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HelpDOS USER'S GUIDE Copyright 1985, 1986 by Help Technologies 25 Pope Road P.O. Box 399 La Honda, CA 94020 415-856-2322 This document repeats and covers much of the information in the printed HelpDOS USER'S GUIDE included with the registered version. It was prepared by Public Brand Software, P.O. Box 51315, Indianapolis IN 46251, 1-800-IBM-DISK. Any errors herein are probably the result of the transcription from the printed GUIDE. The Software and Help Files are the same as in the registered (commercial) version for DOS Version 2 (2.0, 2.1, etc). Help tailored for DOS Versions 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2 are available from Help Technologies. COPYRIGHT NOTICE The HelpDOS Software, Help Files and accompanying Documentation are copyrighted. The Software may be copied onto another diskette or fixed disk for purposes of backup of original copy and/or for installing the Software for use in a convenient manner. No other use is allowed unless expressly permitted under law or by Help Technologies. Copies of this Software, Help Files and this accompanying Documentation may be made for distribution under the User Supported Concept where free distribution of software may be made with the understanding that satisfied users are obliged to pay a registration fee as described below. The Help Files and this accompanying Documentation may not be altered in any way. This software may not be sold for more than a nominal disk fee except by Help Technologies or their direct assignees. Electronic distribution of copies of this Software, Help Files and this accompanying Documentation may be made via Bulletin Boards, Communication Services Networks, etc. The complete set of Software, Help Files and this accompanying Documentation must be distributed together without any alterations. TABLE OF CONTENTS i - Warranty, Liability, Trademark statements ii - Registration Information iii - Registration Form 1 - Introduction 2 - Installing HelpDOS 5 - Using HelpDOS 8 - Problem Determination i LIMITED WARRANTY HELP TECHNOLOGIES MAKES NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. A limited Warranty of the media on which the Software is recorded is supplied with the registered (commercial) version of HelpDOS. This warranty is supplied, in writing, with that version. Some states do not allow limitations on how long the implied warranty lasts, so that the above limitations may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. LIABILITY Help Technologies, its software suppliers, distributors and dealers, make no warranties or representations, either expressed or implied, as to the Software, Help Files and Documentation, including without limitation, the condition of the Software and Help Files and the implied warranties of its merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. THE SOFTWARE, HELP FILES AND DOCUMENTATION ARE SOLD ON AN "AS IS" BASIS AND SHOULD THERE ARISE A DEFECT IN THESE GOODS FOLLOWING PURCHASE, THE PURCHASER SHALL ASSUME THE RISK AND BE FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT. Help Technologies' liability in all respects is expressly limited to the remedy set forth herein, and Help Technologies shall not be liable for any lost profits or for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential or other damages suffered by the purchaser or others resulting from the use of the Software or Help Files. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. TRADEMARKS HelpDOS is a trademark of Help Technologies. Public Brand Software is a trademark of Public Brand Software, Inc. Where the term DOS is used in this documentation, reference is implied to PC-DOS (a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation) or MS-DOS (a registered trademark of Microsoft, Inc.) Where the term DOS is used we do not intend to use these trademarks in a generic sense. ii REGISTRATION FEES Evaluation copies of the latest version are available from Public Brand Software at the above address for $ 5.00. This $ 5.00 is not a part of nor will it reduce the registration fees stated below. Satisfied users are expected to pay a registration fee as follows: For PRIVATE use at home by individuals. This also applies to any site that has one and only one computer in the building. Fee: $ 20.00 For this you get: --> Acknowledgement of payment. --> The next major update on disk upon its release. --> The commercial HelpDOS User's Guide and diskette. The diskette contains Help files and menus for DOS Versions 2, 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2. The printed User's Guide contains complete instructions on HelpDOS, including detailed information on adding your own Help files and menus. --> Telephone support from Help Technologies. --> Notification of new releases. --> Reduced fees for new releases (the fee for the most recent update was $10). For CORPORATE use. This applies to any site that has more than one computer in the building even if HelpDOS will be used on only one computer. This also applies to any networked system. This is known as Full registration. Fee: $ 30.00 per computer using HelpDOS. or $ 25.00 per computer where more than 10 computers will have HelpDOS installed. or $ 20.00 per computer where more than 100 computers will have HelpDOS installed. For this you get: --> Acknowledgement of payment. --> The next major update on disk upon its release. --> The complete HelpDOS Package which includes the HelpDOS User's Guide and diskette in the commercial binder. The diskette contains Help files and menus for DOS Versions 2, 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2. The printed User's Guide contains complete instructions on HelpDOS, including detailed information on adding your own Help files and menus. --> Telephone support from Help Technologies. --> Notification of new releases. --> Reduced fees for new releases (the fee for the most recent update was $10). Site Licenses are available. Contact Help Technologies for details. iii HELPDOS REGISTRATION FORM ___________________________________________________________________ Name ___________________________________________________________________ Title ___________________________________________________________________ Company/Organization ___________________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip/Country ___________________________________________________________________ Telephone Check one: ___ PRIVATE REGISTRATION ($20) ___ CORPORATE (Full) REGISTRATION ($30) (California Residents add 6% Sales Tax) For PRIVATE Registration, send Check or Money Order payable to Help Technologies. For CORPORATE Registration, send Check or Money Order, or submit a company P.O. to Help Technologies (terms: Net 30). Help Technologies 25 Pope Road P.O. Box 399 La Honda, CA 94020 415-856-2322 1 INTRODUCTION HelpDOS is a "Help System" for using DOS. HelpDOS consists of menus, detail reference information, a technical dictionary and a cross-reference feature called "Hints." These components work together to show you, quickly and easily, what DOS can do and how to use it. Menus give an "at a glance" overview of DOS Commands, Special Keyboard Keys and Batch Subcommands. The menus show you what DOS can do. You can get detail reference information for the DOS facilities by selecting it from a menu. The detail information explains what the facility does and how to use it. A Technical Dictionary explains the terms that are frequently used with DOS and personal computers. In addition to defining the terms, the dictionary contains additional reference information and usage notes. The Hints Menu shows categories of actions you can take with DOS. When you select a Hint category from the menu, HelpDOS will show you a menu of the DOS facilities that pertain to that category. For example, when you select the Hint category "Print," HelpDOS will give you a menu of the ways you can print information with DOS. The Hints feature is a unique and powerful aspect of HelpDOS. It helps you find the right DOS facility for your task and exposes you to related facilities you may not have known about. You may add your own help files and menus to HelpDOS. This provides a convenient way to view reference information for your special programs, batch files, procedures, or whatever you wish to have on-line. Adding help information to HelpDOS is easy. You simply create and modify these files with your word processor or editor, and update the appropriate HelpDOS menu. Detailed information about the process is available to registered users. 2 INSTALLING HelpDOS This diskette contains help information for DOS Version 2. (Note: help information for DOS Versions 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2 are available from Help Technologies). You may run HelpDOS from diskette or install the system on a fixed disk. There are three steps to the installation process: 1. Make a copy of your HelpDOS diskette. (below) 2. Perform the installation. (below to page 4) 3. Run the HelpSET program to set configuration options. (page 4) Make a copy of your HelpDOS diskette You should make a copy of your HelpDOS diskette as follows. This provides a backup in case your original diskette becomes lost or unusable. If your are installing HelpDOS on a fixed disk you may skip this step. 1. Boot up your machine as per normal. 