Minimally Formatted ASCII

Minimally formatted ASCII files define contexts and their topic text. The Help information is displayed exactly as it appears in the file. A minimally formatted ASCII file cannot contain screen-formatting commands or explicit links. Any formatting codes are treated as ASCII text. Minimally formatted ASCII files have a fixed width.

A minimally formatted ASCII file contains a sequence of topics, each preceded by one or more context definitions. Each context definition must be on a separate line that begins with a help delimiter (>>). The topic consists of all subsequent lines up to the next context definition.

Implicit links work the same way they do in the other formats. A word in the Help text is an implicit link if it exists as a context somewhere in the Help system.

There are two ways to use a minimally formatted ASCII file. You can compress it with HELPMAKE and create a Help database, or a Help reader can access the uncompressed file directly. A Help reader can search a minimally formatted ASCII file faster if it has been compressed.

The following example coded in minimally formatted ASCII shows the same text as the QuickHelp and RTF examples presented elsewhere in this chapter:

>>>>Sample

---------------------[ Sample Help Topic ]-------------------

Help can contain text with three attributes:

Attribute QuickHelp Code

Italic \i

Bold \b

Underline \u

The visual appearance of each attribute

or combination of attributes is determined

by the application that displays the help.

See:

Coding, Expressions, Grammar, Keywords, Syntax

>>>>Coding

--------------------[ Sample Help: Coding ]------------------

Here's another sample help screen.