCH FOR TEXT                                                                                                                       CTRL-F8 VS. CTRL-F9 - There are two options available when        searching for text within a given document.  CTRL-F8              causes the current search token to be displayed and be            modified by the user if desired.  CTRL-F9 cause a search          on the contents of current search token.  CTRL-F8 always          begins its search at the top of the file while CTRL-F9            only searches from the top of the file the first time that        the user calls it for a given document.  Subsequently,            CTRL-F9 begins searching at the point where it found the          last occurrence of the current search token.  Using               CTRL-F9, will eventually cause the original browse file           location to appear on the screen unless CTRL-F8 was called        and the original search token was changed by the user.            Any text may be searched for.  Trailing spaces are ignored        and embedded spaces are included.                                                                                                   NOTE: These search functions may not be able to locate            blind references that were selected for review from the           Help Reference Selection Box.  This is due mainly to those        references having been removed from the on screen                 documentation - the location of a blind reference in these        cases is somewhat coincidental.                                                                                                                                                                 DYNAHELP FILES                                                                                                                        The DYNAMENU HELP SYSTEM utilizes one controlling database to     determine where information is located in the system.  File       INFOINDE.DBF is created/modified by program CREAHELP and used     by programs BDSHELPR and HLPINTFC to determine which .INF file    and line number contains the required information.  In the        case of BDSHELPR the user makes the determination while           program HLPINTFC is completely transparent to the user.                                                                             The <DYNAHELP>.INF files are created by program CREAHELP.  It     will generate an .INF file of the same name as any given input    ASCII text file name but with the .INF extension.  The maximum    width of any line of text is 65 characters (including cross       reference control characters) and the length of the file is       only limited by one's fingers.  See CREATING HELP FILES below.                                                                                                                                      CONVERTING AND WRITING PROGRAMS                                                                                                       The real value of the DYNAHELP help system is the ability to      make context sensitive help available to programs in an           environment where changes to the documentation are ongoing.       Even if an application is in place with all the hooks for         context sensitive calls on the system, any user could be          expected to implement a new version of the documentation          without any difficulty.  The hooks for the new documentation      are automatically regenerated each time a new version of a        documentation file is implemented.                                                                                                  This assumes the writer of the documentation has not deleted      any of the existing references upon which hooked (converted)      programs are relying.  In the event that a context call is        made from an application program and no hook to that program's    requirements can be found, the main DYNAHELP menu will be         invoked.                                                                                                                            The primary syntax to be incorporated into a given program        follows:                                                                                                                            ON KEY LABEL SHIFT-F1 DO HLPINTFC WITH                                                                                                     '<CATEGORY REF>','<SEARCH TEXT>','<OPEN WINDOW>'                                                                               Where <CATEGORY REF> may be:                                                                                                        'MAJORCAT' (MAJOR SYSTEM REFERENCES)                              'MINORCAT' (MINOR SYSTEM REFERENCES) - most common                'PROGRAMS' (SYSTEM PROGRAM REFERENCES)                            'DTABASE'  (SYSTEM DATABASE REFERENCES)                                                                                             Where <SEARCH TEXT> may be:                                                                                                         *** The key or search token to the help system. This text         must be relative to the program needing help and must be          known to be included among the references prepared for the        specified <CATEGORY REF>.  This value would normally change       at various locations throughout the application program.                                                                              Simply restate the ON KEY LABEL COMMAND as necessary,             varying the <SEARCH TEXT> appropriately.                                                                                          Where an <OPEN WINDOW> may be:                                                                                                      A window that could be open when the user decides to call         for help from the DYNAHELP system.  No error is encountered       if the window is not open at the time the call for help is        made.  Much like the search token/reference, this value           would change at various locations throughout the application      program.                                                                                                                              Simply restate the ON KEY LABEL COMMAND varying the <OPEN         WINDOW> where necessary.                                                                                                          When declaring the ON KEY LABEL COMMAND be sure to clear the      typeahead buffer in advance when there is any possibility         that a window will be subsequently opened.                                                                                          Also, the application program must anticipate the need to         restore other pre-existing ON KEY requirements upon return        from the help system call.                                                                                                          Understand that in order to control the environment in which      the help is being conveyed, all other ON KEY requirements         must be disabled.  Also, in order to restore the                  pre-existing ON KEY options, the application must keep the        DYNAHELP system informed.  If that has been done the HELP         system will restate any pre-existing ON KEY requirements          just before returning control to the application.                                                                                   The PUBLIC ARRAY ONKEYS[6,2] is used for that purpose.            Suppose the application requires the following ON KEY             conditions:                                                                                                                           ON KEY LABEL SHIFT-F1 DO HLPINTFC WITH;                                 'PROGRAMS','FILEBROW','x'                                   ON KEY LABEL F1 DO F1BROWSE                                       ON KEY LABEL CTRL-F7 DO SEEKREC                                                                                                     The ON KEY LABEL SHIFT-F1 will be restored automatically          and the PUBLIC ONKEYS ARRAY should be initialized as              follows:                                                                                                                              ONKEYS[1,1]='F1'                                                  ONKEYS[1,2]='F1BROWSE'                                            ONKEYS[2,1]='CTRL-F7'                                             ONKEYS[2,2]='SEEKREC'                                                                                                           These data will be used to reset existing ON KEY conditions.      