HELPMAKE Help (helpmake.hlp) (
Table of Contents;
Topic list)
Important Notice
The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software,
purely for historical purposes.
If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming,
you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully
out of date.
Setting Up Context Strings and Topics
◄Up► ◄Contents► ◄Index► ◄Back►
─────Setting Up Context Strings and Topics──────────────────────────────────
A HELPMAKE source file consists of a sequence of topics separated
by context-string definitions. One or more context-string
definitions function as the labels for each section of topic text.
When the user requests help on a keyword in the database, or
executes one of the links, the context string determines which
section of text will be displayed.
For example, in QuickHelp format, a source file has the following
general structure:
.context a
topic text
∙ ∙ ∙
.context b
.context c
.context d
topic text
∙ ∙ ∙
(continuing with more topics)
Each context string is defined on a single line. The topic text
is all lines of text between sets of context lines.
Note that each topic has one or more context-string definitions,
which separate it from other topics. Each context string must be
unique; you cannot use the same context string more than once in a
given database.
If a context string is preceded by an at sign (@), it is a "local"
context string. Local context strings differ from regular context
strings in the following ways:
■ You cannot implicitly link to a local context string. In
other words, a local context does not function as a link when
it appears as part of topic text.
■ A local context string is known only within a single help
database. You cannot link to a local context in another help
database.
■ Local context strings take up less space in a help database
because they are stored as numbers rather than as a series of
letters. For this reason, use local context strings if
possible when defining explicit links.
-♦-