El Mac 7/El Mac 7.iso/Shareware Top 10/Virtual Desktop 1.9/Help on Wheels 1.3/Help on Wheels/Help on Wheels.rsrc/STR#_1028.txt

Text File | 1996-03-06 | 5.4 KB | 309 lines






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åWindows





This section describes each of Help on Wheels’s windows.










xThe Help Window



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This window displays the help file belonging to the current client, which

may be any application, including Help on Wheels itself.  It is always open

while the server is running.  When a different client asks the server to

display its help file, the title of the window changes to show that another

client is now current.  If you open a help file directly from Finder, it will

appear in the help window in just the same way as if you had asked for

help through the client that owns it.





Use the scroll bar to scroll through the help file.



In addition to the scroll bar, you can also use the Up Arrow and Down

Arrow keys to scroll the help file backwards or forwards one line at a

time.  To scroll up or down one screen at a time, hold down the Command

key while pressing the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key (or use the Page Up

or Page Down key on an extended keyboard).  To jump to the beginning or

end of the help file, hold down both the Command and Shift keys while

pressing the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key (or use the Home or End key

on an extended keyboard).



You can quickly jump to any section of the help file by clicking on the

section title in the table of contents on the right side of the window.  The

table of contents is a scrolling menu.  Click on the triangle at the top or

bottom of the menu to scroll it up or down.



The help file may offer hypertext buttons, which are usually underscored

paragraphs of text, but may also be pictures.  When you click on a

hypertext button, depending on what the text or picture says, anything

could happen.  A common use of hypertext buttons is to link one part of

the help file to another, so you can jump to a related topic.  Another is to

pass a message back to the client, so it can demonstrate what you are

reading about.



The help file can be printed, and you can save it as a text file.

See the section entitled “The File Menu” for more information.  (This is

an example of a hypertext button.)



Above the table of contents is a button titled “Return to Client,” or

“Close Help File” if the help file on display was opened directly from

Finder.  (This button is not available when Help on Wheels is displaying its

own help, or that belonging to a background-only application.)  Click on

this button, or press the Return or Enter key, to make the current client

active, bringing its menus and windows back to the front.  Pressing the

Option key while clicking this button causes the help server to hide its

windows.








xThe Preferences Window



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This window lets you set various options and parameters for Help on

Wheels.  It is opened by the “Preferences…” command in the File menu.







•  Background option



Help on Wheels has the ability to follow clients who make so-called casual

displays of help information.  When this option is turned on, and the

server is running in the background, and the current client asks for a

casual display, the server will honor the request.  This allows the client

to operate the help display by itself, describing its own state, or helping

you choose your next action.  The default is not to follow clients while in

the background.





Not all clients make casual displays.  The more basic clients will only ask

the server to display the help file when you ask them directly.





•  Saved text file option



You can save a text-only version of any help file.  These files are always

saved as plain text files without any formatting and they can be read by

any Macintosh word processor or editor.





By default, Help on Wheels saves help files as Microsoft Word files.  This

means that if you open a saved help file from Finder, Microsoft Word will

be opened.



You can change the application which owns saved help files.  The box

containing the name of the application is a pop-up menu which lets you

select any of the more popular word processors and editors.  You can also

choose a “creator type” directly by editing the text box to the right of

the application name.





•  Background notification option



Help on Wheels can run in the background.  This option specifies how you

wish to be notified if Help on Wheels requires attention for any reason.

The default is to display a diamond next to Help on Wheels’s name in the

Apple menu and to flash the small Help on Wheels icon in the menu bar.










xThe About Window



This window presents Help on Wheels’s About box.  (Yes, that is supposed

to be a daredevil motorcyclist charging through a flaming System 7 help

balloon!)  It is opened by the “About Help on Wheels…” command in the

Apple menu.





Note the credit to John Norstad and Northwestern University.  Help on

Wheels owes its inspiration and much of its source code and documentation

to Norstad’s famous Disinfectant anti-virus utility.  (Reduced, reused,

and repackaged.)  If you have used Disinfectant Help, you will have no

trouble using Help on Wheels.  However, this software is in no way

endorsed or supported by John Norstad or Northwestern University.