An absence of data here will cause the previously existing        ON KEY requirements to be lost until the application program      re-establishes them.  That may or may not ever happen.                                                                                                                                            CREATING HELP FILES                                                                                                                   Help files may originate as ASCII files or as dedicated word      processor files suitable for printing with special control        and print characters, etc.  At some point in the migration to     the DYNAHELP help file format (straight ASCII file, no left       margin, 65 characters maximum width and with the below            described control codes) these files must be converted to         include at least some control codes to allow the help system      to ultimately guide the user to select help based on a            predetermined value or thought.                                                                                                     The maximum width of any line of text is 65 characters            (including cross reference control characters).  The TAB          character will be converted to eight spaces when being            incorporated into the .INF file.                                                                                                    No matter which file type you choose as your master document      (ASCII or dedicated word processor), the document must include    at least some help references to be of much value.  In            particular, if there are no references, there can be no           context sensitive help call that will result in direct access     to the proper text.                                                                                                                 Text file PROGDIR.TXT has been included with the system in        order to provide some insight into what is involved in the        process of creating the input files for DYNAHELP.  Pay            particular attention to the control codes ALT-1 thru ALT-6.                                                                         The text file help control codes are defined as follows:                                                                              MINOR CATEGORIES = CHR(1) = ALT-1 on most word procs.             MAJOR CATEGORIES = CHR(2) = ALT-2     ³     ³                     PROGRAM NAMES    = CHR(3) = ALT-3     ³     ³                     DATABASE NAMES   = CHR(4) = ALT-4     ³     ³                     BLIND REFERENCES = CHR(5) = ALT-5     ³     ³                     TOPIC REFERENCES = CHR(6) = ALT-6     ³     ³                                                                                       NORMAL REFERENCES characters (ALT-1 thru ALT-4) are used          to create help references that will appear in the help            reference selection box and be used by the HELP INTERFACE         PROGRAM to make context sensitive calls on the system and         should appear in the .TXT files as follows:                                                                                           CHR(5)CHR(4)CHR(3)CHR(1)<a max. 20 chars of text> and then        optionally in reverse order CHR(1)CHR(3)CHR(4)                                                                                    This is because normal references are processed in the            order:                                                              1, 2, 3, 4  and are removed in that order at processing         time.                                                                                                                               Or more typically:                                                CHR(1)Minor referenceCHR(1)                                       Also:                                                             CHR(1)Minor                                                       Or:                                                               CHR(2)Major ReferenceCHR(2)                                       Or:                                                               CHR(3)Program Reference (ref. will only include 'PROGRAM')        Or:                                                               CHR(4)Database Reference                                                                                                            One or two of these might apply to a given token.  However,       as many as three may be useful on one token/reference.                                                                              Please be sure to use the above described                         descending/ascending order.  CHR(1) & CHR(2-4) should be          used exclusively of one another because the MINOR category        CHR(1) references include category references CHR(2-4).           Minor Categories are the main selection when entering the         DYNAHELP main menu - it is represented by the notation            "BY CROSS REFERENCE' and causes all references to be              displayed for possible selection.                                                                                                   These characters are stripped from the text at .INF file          creation time.  If the next space to the right of the             specified text is satisfactory for use as a delimiter, a          second corresponding control code is not required.  However,      in order to bridge a space in the text for any given              reference, you must use a corresponding control code to let       the program know where to stop.                                                                                                     When there are more than 20 characters in a row with no           break to the right of the control code, or when the number        of characters specified by two corresponding control codes        exceeds 20, the remainder beyond 20 characters will be            discarded from the reference.                                                                                                       BLIND REFERENCES (ALT-5) are to be used under the                 following conditions:                                                                                                               - When the text itself doesn't say what you would like to           see in the help reference selection box and you do not            wish to change it.                                              - When the preferred text does not fit in the help reference        selection box and you do not wish to change it.                 - When the preferred text generates an illogical order for          use in the help reference selection box and you do not            wish to change it.                                                                                                                The use of this reference will cause this line to be blanked      at .INF file creation time.  In other words, it will appear       as a blank line in the resulting .INF file.                                                                                         The use of 'BLIND REFERENCES' is a special case and the           CHR(5) is only required once at the beginning of a line that      you ultimately expect to appear to be blank.  Follow it with      any character combinations that will create the desired           display token/reference when a user selects a token from the      help reference selection box.                                                                                                       TOPIC REFERENCES (ALT-6) could be considered chapters in a        book.  They are major subjects and are different from Major       Categories in that they apply to all normal references            (1-4).  The object of using this type of reference is that        the user may then view all other references by TOPIC only.        A Topic Reference is required at least once per .TXT file to      be effective; if no Topic Reference is made, none will be         included in the creation of the help structure.  This is not      a problem.                                                                                                                          