HeLPyoURSeLF a hyper text memory resident help system by Sansaska Systems 3311 Concord Blvd. Concord, CA 94519 (415) 676-2268 Compuserve 71140,3727 Copyright 1989, 1990 Sansaska Systems. SHAREWARE This program and data is distributed as SHAREWARE. This means that you are free to try it out and if you like it and use it you have a moral obligation to pay for it. You can do so as described in the help section "Registering your copy". If you find this program useful please support the shareware concept. Thank you. DISCLAIMER: Sansaska Systems believes that the software and data furnished herewith is accurate and reliable, and much care has been taken in its preparation. However, no responsibility, financial or otherwise, can be accepted for any consequences arising out of the use of this material, including loss of profit, indirect, special, or consequential damages. In no event shall Sansaska Systems be liable for more than the purchase price of the software and/or data. USING HeLPyoURSeLF HeLPyoURSeLF brings the power of a memory resident hyper text help system to your computer for use with purchased or distributed text files or those that you create yourself. The HeLPyoURSeLF system consists of two programs, two batch files and a number of data files. To use the program copy all the files into a directory on your main disk. I suggest you use c:\hlpurslf because then your configuration will match the examples. You should have the following files in c:\hlpurslf HLPURSLF.EXE HCOMPILE.EXE MAKEINDX.BAT CROSINDX.BAT *.HYP Before HeLPyoURSeLF will work correctly it needs to know where the "hot spots" and "targets" are in the *.HYP files. It gets this information from .INX files. Since none were in the distribution archive they must be created. You do this by compiling the .HYP files: HCOMPILE mainhelp. This creates two new files: mainhelp.INX and mainhelp.ENT. (The .ENT file is used for linking with the other .HYP/.INX files.) Since this must be done for each .HYP file and then repeated this gets old fast. The batch file "MAKEINDX" calls the batch file "CROSINDX" to generate the .INX and .ENT files for all the .HYP files in the current directory automatically. If your version of DOS doesn't support the CALL function in a batch file then modify MAKEINDX.BAT as indicated by the rem : lines in it. Now make c:\hlpurslf the current directory and execute the batch file MAKEINDX (no parameters are required). After MAKEINDX has completed there will be a .INX file for each .HYP file (the .ENT files are deleted because they are no longer needed). Now you are ready to try out HeLPyoURSeLF. Keeping c:\hlpurslf the current directory enter the command: HLPURSLF c:\hlpurslf\mainhelp HeLPyoURSeLF will install itself and use mainhelp as the top level menu file. It is not neccessary to be in the hlpurslf directory when you start HeLPyoURSeLF but it must be on your path or preceeded by a full path name. You can change the top level menu file to whatever you want but it should always be preceded by a full path so it can be found even when you are logged into another directory. The top level menu file must be a .HYP file and the extension is not required on the command line. To "pop up" HeLPyoURSeLF hold down the Ctrl key and press the ?/ key. HeLPyoURSeLF will pop up and display the starting screen. Use the left, right, up or down arrow keys to move to the "How to use this program" selection. Press the enter key and read the instructions there. NOTES: HeLPyoURSeLF may be removed by entering "hlpurslf -r" while in the hlpurslf directory. The usual precautions about TSR removal apply i.e. don't try to remove hlpurslf if you have loaded other TSRs after it and have not removed them. Both HeLPyoURSeLF and HCOMPILE contain limited virus protection and will tell you if they think they have been altered. HeLPyoURSeLF checks itself each time it is started. HCOMPILE checks itself if it is run without a file to compile. If the HCOMPILE checked itself each time it ran then the time added by the check would unacceptably increase the time required to re-index all the .HYP files. Occasionally when running the batch file an error message will be generated by HCOMPILE, this will be in the MESSAGES.TXT file created by MAKEINDX. Try running HCOMPILE against the .HYP file causing the error and manually correct it; possibly by hcompiling a different file to resolve an undefined. In some cases, where you may have complex file linkages, it may be necessary to modify MAKEINDX.BAT to call CROSINDX.BAT three or more times to resolve all the references. Normally you would include a line like: c:\hlpurslf\hlpurslf c:\hlpurslf\mainhelp in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to start HeLPyoURSeLF each time you start your computer. I have found under MS-DOS 5.00 that it is necessary to use the line: c:\hlpurslf\hlpurslf cc:\hlpurslf\mainhelp note the cc:\... preceding mainhelp. I don't know why this is needed but it is. HLPURSLF is compatible with the LOADHI of QEMM386 and LOADHIGH of DOS 5.00 for installation in the 640K to 1Meg range of 386 and 486 based computers. Versions: 2.1 3/91 major changes in internal operation. Addition of self removal, screen color selection (registered version only) and improved signon. 1.31 11/90 contains several bug fixes from the earlier release as well as the registration address for those of you who are honest and wish to register the program.