WBHelp.exe

The WBHelp.exe (a.k.a. The BR Help Compiler) program (DOS, Unix or Linux) is used to build a Business Rules! Help Facility file (i.e. WBCmd.wbh) from one or more ordinary text files.

Comments

WBHELP displays a message for each topic definition error that it encounters in the text files to be compiled. A new output file will be created only if WBHELP encounters zero errors.

The WBHelp.exe program can be acquired from Business Rules! Download Page as a part of adv-help.zip.

Syntax

The syntax of the WBHELP command, which must be typed in from the native operating system (not from Business Rules) is as follows:

Defaults

1.) Add a .wbh extension to the name of the first input file and save the help file under this new name.

2.) If no topic named HELP exists in any of the indicated files, automatically search for and compile a text file named HELP. If this file cannot be found, send an error message.

Parameters

The "-o" parameter is required when you wish to supply a name for the output file.

"Output file-ref" is the name and path of the output file.

"Input file-ref" is the name of all text files, which are to be compiled under the output file name. Each name should be separated by a space. Wildcards may be used when the command is specified from a Unix or Linux system, but not from a DOS system.

A device reference may be included at the end of the BRHELP command to redirect screen output to a file or the printer.

Technical Considerations

1.) BRHELP will identify and display error messages for the following topic definition errors:

o A topic name keyword is longer than 33 characters.

o A menu description is longer than 60 characters.

o Two topic definitions exist for the same topic name.

o A keyword used as a related topic reference is not defined with a main topic definition.

o Ending topic name not found.

FEATURES

The vertical bar character (|) may now be used to sign at the end of an attribute specification. Previously, the end of the attribute was signaled by the first invalid character. This feature allows for the following in a help text file: |H|Until now a blank was required before the U.

External file references - help subtopics may now include references to external help text files. If the subtopic is selected, Business Rules will search for the specified help text file, locate the subtopic as a main topic, and display the associated text or menus. For example, if "Using XCOPY" is selected from the following menu, Business Rules will find the COPYHELP.WBH help text file and display the text and/or menu which is associated with XCOPY (as a main topic reference) in that file:

:MOREHELP           Additional Help Topics
::XCOPY,COPYHELP.WBH     Using XCOPY
::EDLIN,EDLIN.WBH           Using Edlin
:MOREHELP

The -c option of the wbhelp command should be used if external topic references are used in a help text file.

Two options are available in the syntax of the wbhelp command. The -c option causes a .WBH help file to be created even if errors are found during the compile, and the -e option causes a list of all external file references to be output as part of the compile. The -e option must be used in conjunction with the -c option. Type wbhelp from the operating system for a display of the command's syntax and release number.See "Expanded wbhelp syntax" below for more information.

Menu descriptions - Attributes may now be specified for menu descriptions, as in the following example:

:HELP  |H|Help on Help

When a subtopic with a preceding asterisk (used to pass the subtopic value back to the program) is defined without a menu description, the menu description that is specified with the main topic of the same name, excluding the asterisk, is used instead. In the following example, the menu description "Copy files" is used on the OTHER menu, even though the menu description has been omitted.

:OTHER  Select the operation to be performed
::*BACKUP.BR    Back up files
::*RESTORE.BR   Restore files
::*COP.BR
:OTHER
:COP.BR     Copy files
HOW TO COPY FILES
....
:COP.BR

Also, if no menu description is found anywhere for a topic that appears in a menu, the wbhelp compiler now prints a warning to indicate this.

80+ character lines truncated - Lines longer than 80 characters (not including attributes) in help text files will be truncated rather than wrapped to the next line.