Topic References are similar to Blind References and would        appear as follows:     Chr(6)<TOPIC REFERENCE> - 20               Characters Maximum.  The Chr(6) must appear in column 1 on a      blank line followed imediatately by the TOPIC REFERENCE.          Subsequently, all normal references will take on the              association of the most recently stated TOPIC REFERENCE.                                                                            The TOPIC may be set at any point within a document and will      affect all subsequent normal references until another TOPIC       is encountered.  Topic references should be added to any          prior blank line and will be erased during the creation of        the .INF file.  This is similar to the Blind References and       is done to prevent the reference from displaying along with       the documentation.  The .TXT file is not affected.                                                                                  To turn off topic references in a given document enter the        following at the point where topic references are no longer       required:                                                                                                                             CHR(6) in column 1 followed by no text. If you wish to            place the CHR(6) within the text of a line, this will also        work to turn off TOPIC REFERENCES.  If it is not in column        1, is it assumed that it is present to turn off topic             references regardless of whether one has been currently           set or not.                                                                                                                       Suppose that it is desirable to prevent a particular              reference in a document from being associated with any            TOPIC.  Simply enter CHR(6) on a blank line just before the       reference in question. You must then re-establish the             previous TOPIC reference on a blank line subsequent to the        reference in question and prior to the next normal                reference.                                                                                                                          Topics are generally created to group related subjects that       may be found in separate parts of the system or parts of          documents.  By labeling normal references via the TOPIC           REFERENCE, you will enable program BDSHELPR to display them       in alphabetic order regardless of their origin.  This occurs      when a USER presses <ALT-T> and selects a particular topic        by pressing <ENTER>.                                                                                                                Be particular about the spacing and spelling of TOPIC             references.  The are all converted to upper case, however,        if there is any difference between one and the next it will       be deemed a different topic.  For example:                                                                                            'HELP REFERENCES' and 'Help References' are the same.             'HELP REFERENCES' and 'HELP REFERENCE' are different.                                                                                                                                               Topic references have no visible purpose until a User             presses ALT-T while browsing the Help Reference Selection         Box.                                                                                                                                All references are converted to upper case.                                                                                       One successful method of maintaining printable dedicated word     processor files with both word processor and help control         codes in place, is to strip the help control codes from any       document when it is necessary to print it.  This is a far         simpler method than maintaining two sets of ever changing         documentation files.                                                                                                                To elaborate; make all changes to one master document and copy    that document to a print version when it needs to be printed.     The print copy of that file may then be modified to remove the    DYNAHELP control codes with your word processor's search and      replace option.  Simply search on ALT-1 thru ALT-4 and replace    with ''.  Then search on ALT-5 and ALT-6 - blank out the          entire line for each of those references.  Keep in mind that      if the master document is maintained in a DYNAHELP format; ie,    no left margin and a right margin of 65 characters max., these    two features may also need adjusting before printing.  Delete     this file when printing has been completed.                                                                                       CREATING FINAL INPUT TO DYNAHELP                                                                                                      Normally a documentation file will be maintained in the form      of a dedicated word processor file, complete with all control     codes for the word processor and for the DYNAHELP system (see     'CREATING HELP FILE' above).  That being the case, at some        point it will be necessary to output that file as an ASCII        file - most word processors have a print to disk option and       only a few modifications will be required beyond that             conversion.                                                                                                                         If the master document is in the form of an ASCII file it         still may require some changes.                                                                                                     The following rules apply to any input .TXT file:                                                                                     Remove all page break/header/foot note information from the       resulting text file.  This is optional, however it makes the      file being read on screen much more presentable.                                                                                    Most word processors will introduce a form feed character at      periodic locations throughout a text file.  This occurs           during the conversion from a dedicated word processor file        to a text file.  In order to make the documentation more          presentable, form feed characters (ALT-12) will be                eliminated at .INF file creation time.  No manual change is       required.                                                                                                                         For reasons discussed elsewhere in this document, it is           suggested that the ASCII file be created with a .TXT              extension.                                                                                                                          The converted file is now ready for input to the help system      using the CREATE HELP program described above.                                                                                                                                                      CONVERTING EXISTING DOCUMENTATION                                                                                                     Existing documentation may be incorporated by simply following    the instructions under CREATING HELP FILES.  They may be of       any format and written by any word processor.                                                                                       Master documents may need to be changed with your word            processor so that they have no left margin and each line has      only 65 characters when output to a .TXT file.  This may save     a considerable amount of time when preparing the .TXT file for    input to the CREAHELP program.                                                                                                      Optionally, if your word processor is able to remove vertical     blocks of text, the .TXT file could be created with a left        margin and subsequently modified.  If this can be made to         work, it has a time savings advantage over making formatting      changes to your master documents.  A little experimentation is    probably in order - Good luck.