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<div align="center"><strong><font size="+3">HelpScan Help</font></strong></div>
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<strong><font size="+1">Introduction</font></strong>
<p>HelpScan is a utility which searches for the help information given by other programs and then presents the results in a nice, pretty HTML file. (Well, I think it's nice and pretty anyway...) 
<p>HelpScan actually doesn't do any hard work at all. It simply looks for the &quot;system variables&quot; set by other programs. (If you're a programmer, please <a href="HelpScanAPI">look here</a>.) As such, it can only give you info about programs which have implemented Castle's, um, suggestion. It also means that only those programs which have been &quot;seen&quot; by the filer since switch-on will be found. That just means that you need to have opened a directory viewer containing the program. HelpScan'll remember the old things it's found though, so you don't need to spend hours opening up filer windows every time you run it!
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<strong><font size="+1">Requirements</font></strong>
<p>HelpScan require RISC OS 4 (or greater) to run. If you'd like a version of HelpScan without the bells and whistles of this version and better backwards compatibility (to RISC OS 3), go to my <a href="http://www.snowstone.org.uk/riscos/">homepage</a> and look for a copy of <em>HelpScan Lite</em>.
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<strong><font size="+1">Quick Start Guide</font></strong>
<p>But enough rambling on - the best way to see what it does is just to run it...
<p>Once HelpScan is loaded onto the iconbar, click with the left mouse button on its icon and then click <em>Generate</em> in the window which opens. HelpScan will start strutting its stuff and after a while will launch an HTML file (there may be a pause as your browser loads) containing the information HelpScan has extracted from your system. You can then save this file (using the <em>Save</em> option in your browser) somewhere permanent if you like.
<p><strong><font size="+1">Choices</font></strong>
<p>I have outlined the basic operation of HelpScan above, but there is also a whole menagerie of choices which you can use to get it to behave just how <strong>you</strong> like. :-) You can access these options by clicking on the <em>Choices...</em> option on HelpScan's iconbar menu.
<p>There are quite a few choices and hopefully they should be fairly self-explanatory. There is also comprehensive support for interactive help if you need more guidance. There are a few points to note here though:
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<li>Clicking with the left button while HelpScan is in the process of generating its output will always just cause the <em>Progress</em> window to be displayed, regardless of the options set in the choices window.
<li>The <em>Maximum size of database</em> option won't have any effect until next time HelpScan is launched.
<li>The <em>Split output into named groups</em> option makes use of the Group Management system described below.
<li>The list of template is generated from the contents of a <a href="HelpScanAction:/Filer_OpenDir{}HelpScanRes:HTMLPlates">directory inside HelpScan</a>. For details of how to create your own templates take a look at <a href="HelpScanAction:/Filer_OpenDir{}HelpScanRes:TExamples">these examples,</a> and the accompanying <a href="file:/HelpScanRes:TExamples/!ReadMe">ReadMe</a> file. If you're feeling generous, please send me your creations and I'll include them with the next version.
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<p>Once you've set up the choices how you'd like, click <em>Set</em> to make them active for next time you click on <em>Generate</em>. This will not save them for next time, however. To set the choices <strong>and</strong> save them for next time, click on <em>Save</em> instead. If you decide to abandon the changes you've made, click on <em>Cancel</em> or just close the window.
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<strong><font size="+1">Groups</font></strong>
<p>Clicking <em>Groups...,</em> on the iconbar menu will open the <em>Group Management</em> window. (Note, this option will only become available once you have generated some output from HelpScan.) This facility enables you to assign the entries in your output to different groups of your choosing. First, choose which items you would like to manipulate from the popup menu to the right of the <em>Select entries:</em> icon. Next, choose an action from the popup menu to the right of the <em>Action:</em> icon. When you are happy with your choices, press <em>Perform operation</em>. Repeat this process until you're happy and then press <em>Save</em> to commit your changes to disc and to be used next time HelpScan generates its output. Press <em>Cancel</em> to abandon your changes.
<p>The popup menus are worthy of a little more explanation...
<ul><li>In the <em>Select</em> menu you may choose items individually or in groups. Note that the <em>Ignore</em> and <em>Standard</em> groups are always present. If you assign entries to the <em>Ignore</em> group, they will not be inlcuded in any of HelpScan's output. All entries are assigned to the <em>Standard</em> group when they are first discovered by HelpScan.
<li>In the <em>Action</em> menu, the <em>Delete</em> option will delete the group name, <strong>not</strong> the entries assigned to that group. You can also create any new group you like or assign the entries currently selected in the <em>Select</em> menu to any of your groups.
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<br>Don't forget to press <em>Save</em> when you are happy with your new grouping arrangements.
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<strong><font size="+1">License</font></strong>
<p>This application and associated resources are copyright Adam Richardson, 2005. If you wish to modify it or incorporate any of it into other applications or for other uses, you must contact me for permission. You may not charge a fee to distribute or sell it, without prior agreement from myself.
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<strong><font size="+1">Contact / Website / Etc</font></strong>
<p>You can check to see if you're using the latest version by clicking <a href="http://www.snowstone.org.uk/riscos/helpscan/">here</a> or by clicking on the button in HelpScan's info box. To contact me, send an <a href="mailto:riscos@snowstone.org.uk">email</a> to riscos@snowstone.org.uk. Finally, thanks a lot to Bent Bracke for some helpful hints and tips and for being kind enough to supply the German translation for HelpScan. Also, cheers to Chris Wraight for designing some icons for me.
<p>Can't think of anything else. Please let me know if you find any bugs or have any feature requests.
<p><em>Adam</em>
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