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- \pc Custom Help \ Glossary
-
-
- Ancestor Files:
- \l9 All files containing Ancestor Pages.
- \l
- Ancestor Page:
- \l9 Any page in the direct line of Parent Pages from a\
- specific page back to the system Base Page.
- \l
- Auxiliary Files:
- \l9 The files containing the information necessary for the program\
- to run. These are the CH.cmd File and CH.prefs File. In addition the\
- optional file, CH.menu, contains the DW menu configuration. All of\
- these files must reside in the CH Directory.
- \l
- Base Files:
- \l9 The Data Files that are read in when the CH program is invoked.\
- These files contain the entry points in the CH page system. Each file\
- should contain at least one child page of the Base Group. This may\
- be either a Menu Page or an External Page. CH searches the\
- CH Directory for files matching the pattern "Base.#?" to find the\
- Base Files and build the Base Page. The Base Files remain\
- in memory the entire time that CH is active therefore you should try to\
- keep them small to conserve memory while containing all the information\
- you wish to be readily available. Pages in other files will have to be\
- loaded from disk by CH before being displayed.
- \rStarting/Startup Options
- \l
- Base Group:
- \l9 The Base Page (Parent Page of the group) and it's Child Page's.
- \l
- Base Page:
- \l9 The page that is built when CH is started, using the names of the\
- child pages of group "Base" found in the Base Files.\
- When the DW is opened for the first time the Base Page will be displayed.
- \rFiles/General Data File Info
- \l
- Command:
- \l9 A CH Command consists of an alpha-numeric character or characters\
- used to initiate a Instruction.\
- Each Command initiates a specific Instruction.\
- These Commands are configurable by the user and may be from one to\
- twenty characters long. While viewing the DW press the HELP key for\
- a complete list of Commands and the Instructions they execute.
- \l
- Command Read Mode:
- \l9 This is the mode used for reading Command input. It is entered\
- when the user enters the first character of a Command. During Command\
- Read Mode the DW title bar displays the message "Command Read: Press\
- ESCAPE to abort" and the message area of the DW contains the entered\
- characters and a list of "Possible:" Commands. Use BACKSPACE to edit\
- the entered value. ESCAPE exits from Command Read Mode immediately,\
- without executing the Instruction. The associated Instruction is\
- executed when the entire Command is entered or the RETURN key is pressed,\
- if there is only one "Possible:" Command at that time.
- \l
- CH:
- \l9 Custom Help.
- \l
- CH Directory:
- \l9 The directory where the data and auxiliary files reside. The\
- CH Directory may be set in several ways. First, if a DIRECTORY or -D\
- Startup Option is used that will become the CH Directory. Next, if\
- a Startup Option is not used the directory "Assigned" the name "CHData:"\
- is it. Last, if neither of the first two methods are used the current\
- directory is the default CH Directory. If started from a CLI or\
- shell program, this is the CLI current directory. If started from WorkBench\
- the current directory is the one where the CH program resides. This\
- directory must contain the Base Files and the Auxiliary Files.
- \l
- Child Page:
- \l9 This is a way of refering to a page as it relates to the Parent Page\
- of a group. The Child Pages are one level down from the Parent Page.
- \l
- Data File:
- \l9 A CH Data File is any file that has been formatted for use by the\
- CH program. It must contain as least one Page Specification. Word Wrap,\
- Paragraph Indent, Related Item and Style Special Characters are all\
- optional.
- \l
- Descendant Page:
- \l9 This includes all of the pages of a Menu Page, down through it\
- Child Pages, and their Child Pages, and so on.
- \l
- Display Window (DW):
- \l9 This is the window that CH uses to display the data found in the\
- Data Files. It will appear on the current screen when the Hot Key\
- combination is pressed. see Using the Program/Gadgets and Areas for\
- details.
- \rUsing/Gadgets and Areas
- \l
- History:
- \l9 The History contains a list of the last ten pages accessed in\
- chronological order. Use the Last History Page Instruction to display\
- the history in reverse chronological order. While viewing the History\
- you may use the Next History Page Instruction to scan foreward through\
- the list.
- \rUsing/History Buffer
- \l
- Hot Key:
- \l9 The key combination required to open the DW.\
- The Hot Key and Qualifier are taken from the CH.prefs File when the\
- program is started. Startup Options allow you to override the values\
- found there.
