
	
	 RealHelp v006		by Keith Gaughan
	

		a help server which is MUCH better than !Help


   Preamble 

and thats not a hard thing to do!  Nothing could be more naff than Acorns
own !Help application, thats why I wrote this app which displays the help
far quicker and uses barely any processor time unlike !Help which seems to
like making me think my A3010s decided to start singletasking!

The program is also intended as an example of how to properly null poll,
however you may find code like pollmask%-NOThelpactive% a bit esoteric, what
it does is set null poll off if interactive help is inactive.


   Use 

Just load up the program and fire away. Clicking on the iconbar icon toggles
whether interactive help is enabled or not. If the icon is ghosted,
interactive help is deactivated, otherwise it is active.

There are a couple of settings you can change by selecting Configure from
the iconbar menu:

Setting the option Make pointer disappear will cause the mouse pointer to
temporarily disappear while the help is displayed until the mouse is moved
again. You can also change the time that the program will wait until
displaying the helptext.

You can also change the amount of time you want to wait before the help
appears and the length of time it stays on screen.

Setting the option Interactive help inactive causes much the same effect as
clicking the iconbar icon, toggling whether the program is active or not.

Notes for programmers:

 In your helpstrings, if you want to force a linebreak but dont want to
  introduce a new topic (the bit marked by a bulletmark), use |J. To force
  a linebreak and a new topic, use |M. Substitutions are formed in the
  same way as with !Help and these substitutions are detailed in the PRMs
  and the WIMP section of the StrongHelp SWI manuals. This is transparent to
  all other interactive help programs I know of.

 The full complement of RO3.7+ help substitutions has been studiously
  copied down and incorporated for your use in RealHelp.

 The program null polls every fifth of a second. It uses between 1% and 2%
  of the processor time on my A3010 when crunched. This jumps a bit when the
  display window is being drawn. When interactive help is inactive it turns
  null polling off completely. If you want an example of hyperefficient use
  of null polls, this is one - feel free to look at the source.


   Future 

 Because of the addition of the new Iconise tool to the window border in
  RISC OS 4 and the fact that I dont know the iconnumber given to it and
  its exact behavior, Ive not included help on it. If I find out though
  then I will. Sadly the Nested WindowManager (which I use) doesnt include
  the iconise tool, or at least I dont know how to activate it

If you have any of your own suggestions, feel free to contact me.


   Credits 

Program, Graphics & Template design by
	Keith Gaughan


   Address 

If you want to contact me for any reason, send it to:

Off term:
	Keith Gaughan,
	The Square,
	Aclare,
	Co. Sligo,
	REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Email:
	kgaughan@geocities.com
	kgaughan@mc.cit.ie
WWW:
	http://members.xoom.com/dlmdesign/index.htm


   Licence & Disclaimer 

 Keith Gaughan, 1998,99

This application is FREEWARE. This means that while this program has been
placed in the public domain, it is NOT Public Domain. The author reserves
copyright over this product. Use, copy and distribute this application freely
but please note that you may not charge any more to distribute this program
than the minimum cost of distributing it on whichever medium it is
distributed upon. Passing this software as the work of anybody other than the
author is an infringement of copyright.

This application has also been made OPEN SOURCE with the intent of
demonstrating programming techniques to others for the mutual benefit of all.
If you do alter this software, pass a copy of the altered software on to the
author. If any alterations made to the program prove beneficial and are
included in future versions, you will be accredited. As such, altered copies
should not be distributed without the permission of the author. The author
also encourages other authors to make their applications Open Source.

NO WARRANTIES. The author and any other party connected with this software
are not liable for anything occurring as a consquence, be it directly or
indirectly, from use, abuse, misuse, or inability to use (even in cases where
the author has been informed of this on a prior occasion) this software.


   History 

001		First version. Well, its better than !Help, anyway.
(23-Aug-1998)

002		Some applications were able to almost crash the program by
(24-Aug-1998)	not ending their helpstrings with a NULL character (CHR$0).
		Pinboard and some other applications gave an extra empty
		topic at the end of the help (caused by a useless CR (|M)
		at the end of the string). These problems have all been
		solved and its also a wee bit smaller too.

004		Having somehow restored most of DLMlib from the big bit
(21-Aug-1999)	bucket in the sky this summer, I decided today to add a few
		things. Clicking on the iconbar will toggle the activate/
		deactivate the program. The options file was revised. Small
		revisions to the redraw routine.

005		Did the ghosted icon and finally implemented the display
(22-Aug-1999)	opening routine properly. Implemented window closing. Its
		finally finished (I hope)

006		Id made some pretty major changes to the way in which status
(12-Sep-1999)	files are kept, so I updated the program for it.