2. With your DOS diskette in the A: drive or the DISKCOPY command available via a path on your hard disk enter: DISKCOPY (if you have one diskette drive) DISKCOPY A: B: (if you have two diskette drives) Follow the prompts to copy the "Source Diskette" (this disk) to the "Target Diskette" (the copy to be made). Performing the Installation HelpDOS can be installed on a diskette or a fixed disk. If you are going to use HelpDOS on a diskette, all you need to do is run the HelpSET program to establish configuration settings. See the section "HelpSET Configuration Settings" on page 4 for details. NOTE: If your computer has just 128k of memory you should copy the COMMAND.COM file from your DOS diskette to the diskette where HelpDOS is installed. If this is not done, DOS will prompt you to insert a diskette with COMMAND.COM each time you quit the HelpDOS program. To install HelpDOS on a fixed disk, follow the instructions below. 3 Installing HelpDOS on a Fixed Disk HelpDOS may be installed in the root directory or in a subdirectory named HELPDOS. It is highly recommended that you install the system in a HELPDOS subdirectory. To install HelpDOS to a HELPDOS subdirectory on a fixed disk, follow the instructions on this page. To install HelpDOS in the root directory follow the instructions on page 4. 1. Put the copy of the HelpDOS diskette in drive A. 2. Set the default drive to the fixed disk. For example, if your fixed disk is drive C, enter: C: 3. Use the DOS command, MKDIR ("make directory") to create the HELPDOS subdirectory. Enter: MKDIR \HELPDOS 4. Now copy all of the files from the HelpDOS diskette to the \HELPDOS directory on the fixed drive by entering: COPY A:*.* C:\HELPDOS Note: you can also install from diskette drive B. In this case the COPY command would be: COPY B:*.* C:\HELPDOS Next, you need to add a path setting to an AUTOEXEC.BAT file on your fixed disk. By having a PATH command in an AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you can access the HelpDOS system without having to change the current directory to HELPDOS and without having to set the default drive to the fixed disk. The AUTOEXEC.BAT file is run every time you start-up or re-boot the computer. Putting the PATH command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file ensures that the path setting will be in effect each time you use the computer. If you DO NOT have an AUTOEXEC.BAT file on your fixed disk, you should create one (in the root directory) by entering the following lines: CD\ COPY CON: AUTOEXEC.BAT DATE TIME PATH x:\HELPDOS;x:\ where "x" is the drive letter of your fixed disk. Next press F6 (which denotes the end-of-file). Then press RETURN, and the file will be created. If you already have an AUTOEXEC.BAT file, edit the file and add the PATH command given above or append ;x:\HELPDOS to the end of it. where "x" is the drive letter of your fixed disk. Re-boot your machine and the path will be set. Be sure to run the HelpSET program before using HelpDOS (see next page). 4 To install HelpDOS on the root directory of a fixed disk, follow these steps: 1. Put the copy of the HelpDOS diskette in drive A. 2. Set the default drive to the fixed disk. For example, if your fixed disk is drive C, enter: C: 3. Copy all of the files from the HelpDOS diskette to the root directory of the fixed drive by entering: COPY A:*.* C:\ Note: you can also install from diskette drive B. In this case the COPY command would be: COPY B:*.* C:\ HelpSET Configuration Settings HelpSET is a menu-driven program which establishes configuration settings for HelpDOS. HelpSET performs three functions: 1. Sets the display screen type to monochrome or color. (default is monochrome) 2. Sets the colors to be used for a color display. You may choose the colors to be used for the Status Line, the Function Key line and menu selection letters, and the Help text. As you select colors, HelpSET shows you how they will appear in HelpDOS. Experiment with different color combinations until you find the one you like best. 3. Sets Beeps to ON or OFF. If Beeps are ON, HelpDOS will beep when an inactive key is pressed and when an error message is displayed. HelpDOS will function properly with Beeps OFF but you will not be informed when an inactive key is pressed. (default is Beeps ON) Running HelpSET 1. Set the default drive and directory to the installed HelpDOS program. If you installed HelpDOS in a \HelpDOS directory on a fixed drive you will need to use the command: CD \HELPDOS to set the current directory on the fixed disk to the HELPDOS directory. 2. Start HelpSET by entering: HELPSET HelpSET will give you easy to follow menus for establishing your configuration settings. This program reads and writes the HELPSET.UP file in the current directory. The disk containing the installed HelpDOS program must not be write-protected. 