3.6 HELP DISPLAY OPERATIONS

This section describes help operations for users with CRT displays.

A help display is generated in response to the "HELP" command and provides the user with information on a particular topic. In addition to the "HELP" command, the "?" command may be used to request a help display explaining the last TAE error message.

If the user's terminal is a CRT supported by TAE, help displays are presented one screen at a time, with prompting between screens. If the terminal is a hardcopy terminal or an unsupported CRT, then the help text is presented without page breaks.

An example of a screen of help information is shown in Figure 3.6-1. The commands available in a help display for CRT's are summarized in Table 3.6-1.

The following rules apply to help displays:

• Abbreviations

  The EXIT and PAGE commands may be abbreviated down to one character, e.g., "E" is equivalent to "EXIT" and "P" is equivalent to "PAGE".

• Case sensitivity

  Help operations are not case sensitive.

• Previous mode commands

  If the command typed in response to the HELP prompt is not recognized as a help mode command, TAE exits from help mode and executes the command in the previous mode.

  This feature is particularly convenient when "HELP parm" is used in tutor mode: the user may read about the details of the parameter and, using the HELP text still on the screen as a guide, set the value.

• PAGE

  The default value for PAGE is the next page. If the page number is greater than the number of pages in the help file, the last page is displayed.

• Aborting help displays

  The display of help information may be aborted by using the host-dependent attention sequence (Appendix A). If this sequence is typed on a hardcopy terminal, the listing of lines is stopped, and the user is returned to the mode from which the HELP command was typed. If the attention sequence is typed from a CRT, the listing of the current help page is terminated and the user is prompted for a help command.

SAMPLE HELP DISPLAY

HELP:

MENU MODE INFORMATION

                General and Specific HELP


        This is general help information for using
        TCL. You can access more specific help on a
        given command by typing the following:

                HELP  command-name

        The TCL commands available are listed below.
        An asterisk ("*") in the command name indicates that
        a command may be abbreviated using at least all
        the characters  prior to the asterisk. The asterisk
        is not part of the command.

        Commands available only on systems supporting the

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Enter EXIT or PAGE n (or press RETURN for next page)
? 

Help Screen Options