To decode a Help file, use the following syntax:
HELPMAKE /D[[c]] [[/Ooutfile]]optionssourcefiles
The /D option decodes a Help file or splits a concatenated file into its component databases. The /D option can take a qualifying character c, which is either S or U.
Specify /D without a qualifying character to fully decode a database into a text file that is in QuickHelp format, with all links and formatting information intact. If the physical Help file contains concatenated databases, only the first database is decoded.
Specify /DU to decompress the database and remove all screen formatting and links. If the physical Help file contains concatenated databases, only the first database is decoded.
Specify /DS to split (deconcatenate) a physical Help file that contains one or more databases. HELPMAKE creates a physical Help file for each database in the original Help file. The Help file is not decompressed. HELPMAKE names the deconcatenated files using the names of the databases. The deconcatenated files are placed in the current directory. If a database in the file has a name that matches the name of the original physical Help file, HELPMAKE issues an error. In this case, rename the physical Help file, or run HELPMAKE in another directory and specify a path with the source file. Do not use the /O option with /DS.
The /O option specifies a filename for the decoded file. If /O is not specified, HELPMAKE sends the text to standard output. This option is not valid when using /DS.
There is one option available to control decoding. The /T option translates commands from internal format to dot-command format. This option applies only when using /D. It is recommended to always use this option to make the resulting source file more readable.
Additional options are discussed in “Other Options”.
The sourcefiles field specifies one or more physical Help files.
Example
The following example decodes the Help file my.hlp into the source file my.src:
HELPMAKE /D /T /Omy.src my.hlp