┌─────────────────────── »»»  QBLink Help Screen  ««« ─────────────── 1 ───────┐
│       Welcome to QBLink.I hope you find this program easy to use.            │
│     This program will allow you to compile & link your programs in a very    │
│ flexible manner.You may find as your programs get larger that you will want  │
│ to use different compiler options with different modules.This is easily done │
│ with QBLink.You may however,prefer to compile & link your program all in one │
│ step.Whether your program consists of a single source file or many modules,  │
│ YOU have complete control over the compile & link options.                   │
│ ═════════════════════════════════*NOTE*════════════════════════════════════  │
│     You must set an environment variable pointing to the directory that con- │
│ tains your Basic Include (.BI) files, or BC.EXE will not be able to find     │
│ them. Add the statement SET INCLUDE=drive\directory (where drive\directory is│
│ where your include files are) to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. It would be good    │
│ practice to also place SET LIB=drive\directory for your .LIB files.          │
│ ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════  │
│     Each menu title or menu item can be selected by the highlighted          │
│ letter or "hot" key,or by moving the highlight with the cursor and press-    │
│ ing <ENTER>. You can also use a mouse to select items.                       │
│ Directory,source file,& library file selections will open an edit window for │
│ the required data.Case is not important.Allowed editing keys include         │
│ backspace,home,end,cursor keys, ctrl-y,ctrl-t. Pressing ENTER will complete  │
│ input,ESC will exit with no changes.Insert is on by default,but may be tog-  │
│ gled. Option windows REQUIRE use of a mouse as of this writing.              │
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│                               Quick Start                                  │
│     ALL options present on-screen will be included when compiling/linking.   │
│     If an .MAK file exists for your program,you may enter the name in the    │
│  Source File field (include .MAK extension) if you wish to either compile or │
│  link (or both) all modules at once listed in the .MAK file.                 │
│     Your .MAK file must exist in the same directory you have listed for your │
│  .BAS (source) files.The .MAK file will be the template for a response file. │
│     You may optionally choose to compile or link individual files.This will  │
│  enable you to utilize different compiler options for different modules, or  │
│  for several modules concurrently. Multiple source files may be listed in    │
│  the Source File area whether compiling or linking,by separating each name   │
│  with a space or a "+" . Do not use any file extensions anywhere within this │
│  program except the .MAK extension when listing one filename in the Source   │
│  File field. Object files created will be placed in the same directory as    │
│  your source files, and that is where QBLink will look.                      │
│     Check the menu to save information on screen to file.                    │
│     A Link Response file will created in the same directory as your source   │
│  files,then deleted after linking.                                           │
│     If you intend to link multiple entries in the Source area,the FIRST entry│
│  will become the name of your executable file.                               │
│     Be sure to enter a proper Library name(s) for linking.                   │
│     Quick Libraries are supported. Check your QB manual for details.         │
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│                          ║  Exit/Utils menu ║                                │
│                          ╚══════════════════╝                                │
│                                                                              │
│*DOS Shell*                                                                   │
│    If you need to get to the DOS prompt to do some work,this will get        │
│ you there.Just type EXIT to return to QBLink and the current directory.      │
│                                                                              │
│*Exit*                                                                        │
│    Quit QBLink.                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│*Save Configuration*                                                          │
│    This will take any information present in the fields on screen and        │
│ save it to disk, which will then be read the next time you start QBLink.     │
│    You may save a new configuration as often as you like,which will replace  │
│ any current configuration file.                                              │
│    The configuration filename is QBLINK.CFG. If you accidently delete it,    │
│ just enter your options in the program and save them again. The configuration│
│ file will be created in the same directory as this program.                  │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
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│                             ║ File menu ║                                    │
│                             ╚═══════════╝                                    │
│*Executable File Directory*                                                   │
│    The drive and/or directory where you keep BC.EXE & LINK.EXE.              │
│*Basic File Directory*                                                        │
│    The drive and/or directory where you keep your basic (source) files.      │
│*Library File Directory*                                                      │
│    The drive and/or directory that contains your library (.LIB) files.       │
│    It's not mandatory,but placing SET LIB=drive\directory in your autoexec   │
│    file will enable LINK to search for any libraries you may not have listed.│
│*Source Filename*                                                             │
│    This entry is for the file(s) you wish to compile and/or link.            │
│    You would make a single filename entry here to:                           │
│  Compile & link a single module;                                             │
│  Compile OR link all modules in your program at once (if a .MAK file exists) │
│  Compile AND link all program modules at once (if a .MAK file exists).       │
│    Multiple entries are allowed to:                                          │
│  Compile several modules with same compiler options;                         │
│  Link several modules.                                                       │
│    Remember,use the .mak extension when necessary, otherwise when listing    │
│ multiple files,separate each with a space or a "+". OK?                      │
