"hhelp" is a program that allows you to create simple "help" utilities. It provides an easy user-interface -- a user enters a query string, and the program looks up the pertinent information from a database (a help file prepared previously by the user) and displays it.
By pointing to different help files, a user can have different help utitlities. For instance, one can enter information about HTML commands into a help file called "HTML.hlp" (in the simple format as explained below). Then the command
At this site, you can obtain a sample help file "html.hlp" which accompanies the "htxp" program, also written by me. This help file is used as a concrete example, when we make the alias "hthlp" in the discussion below.
For applications:
If you work at MCS, Argonne, the command "hhelp" is already available in /usr/local/bin.
Obtain the C source files hhelp.c, and magicxp.h and compile with "cc hhelp.c -o hhelp" (in a UNIX environment, or with "gcc").
The program requires a help file (database for help info) with the extension ".hlp" in the file name -- the sample help file "html.hlp" that you retrieved above works with "htxp" (a time saving macro-tool for writing HTML).
Pick a directory DIR to place the help file and create an alias
Simply issue the command
To get help on a topic, such as "fonts", type the topic name or an initial portion of it. Using a portion of the name saves some typing but sometimes the portion matches more than one topic, for example, "lin" matches "line" and "link", and "li" matches also "list". In such a case, info on all items is displayed.
Typing "*rect" will match a topic that contains the substring "rect".
Sometimes the help on a topic may be too long, and it is more convenient to break it up into several parts. The primary part gives the simplest info. Then there is a "SEE: " instruction at the end to point to other parts, with the appropriate topic name. Sometimes, a secondary part of the topic is simply given the same name with a + at the beginning. In the sample help file, the only example is "abbreviation" and "+abbreviation". Typing "+abb" brings up a more advanced topic on abbreviations.
To quit, type RETURN.
If the help is for a macro-preprocessor based on "magicxp" (such as "htxp") and the preprocessor has an abbreviation expansion, then "hhelp" has an additional feature to remind you of the abbreviations you have defined (either separately in two files "html.ab1" and "html.ab2" or together with the user macros combined in one startup file "html.rc").
While inside the help program, typing a single character (then RETURN) will bring up all the abbreviations that start with the character (both upper and lower cases) -- those in "ab1" appearing in the first column. For lack of space, only about the first 16 characters of the words in ab1 and about the first 36 of the words in ab2 are displayed.
Similarly, if the user has defined macros in the file "html.ucm", or the master file "html.rc" using the macro symbol "]", then typing "]a" in "hhelp" will display all the macros in "html.ucm" that start with "a" or "A", and so on.
The help file is completely modifiable (if you have write access). While within the help program, type ":RETURN" after the prompt brings up "vi" on the help file. You can then make any corrections or additions.
Follow the format in the sample help file.
The info on each topic is plain ASCII text typed exactly as it will be displayed when called. Preceding the text is a line of the form
A key word may appear in more than one header line. When the word is matched, all blocks will be displayed.
Mathematics and Computer Science Division