5 USING HelpDOS After installing HelpDOS as shown on pages 2 thru 4, start HelpDOS by entering: HELP For help with a specific DOS command, you may enter the name of the command when HelpDOS is started. For example, to get help on the RENAME command you would enter: HELP RENAME You can also select a HelpDOS menu at startup by specifying "menu" followed by the menu name. For example, to select the HINTS menu upon startup you would enter: HELP MENU HINTS If you do not make a selection at startup (that is, you entered just HELP) you will see a display that looks like this: |----------------------------------------------------------------------| | Help Menus 5 lines | | | | A ADVANCED - Advanced DOS Commands | | B BATCH - Batch Subcommands | | C COMMANDS - DOS Commands | | D KEYBOARD - Special Keyboard Keys | | E OVERVIEW - Overviews of DOS Facilities | | | | | | F1 Help F2 Print F3 Menus F4 Hints F5 Terms F9 Quit | |----------------------------------------------------------------------| Status Line (top line) The left side of the status line identifies the help information you are viewing. The right side of the status line gives the number of lines in the help information. When you make a selection from a menu, the name of the selected information is added to the end of the previous identification on the status line. This identifies the current information and shows you the name of the menu it was selected from. 6 Function Keys The Function Key line displays the function keys used by HelpDOS. Pressing one of these function keys triggers a HelpDOS feature. F1 Help F1 displays a help screen containing a brief summary of HelpDOS' features. It also contains a summary of the Format Notation which HelpDOS uses to explain the parameters of DOS Commands. F1 is a "toggle key." Press F1 to display the help screen. Press F1 again to remove it. F2 Print F2 prints all lines of the current help information. Once printing has begun, you may cancel it by pressing F10. F3 Menus F3 shows the Help Menus and presents them for your selection. HelpDOS comes with the five menus shown on page 5. Menus you may add to HelpDOS will also appear when you press F3. HelpDOS automatically presents this menu of menus unless you select a menu or a help item when you start the program. F4 Hints F4 activates the Hints feature and presents you with a menu of Hint categories. When you select a hint, HelpDOS gives you a menu of one or more DOS facilities that pertain to the hint category. You may then select items from this new menu to see the detail information. F5 Terms F5 presents you with a menu of the terms in the technical dictionary. You may then select a term from the menu. The information will include a definition of the term and, when applicable, an explanation of the term's significance to using DOS, examples, and references to related information. 7 F6 Return F6 returns you to the prior menu. This appears on the function key line ONLY after a selection has been made from a menu. Pressing F6 will return you to the menu where your previous selection was made. F9 Quit F9 ends HelpDOS and returns you to DOS. On most computers, the screen will not be cleared when you are returned to DOS. This allows you to position the HelpDOS display to the appropriate information and then press F9 to return to DOS leaving the help information you were viewing on the screen for your reference. Display Scrolling Keys Help information that has more than 21 lines may be scrolled forward and backward for viewing. Home - Positions the display to the top. End - Positions the display to the end. Up Arrow - Moves the display one line toward the top. Down Arrow - Moves the display one line toward the end. PgDn - Moves the display forward one screen. PgUp - Moves the display backward one screen. Selecting a Menu Item Menu items are prefaced with the letters A through U. To select a menu item, press the letter representing your choice. You do not press the Return key. Some menus have more choices than the screen can display. Use the Display Scrolling Keys as above to scroll the menu to the item of your choice. The letters associated with the menu items are reassigned when the display is scrolled. 8 Problem Determination Problem: the scrolling keys do not work. Reason: With 21 or fewer lines, the display will not scroll. Reason: The keyboard pad is set to "numeric mode." Press the NumLock key to change it to "cursor mode." Problem: HelpDOS is not using the settings I specified in HelpSET. Reason: The current directory was not set to the directory containing HelpDOS when HelpSET was run. HelpSET always writes the setup file, HELPSET.UP, to the current directory. Be sure the current directory is set to the directory (root or \HELPDOS) where HelpDOS is installed before running HelpSET. Problem: When I enter HELP to start HelpDOS, I get the message "Bad command or file name" even though the HelpDOS disk is in the drive. Reason: The default drive is not set to the disk containing HelpDOS and/or the current directory is not set to the root directory. Reason: The DOS "path setting" may be incorrect if HelpDOS is installed in a \HELPDOS subdirectory. Refer to the HelpDOS installation instructions on page 3.