[Coco] what goes around comes around

[Bill Pierce]

Tim, I know the version of "help" you are referring to.
But also, the current NitrOS9 distro has an intact help system and the help file includes almost every command in the distro's "CMDS" dir and it's very easy to add more. There's just no way of knowing what commands or apps a user might have.

The one you are referring to does make it easier by just copying the "*.hlp" file into the "sys/help" dir, as opposed to editing a text help file. I remember a lot files I downloaded from Delphi and BBSs included .hlp in them. In most cases, the .hlp files can just be merged with the current help file as "I think" they use the same format

I was also one of the people complaining about the "usage" section of the new commands being "commented" out, but after realizing it did save system memory when merging files in groups that I saw why this was done. Also, on some cmds, adding in the usage breaks the 8k (lots of text) line and causes the system to then allocate 16k for a cmd the would have originally (without usage) loaded into 8k.

Bill P.


-----Original Message-----
From: tfadden <t.fadden at cox.net>
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Tue, Apr 28, 2020 5:19 pm
Subject: [Coco] what goes around comes around

First off, please don't take this as an insult or complaint.

I find it humorous that years ago I complained about OS9 functionality 
being taken away for a few milliseconds of speed, and the lack of 
coherent docs for the new commands.  Not to mention I gut shut down 
pretty fast. he he Now I see numerous comments about putting 
functionality back in various commands and the need for documentation.  
When I ran it daily, I used a utility called "help" where you kept 
command documentation in text format in a directory structure that you 
could edit, and add commands at will which I kept up to date.

Any how,

What goes around comes around. :-)
--
Tim Fadden
"Hey Schmidt, don't forget about the six P's.
Proper Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance!"


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