│                                                                              │
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│                            ║ Options menu ║                                  │
│                            ╚══════════════╝                                  │
│*Compiler Options*                                                            │
│    Just click on the compiler options you wish to use. If you select /C:     │
│ (communications buffer) an edit line will open at the bottom of the          │
│ window for you to enter the buffer size. After making an entry, press        │
│ < enter > to confirm the entry.                                              │
│   List files are not supported with the exception of the /Assembly listing   │
│ which will instruct the compiler to generate an assembly-language listing    │
│ of your compiled code.                                                       │
│   Right mouse button or <ESC> confirms Compiler Options and exits to main    │
│ menu screen.                                                                 │
│*Linker Options*                                                              │
│   As before, just click on the link options you want.Any switches that       │
│ require additional input will open an editor at the bottom of the window.    │
│ Press <enter> to confirm entry or <esc> to abort. /HELP and /BATCH options   │
│ are NOT supported, so are not listed.                                        │
│ *NOTE* The /quicklib option is supported.This one can be tricky if you have  │
│ duplicate procedures in different libraries.However,no harm will be done.    │
│ Just watch the screen when you LINK for any error messages.If you fail to    │
│ see an error message,LINK may create the Quicklibrary,but it may fail to     │
│ work properly. Enter the correct support library to link with.               │
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│ (continuing Options menu)                                                    │
│                                                                              │
│*Libraries*                                                                   │
│    This entry is for any libraries your program needs to link with.          │
│    Do not enter the .LIB extension when listing libraries.                   │
│    Separate each library name with a space.                                  │
│    At the time of this writing, you must make some entry here,else you will  │
│  not be able to Link.                                                        │
│  For example,if you are using QB45 and wish to make a stand-alone executable │
│  file, you would link with BCOM45.LIB, so just type BCOM45.                  │
│    Several library names may be entered if necessary. If you Link with a     │
│  library other than the default,list that library. If you have the SET LIB=  │
│  environment variable and your program needs one of the libs supplied with   │
│  BASIC, LINK will search for it. For example,if you have created FOOBAR.LIB  │
│  but your program still needs BCL71EFR.LIB supplied with BASIC PDS, try      │
│  entering just FOOBAR & let LINK search for the BASIC-supplied library.      │
│*Stub Files*                                                                  │
│    Just use the mouse to select the ones you need. I caution here that if you│
│  are using QB and not QBX you know which ones apply for you. Make sure any   │
│  stub files ( nocom.obj,smallerr.obj,etc) are where LINK can find them, typ- │
│  ically in the same directory as your library files.                         │
│                                                                              │
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│                               ║ RUN MENU ║                                   │
│*Compile*                      ╚══════════╝                                   │
│    This menu option will compile the entries you have in the Source File     │
│  field and use the compiler options you have selected.                       │
│    Remember,you may compile several source files in one run. If there exists │
│  an .MAK file for your program and you wish to compile all the files in your │
│  program with the same options, then be sure to list the .MAK file in the    │
│  in the Source File field. QBLink will use the make file as a guide as to    │
│  which files are part of your program, and compile each one.                 │
│    ANY set of individual files listed in the Source File area will be comp-  │
│ iled. Remember,when using an .MAK file,only list that filename with the .MAK │
│ extension. Object files will created in the same directory as your source.   │
│     Separate multiple filenames with either a "+" or one space.            │
│*Link*                                                                        │
│    This menu option will link whatever entries you have in the Source File   │
│ area (and use whatever link options,stub files & libraries you have selected)│
│ provided you have already compiled them.                                     │
│    If an .MAK file exists for your program, be sure to list the proper file  │
│ with the .MAK extension in the Source File area(and no others). QBLink will  │
│ read the .MAK file and use it as a template to create a Link response file.  │
│   The response file (LINKER.RSP) will be created in the same directory as    │
│ your source files and deleted upon a successful link operation.              │
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│ (continuing Run menu)                                          (last page)   │
│                                                                              │
│*Compile & Link*                                                              │
│   This menu option is essentially a combination of the previous two options. │
│ All that applies to Compile and to Link will apply here.                     │
│   Again, if you have a program for which an .MAK file exists, then you       │
│ may enter the .MAK filename in the Source File field and all modules listed  │
│ in the .MAK file will be compiled and linked, including whatever options,    │
│ stub files, and libraries you have selected.                                 │
│                                                                              │
│  Once again, if you make multiple entries in the Source File area,just be    │
│ sure to separate each with either one space or a "+".                        │
│                                                                              │
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│                                                                              │
│                                                                              │
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