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Assist is a hypertext based guide, like MultiView® or AmigaGuide®
BUT not excactly! To cut the long story short, just read the rest of this
'node' ;I will explain to you what a node is later...
FEATURES
* Run as commodity.
* Features an AppIcon for drag'n'drop.
* Uses an AppWindow for easier browsing.
* Uses AppMenus for even more control.
* Supports AREXX.
* Reads Assist and AmigaGuide® documents.
* Startup configuration; You can configure Assist depending on the
free memory you have.
* It is a fast, hypertext based, guiding system. It supports several
file types into its documents:ASCII files, AmigaDOS programs, Pictures
sounds and user programable requests.
* It supports any font, proportional or not.
* It is fully configurable.
* It can use the Workbench screen, the current screen or even a public one.
* It supports external modules.
* It is very popular here :-)
* It comes with several utilities.
* It is tottaly free!
* It is getting better every day!
* And more...
Improvents
Improvements since last version (V1.6)
* Convert now handles correct the '@Master' and '@Database' commands.
* Improved tooltypes support.
* Better keyboard control.
* Convert now handles correct the font styles.
* Improved loading process
* Fixed bug which meant that once you had a title with more than
a certain total number of characters, Assist would display the
half title and the rest would be displayed as a line.
Thanks for reporting it!
* Fixed bug in Convert (Sometimes it would just stop processing!)
* Fixed hypertext handling bug.
* Assist now handle the TAB character.
* Improved docs.
I think i covered every request/suggestion concerning Assist besides
the 'bug' with the non 8p screen fonts. Dont worry though!
Soon, i will fix that too!
A guy mailed me and asked me to include inline images in the docs
or something. If you are this guy, please email me becouse
it seems a cool idea!
---Please, checkout the improvements chapter for more.
How to use
Use the menus or the keaboard shortcuts. In order to read the whole
thing, use the scroller, the arrows or the cursor keys.
If a phrase is highlighted, then by moving the mouse pointer on it, the
mouse pointer will turn to something else.
(If you have activated the appropriate menu option).
You can see what will happen if you press the left mouse button at the
bottom of the window, next to the Assist little icon.
(Again, if you have activated the appropriate menu option).
If you press the left mouse buton, the action will be carried out. Easy!
Just in case, take a look at this cute picture (hm..)
How to write a .help document?
Well, you have two choices. You could have three but i am too busy
at the time to complete my .help authoring tool..Anyway
The first one is to use an AmigaGuide® authoring tool, like the great
Heddley and then convert it to a .help file using Convert
or you can write it using a text editor(preferably without the wrap text
facility, or one that will allow you to deactivate it.) CED Pro is great
for this task. Using the first way is easier but you loose some of the
extra features of Assist, since none of the authoring tools for
AmigaGuide® documents support them, so far.. You would have to edit them
or use the second way in order to use those facilities(requesters, Amiga
DOS files etc). Your file must have a .help extension. As for the
supported commands so far, check the appropriate file in the AUX_PRG:Docs
directory. Remember that ALL .help files MUST have a node called Main.
A node is a part of the document which forms another document. Just
like the AmigaGuide®. Note also that the host screen must have a
normal 10p bar otherwise Assist wont even let you have a glance of it!
The host screen must be at least 500X200. If not, Assist wont run on that
screen.
If you want, i can offer custom screen support in version 1.8 but i
really think that this wont be so usefull; Its up to you!
About public screens
Public screens opened with BlitzII ScreenTags command are not accepted!
I dont know why! The public screen is in the public screens list BUT
you cant lock it! (lockpubscreen() function). ACID!!...
I suggest you read my advices before starting writting
your own .help files.
Are there any bugs?
Well, there are some but very minor ones. The first one is that the
scroller might couse you some trouble. You see, this is the last
type of gadget i wrote the code for(as i told you, i use my MPInterface
routines) and i haven't test it that much..
Dont worry that much though..I said that it MIGHT couse you trouble!
I had no problems..
BlitzII is not that fast!(RoadRunner!) :-( I hope V2.1 is faster!
