TURBO HELP UTILITY ------------------ This file explains how to use THELP.COM. THELP is a memory-resident utility that provides online help for Turbo Pascal and Turbo C++. If you are using Turbo Debugger, for example, you can load THELP, then run the debugger and get online help for Pascal or C while you are debugging. Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Starting THELP 2. Command-line Options Summary 3. Detailed Explanation of Keys Used When THELP is Active 4. Detailed Explanation of Command line Options 1. Starting THELP ------------------ Load THELP at the DOS command line simply by typing THELP. Make sure the Turbo help file is in the current directory or use the /F command line option described below. The INSTALL program on the distribution disks inserts the correct path information in THELP. Memory Usage - THELP requires about 20K bytes. Default hotkey - The default hotkey is Numeric-Keypad-5 (scan code 4ch, shift state 00h). Paste speed - The default pasting speed is FAST. You'll have to experiment if it pastes too quickly for your editor. Note that you should turn off autoindent in the integrated environment before using the paste feature. If you are using SideKick Plus or SideKick 1.x, make sure you load THELP before you load SideKick. 2. Command-line Options Summary ------------------------------- USAGE: THELP [options] Here is a summary of the command line options. If you use more than one option, they must be separated by spaces. /Fname Full path and filename of help file /H,/?,? Display this help screen /Kxxyy Change hotkey: xx=shift state(hex), yy=scan code(hex) /Px Pasting speed: 0=slow, 1=medium, 2=fast /S+ Enable snow checking for video (useful for older CGA adapters). /S- Disable snow checking for video (for snappier displays). /U Remove THELP from memory /W Write Options to THELP.COM and exit 3. Detailed Explanation of Keys Used When THELP is Active --------------------------------------------------------- Arrow keys: Moves the cursor. PgUp/PgDn: Moves the cursor. Shift-Arrow keys: Moves the cursor while marking a block. TAB: Moves the cursor to the next keyword. Shift-TAB: Moves the cursor to the previous keyword. HOME: Go to the beginning of the line. END: Go to the end of the line. ENTER: Select help entry for the item highlighted in the current help screen. ESC: End Help. F1: Help Index. F1 from any help screen brings up the Help Index. You can search for a specific keyword incrementally. For example, you can find "printf" by typing p r i. With each letter you type, the list jumps to the keyword that starts with p, then to pr, then to pri, etc. ALT-F1: Displays in reverse order the last 20 screens you have reviewed. CTL-F1: Bring up help screen for THELP's hot keys. CTRL-P key: Paste the example text into the application. 4. Detailed Explanation of Command-line Options ------------------------------------------------ /Fname -- Full path and filename of help file The name that follows the /F option should be the full drive/directory pathname of the help file to use; e.g., THELP /FC:\TP\TURBO.HLP THELP /FC:\TURBOC\TCHELP.TCH By default, THELP looks for the help file on the logged drive and directory. /H,/?,? -- Display help screen This option displays a summary of THELP's command-line options /Kxxyy -- Change hotkey: xx=shift state, yy=scan code Virtually any shift state/scan code combination may be selected. A quick summary of some common shift-states and scan codes follows: Shift States (may be OR'ed together) right shift 01h left shift 02h control 04h alt 08h Scan Codes A --- 1eh N --- 31h 0 --- 0bh F1 --- 3bh B --- 30h O --- 18h 1 --- 02h F2 --- 3ch C --- 2eh P --- 19h 2 --- 03h F3 --- 3dh D --- 20h Q --- 10h 3 --- 04h F4 --- 3eh E --- 12h R --- 13h 4 --- 05h F5 --- 3fh F --- 21h S --- 1fh 5 --- 06h F6 --- 40h G --- 22h T --- 14h 6 --- 07h F7 --- 41h H --- 23h U --- 16h 7 --- 08h F8 --- 42h I --- 17h V --- 2fh 8 --- 09h F9 --- 43h J --- 24h W --- 11h 9 --- 0ah F10 --- 44h K --- 25h X --- 2dh L --- 26h Y --- 15h M --- 32h Z --- 2ch Enhanced Keyboards only (may not work with all computers, keyboards) F11 --- 57h F12 --- 58h /Px -- Pasting speed: 0=slow, 1=medium, 2=fast Some editors do not accept characters pasted into the keyboard buffer as fast as THELP can put them there. By setting an appropriate paste speed, virtually all possible configurations of editors may be used. FAST speed pastes as many characters as will fit on every timer tick; MEDIUM pastes up to four characters per tick; and SLOW pastes a single character into the buffer ONLY when the buffer is empty. /S -- Controls snow checking logic for video. Some older CGA have a tendency to produce a "snow" effect when software tries to write directly into their memory space. If you see this snow you should start up THELP with /S+ to enable the snow checking code. You may want to use the /W switch (see below) to make it permanent. Snow checking takes time and it is better to live without it. To disable snow checking use /S-; this is the default. /U -- Remove THELP from memory This option is used to remove THELP from memory. If other TSRs have been loaded after THELP, make sure to remove them before removing THELP. /W -- Write Options to THELP.COM and exit The /W parameter is used to create a new version of THELP that uses the options you desire as a default. All options, including may be specified and made 'permanent'.