- \l
- Instruction:
- \l9 A CH Instruction is the actual operation that CH performs.\
- A distinction must be made between an Instruction and a Command.\
- The Command being the key or keys necessary to initiate an Instruction.
- \l
- Mark:
- \l9 The mark is used to save a location that you might want to refer back\
- to. Once you have marked a location to return to it you just enter the\
- function key you have assigned to it or click on the Mark Gadget.
- \rUsing/Marks
- \l
- Menu Page:
- \l9 See Parent Page.
- \l
- Page:
- \l9 The block of text that is treated as a unit by the program. This\
- can be any size, it is not limited by the size of the screen, and is\
- scrollable in the DW.
- \l
- Page Group:
- \l9 A Page Group consists of one Parent(Menu) Page and a group of\
- Child Pages. The Page Group is the basis of the CH hierarchal system.\
- By defining the groups in your system you determine the access path to\
- all of the pages in the system.
- \l
- Page Name:
- \l9 The Page Name is used for search Instructions, Related Items and\
- Automatic Menu Pages. In a CH Page it is given in the Page\
- Specification.\
- In a Text File it is the file name. When a CH Page is displayed the\
- Page Name will be presented using the Page Name Style control characters.\
- This allows the user to set his own indent, style and colors\
- for the Page Name. See Using the Program/User Input Windows/Edit Display\
- Values for details.
- \rUsing/User/Edit Display Values
- \l
- Parent Page:
- \l9 (Menu Page) This is the top page of a group. Access to any of the\
- Child Pages in the group is possible directly from this page. The CH\
- multi-level hierarchy of pages is accomplished by meaking a Child Page in\
- one group a Parent Page of another group.
- \l
- Page Specification:
- \l9 The special characters placed in the Data File to define\
- the beginning of a page or in the case of an External Page the name of the\
- file containing the actual page data.
- \rFiles/Page Specifiers
- \l
- Related Items:
- \l9 A page may have a group of Related Items associated with it. These\
- provide the user with an easy way of moving from a page to any of it's\
- related pages. When the Related Item Instruction is selected a window with\
- a list of the current page's Related Items is presented to the user. He may\
- select one of the items using the up and down arrow keys and the RETURN\
- key. CH does an immediate jump to the selected item.
- \rUsing/Related Items
- \rFiles/Related Item Specifier
- \l
- Siblings:
- \l9 All Child Pages within a group.
- \l
- Standby Mode:
- \l9 The mode entered after the program loads but before the Hot Key\
- combination is pressed. In Standby Mode the program runs as a background\
- task with no output window. The program goes into Standby Mode after it\
- is first started and when leaving the DW. To open the DW on the active\
- screen from Standby Mode enter the Hot Key combination.
- \l
- Startup Options:
- \l9 These are the Command line switches if CH is started from a CLI or\
- the Tool Types array of the CH icon, if started from WorkBench.
- \l
- Text File:
- \l9 This is any ASCII Text File that is not formatted for use by CustomHelp.\
- Text Files are treated as a single page by the CH program. Files accessed as\
- Text Files will be\
- displayed exactly as they are without the CH display options\
- (word wrap, paragraph indent, style conversions, etc.) There are two\
- ways of accessing Text Files.
- \rUsing/Text Files
- \l
- \l 1. External Text Page Specification:
- \l12 Any file loaded via this method will be accessed as a Text File,\
- reguardless of the presence or absence of Page Specifications.
- \l 2. From a Directory Menu Page:
- \l12 Even if the file contains Page Specifications.
- \l
- Unused Files:
- \l9 These are any memory resident files not necessary to re-display either\
- the current page or any Marked pages. This includes any files containing\
- Ancestor Pages of either the current page or any Marked pages.
- \rUsing/Memory Management
- \l
- User Input Windows:
- \l9 These are the windows that are opened by the program, on the DW's\
- screen, to request information, post info messages and post serious error\
- messages.
- \rUs/User Input Windows
- \l
- Word Wrap:
- \l9 This mode causes CH to attempt to break lines of text being displayed\
- at the closest word before the right hand side of the DW.
- \rUs/Word Wrap
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