Another thing; When you use Assist as the default tool for an icon, it
wont work!! BlitzII takes only the name in and it excludes the path!!!
Serious bug! Therefore the .help file must be in AUX_PRG: in order to
run by double clicking its icon!!! ACID:Do something! This happens
when you set Assist as the default tool for an icon, i repeat.
Note that i can do nothing for the two previous bugs 'couse BlitzII
take care of stuff. I would have to use direct calls to AmigaOS for
them. (i.e edit$(), which is supposed to do the same thing that
fgets() function of C does, is the reason that Assist WAS so slow while
loading (V1.0-1.4) ). As for the second bug, it is really very odd..
That was all! Not really bugs but hey, 'good bug is only the dead bug!'
(That was not mine, it is copyrighted by a philosopher whose name i cannot
remember now).
Another bug..When Assist is iconified, you can access the menu option
only by using their keyboard shortcuts. It doesn't make sense to me!
LATEST REPORT!
-------------
DO NOT start Assist from ZShell!! Somehow, ZShell manage to couse
SEVERE problems to Assist! Simply exit ZShell and use shell or run Assist
from WBench. I will try to workout what the .... is going on!
Future
Assist certainly has a future ahead..Some things that i will (might) add
are the following:
* Fix any possible bugs (please, read previous paragraph).
* More commands! (I need your suggestions on this one please).
* I am planning to support ALL commands of AmigaGuide® (well, almost..)
The big problem is that i dont have all the commands of AmigaGuide®!
If anyone has the AmigaGuide® developers pack, please uuencode-email
it to me. Frankly, i dont know what else to add!
* Improved AREXX support. (How can i set AREXX variables from within BlitzII?)
* An authoring tool for Assist documents!
I am working on it!
THIS PROGRAM IS GIFTWARE! BUT, SINCE YOU WILL USE IT, I NEED
YOUR SUGGESTIONS ON IT. I WANT A PROGRAM THAT WILL DO WHAT YOU
WANT AND WILL FULFIL ALL YOUR NEEDS. THATS WHY JUST EMAIL ME!!
If you have any ideas, please mail me..BTW:I am looking
for some code about datatypes support from within BlitzII. Any help
is welcome!
If you want to know the next version of Assist you have some alternatives:
1. finger gsa50@elyros.cs.teiher.gr and you will see some cool stuff!
(Thats if i have updated my .project file ;-)
2. Email me (gsa50@cs.teiher.gr) and ask for the next version.
I will uuencode and sent it over to you.
3. Check http://tylissos.cs.teiher.gr (if my page is ready you will
be able to d/l any program of CyBERDYNE SySTEMS from there!)
NEW!
The WWW server of TEI is finally ready! You can
access it with AMosaic, Netscape or any other HTML browser. The URL is
http://tylissos.cs.teiher.gr
It is still under construction but soon it will have more pages and
i will also have my own page there...
You will be able to d/l the latest projects of CyBERDYNE SySTEMS from my page.
Do me a favour:Mail to gsa17@cs.teiher.gr (a friend of mine...) and tell
him what do you think about the server. We really want it to be a good
one!
Background
I was using AmigaGuide® documents for all my projects but it wasn't
that good for me. I mean AmigaGuide® is limited to WB3.0+ users as
far as the fonts and the datatypes are concerned. So, i decided to
write my own hypterext guide. During the development i added some more
features. I hope you like it. I certainly decided to use it from
now on instead AmigaGuide® documents. Convert was created to help
me test Assist. But, during the Assist's development, i made
convert even more capable and now it can convert any .guide file to
a .help file vice versa.
Registration
This program(including all the acompanying files in the archive) is
GiftWare. That means that you can distribute it free.
However, money or even gifts(programs that you have written, postcards or
even a (e)mail) are appreciated and would be very important to me. I mean
that this would show that you find the program useful.
The source files for convert and MPInterface are at your disposal
if you decide to contribute! (Sorry but Assit code is just to..secret!)
Mark Papadakis 21.11.95