Tools and utilities supporting the Z-System have been released with great
regularity over the past 2-3 years. Updates appear so frequently that it
seems development often gets too far ahead of documentation. I began putting
this Help system for the Z utilities together in late 1987, therefore, to help
keep track of the many new utilities and new functions being added to older
ones. It was patterned after ALIASES.HLP, a 'Help System for Online Aliases'
presented in Z-News #507.
First, I had to decide what information about a utility I wanted to have
'on-line' in a Help file. I came up with the following categories:
1. A quick view of stats about the program: its size, crc, version number,
date of issue, author, and where I could find it in my archived files.
2. A brief description of what function the program served.
3. A brief explanation of the program's syntax and any available options.
4. Special 'notes' concerning the program's operation, compatibility with
other tools, etc.
5. Explanation of any error messages.
6. Examples of Use
I then set out to examine existing HLP files, DOC files, the ZNEWS-letters,
and even source code and BBS messages, to compile information in these
categories for each utility. This was a monumental task, to say the least,
and I soon decided first to develop a base of essential data on each utility
and later to expand on such things as 'Notes' and 'Examples of Use'.
Next, I wanted to be able to access this information quickly and easily.
An alphabetical sorting by utility name, in a 'user-indexed' help file, seemed
logical, since this 1) would organize the information, 2) provide an easy menu
with which to access it, and 3) provide an extensible system for future
additions. The only question at this point was whether to provide a separate
help file for each utility or to include all information in several large,
user-indexed files.
While separate files might allow for easy updating, the idea of over a
hundred .HLP files in a directory was rather distressing. Then came LBRHLP
from Bob Peddicord - just what the doctor ordered. This super utility allowed
me to have separate files without the hassle of over-crowded directories. I
simply created an 'A.HLP' file to serve as a menu, developed separate .HLP
files for each utility beginning with 'A', and did a 'Group Build' on them
with VLU to create a crunched 'A.LBR'. Defining 'D15:' as my 'default du:'
for LBRHLP, I then set out to create a similar LBR for each letter of the
alphabet to reside on D15:. [Note: Some utilities are released with already
excellent .HLP files and these are included in the system, usually as an
additional, more detailed, source of information.]
To simplify accessing the files, I created a series of aliases:
A LBRHLP -A A
B LBRHLP -B B
and a similar one for each letter of the alphabet and placed them in ALIAS.CMD
in my ROOT directory. Then Jay Sage showed me how, instead of 26 such aliases,
the following single alias could serve for all:
..the $0 equating to whichever letter I pressed. Now, all I had to do was
type '<space>A' in any disk and user area, and 'A.HLP' would come up with a
'menu' of help files for all utilities on the system beginning with 'A'.
[Note: Z3PLUS users must use '/A' since '<space>A' had to be omitted as an
option under Z3PLUS. '/A' will work for all Z-System users. -wat 4/4/89]
Updating the files also proved to be simple. Using VLU to uncr/extract the
HLP file in question, I used VDE to make appropriate changes, recrunched the
file (supplying a new date of update), opened the .LBR with NULU, and used
option -R to replace the old .HZP with the new. This often took no longer
than a few minutes.
There you have it. A simple Help system, made 'simple' by the excellent
tools (ARUNZ, VLU, LBRHLP, etc.) available for ZCPR3. If sysops would like to
make the various LBRs in this system available for use or download on their
BBSs (preferably in a HELP directory), I'll be glad to provide them on disk
($10 for the cost of the disks - a total of 610k) or they can be downloaded
from Jay Sage's BBS (Z-node #3). I will be providing updates for individual
files from time to time by bundling them into something like Z3HELP02.LBR and
uploading this file to Jay Sage's BBS. Comments and suggestions for improving
this system would also be greatly appreciated.
Bill Tishey
8335 Dubbs Dr
Severn, MD 21144
410-551-5082
