Welcome to the HELP Command
How to use the HELP Command
How to write .HLP Files
Help on CP/M in general
:HELP: Welcome to the HELP Command
     Welcome  to the HELP Command!   The HELP Command is designed to assist
you,  the  CP/M  user,  in  the use of CP/M in general  and  specific  CP/M
commands  in  particular.   It  is  designed  as  an  interactive,  on-line
assistance system.
     HELP pulls in files named <FILENAME>.HLP from disk and displays  these
to the user in a paged mode.  These files are of two basic types -- indexed
and non-indexed.

     Indexed files are those .HLP files which start with an index.  This is
an  example  of  an indexed file.   When HELP loads  an  indexed  file,  it
displays  this index to the user and allows him to select entries from  it.
The  user may select as many entries as he desires in any order he  desires
by  simply typing the letter of his selection.   Once the user has made his
selection, help will look up the body of text he selected and display it to
him  in a paged mode.   When the user has finished reading  his  selection,
HELP  then returns him to the index menu.   Typing a Control-C  will return
the user to CP/M.
     Non-indexed  files  are  those .HLP files which do not start  with  an
index.   In such cases,  HELP will immediately display the contents of  the
file to the user and,  when the user has finished looking at it,  HELP will
return to CP/M.
     HELP is menu-driven, and all the commands available to the user at any
given time are displayed to him.

     HELP can be a very useful tool for on-line reference to the user.  It,
in conjunction with the many HLP files now available, has already proven to
be of significant value.
                                             Richard Conn
:HELP: How to use the HELP Command
     The HELP Command is executed in one of three ways:
          (1) by just typing 'HELP'
          (2) by typing 'HELP FILENAME', where FILENAME
              is the name of a disk file named FILENAME.HLP
          (3) by typing 'HELP FILENAME.EXT', where
              FILENAME.EXT is the name of a file created in
              the format of a help file

     If the user types just 'HELP',  he will receive the HELP.HLP help file
(now being displayed to you).  For all other forms of the HELP command, the
user will see the specified help file information.  Generally speaking, the
name  of the help file should be indicative of its  subject,  like  CPM.HLP
should contain help information on CP/M.
:HELP: How to write .HLP files
     Files  used by the HELP program are either simple CP/M-standard  files
of   ASCII   text  or  ASCII  files  generated  by  the  Word   Star   text
editor/formatter.  These files, as mentioned above, are of two basic types:
indexed  and non-indexed,  and each type is related to the other and is  of
the same basic format.


                          Grouping of Information

     Information  displayed to the user is grouped by the index in  indexed
HLP  files  and may also be grouped by lines beginning with Form Feed  (^L)
characters.  Grouping is an effective way to logically organize information
so  that  meaning will be more clear to the user and units  of  information
will not pass between screen displays.


                          Non-Indexed .HLP Files

     Non-indexed .HLP files are simple ASCII files which start with a colon
(:) as the first character of the file and consist of ASCII text (with each
line terminated by a carriage return/line feed character combination).  The
information  in  such  a help file consists of all text after  the  leading
colon  up to either the terminating end-of-file mark (control-Z) or  a  new
line which starts with a colon.


                            Indexed .HLP Files

     Indexed  .HLP  files are simple ASCII files which do not start with  a
colon  (:)  as the first character of the file.   This type  of  .HLP  file
consists  of one or more normal ASCII text lines as the first lines of  the
file  followed by information sections which begin with a line whose  first
character  is  a  colon  and end with either the first  line  of  the  next
information section or the end of the file.
:HELP: General Information on CP/M
     CP/M is a monitor control program for microcomputer system development
which  uses IBM-compatible flexible disks (floppy disks) for mass  storage.
Using  a  microcomputer  mainframe  based on Intel's 8080  or  Zilog's  Z80
microprocessor,   CP/M   provides   a  general  environment   for   program
construction,  storage,  and editing, along with assembly and program debug
facilities.   An important feature of CP/M is that it can be easily altered
to  execute  with any computer configuration which uses an  Intel  8080  or
Zilog  Z80 Microprocessor and has at least 16K bytes of main memory with up
to four IBM-compatable diskette drives.
     The  CP/M monitor provides access to programs through a  comprehensive
file  management  system.    The  file  subsystem  supports  a  named  file
structure,  allowing dynamic allocation of file space as well as sequential
and  random  file access.   Using this file system,  a up  to  64  distinct
programs can be stored in both source and machine-executable form.
     Digital  Research,  the  designer of CP/M,  has provided a set of  six
manuals which describe the use and operation of CP/M in detail.






     These manuals are:
          1.  An Introduction to CP/M Features and Facilities
          2.  ED:  A Context Editor for the CP/M Disk System
          3.  ASM:  CP/M Assembler User's Manual
          4.  DDT:  CP/M Dynamic Debugging Tool User's Manual
          5.  CP/M Interface Guide
          6.  CP/M System Alteration Guide

     As the reader can see,  CP/M supports a context editor,  an  assembler
(Intel-compatable),  and  a  debugger system.   These are available in  the
basic CP/M package.   There is a large variety of other software  available
which  can  run under CP/M with little or no modification.   Such  software
includes  several  assemblers (both 8080 and  Z80),  a  symbolic  debugger,
several  high-level  languages (including FORTRAN  IV  {compiler},  BASIC-E
{translator},  CBASIC {translator}, many interpretive BASICs, ALGOL, FOCAL,
and  C),  and  several special-purpose applications programs (such as  text
formatting systems and accounting systems).

     Refer  to the indicated manuals and/or the CP/M help file for  further
information.
