HELPER V1.01
============

The  Helper  is  an utility, which kicks the HELP-key out of his lazy life.
Start  it  from  CLI  with »Run« or better »RunBack«.  Supplying a '?' will
show  the  available options (for a detailed explanation:  see below).  The
Helper  must have the "req.library" by Colin Fox and Bruce Dawson in LIBS:.
(Great  work,  Colin  and Bruce!  I don't know, how I ever made ist without
that masterpiece of Amiga-programming-art!)

The  program  installs  an  InputEventHandler  with a priority of 51, which
signals the main program when the user presses HELP.  The main program then
produces a requester which looks like this:

          +---------------------------------------------------+
          |   How can I help you?                             |
          | +------------+ +---------------+ +--------------+ |
          | |  Notepad   | | Change colors | |   Show Text  | |
          | +------------+ +---------------+ +--------------+ |
          +---------------------------------------------------+

Clicking  on one of the three gadgets means activating that function of the
Helper.


Change colors:
==============

Not much to say about that.  You get that ColorRequester of the req.library
on  your  actual  screen.  So you can change the screencolors even in those
programs, that don't give you this feature.


Notepad:
========

It  certainly  isn't  necessary to discuss the need of a notepad.  For this
notepad, a 640 by 200 window will appear, if possible, on the actual screen
(like  all the requesters appear - if possible - on the actual screen).  If
the  actual  screen isn't large enough for this window, it will open on the
workbenchscreen  and  put  the  wb to front.  The notepad in fact gives you
rather  a  "notesheet"  than  a  notepad, you can only write on the visible
area.   You close the notepad quite normally via the CloseGadget on the top
left.  The contents of the notepad remains intact.

The following functions are implemented:

 - CURSOR, BACKSPACE, DELETE and RETURN: standard

 - SHIFT-CURSOR: Begin/End of actual row, top/bottom of current collumn.

 - CTRL-K: Clear line
 - CTRL-L: Clear whole text
 - CTRL-E: Insert character
 - CTRL-S: Save note
 - CTRL-Z: Load note
 - CTRL-U: Insert time
 - CTRL-D: Insert date

Notepadfiles go into "T:" (only default) and have the extension ".note".

Show text:
==========

This  is  the  true  and  original  function I thought of when writing the
Helper.  Who hasn't experienced yet the situation of having to drop a quick
look  into some documentation file or manual?  Up to now, the procedure for
sure  was  of  the  type:   start  shell - search file - show it (editor or
more).  That is undoubtedly a very inefficient and annoying procedure.

The  Helper  can  do  the  following, to let you forget about that:  If you
activate  the  function  "Show  text",  the Helper produces a FileRequester
(also  from  the req.library), whose default directory is "HELP:".  You can
now   choose   a   file   (maybe   out   of   some   subdirectories,   e.g.
"HELP:ARP_Docs").   This  file  goes  to  a  predefined  program,  normally
"SYS:Utilities/More", and in case you were on another screen, the workbench
comes to front.

To  give  this function more flexibility, you can define (on startup of the
Helper), which program to use for showing the text ("-mPRG") and whether to
put  the  workbenchscreen  to front ("-f0/1").  In fact, you can define ANY
program which accepts a filename as its first CLI-argument.  You could call
an  editor  for example.  Or Delete ;-).  The "-f" option would be set to 0
if the program opened its own screen.

So  you  can  create  a  directory on your harddisk, which contains all the
often-used  documents  and helpfiles.  Then this directory gets the logical
name  "HELP:"  (via assign).  The non-harddisk-users format a disk and name
it  "HELP".  That disk then has to be inserted whenever some help is needed
(the comp will ask for that disk).
And you programmers out there:  Don't mess around with extra-menus for help
on your program's topics, just add a copy of the Helper!


startup-sequence:
=================

The startup-sequence would look like:
...
assign HELP: DH0:Documents
runback Utilities/Helper -mSYS:Tools/Less -f0
...


BREAK_CTRL_C:
=============

You  can  terminate  the  Helper  when it's waiting for the HELP-key with a
normal break class C.  For example:

1> status
Process  2: Loaded as command: status
Process  3: Loaded as command: C:Helper
1> break 3
1> status
Process  2: Loaded as command: status
1>


Warning:
========

On  hotkeying,  the Helper sticks to the first window on the actual screen.
That  means,  all  during  that session following requesters belong to that
window.   That means also, that closing that window certainly will teleport
your Amiga to India, as long as the Helper is somehow visible.


General Info:
=============

The  Helper  (Version  1.01)  is in the Public Domain, it may be copied and
distributed  free,  as  long, as the executable, this documentation and the
source  remain  unchanged  and  together.  The Helper was developed on Manx
Aztec C with 16 bit integers and small code/data.

The  Helper  MUST  NOT  be  used  by  any  military organization or for any
military purpose.

For  commercial  use:   If  you  want  to add the Helper to your commercial
program, you have to pay a ONE TIME license fee of 50 dollars.  There is no
problem  about the req.library, because it is FreeWare and everyone may use
it in commercial products.

Send bug reports and suggestions to:

                              Michael Balzer
                            Wildermuthstraße 18
                             5828 Ennepetal 14
                                 W-GERMANY

Happy Programming!