Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!killer!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!QUCDNSUR.BITNET!PYM
From: PYM@QUCDNSUR.BITNET (Dr John Pym [Cardiothoracic Surgery])
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: Menu system like help
Message-ID: <8807092105.AA13074@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 7 Jul 88 05:14:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 43

Michael Joe Walters   writes:

> I need to set up a system where the user can make choices and proceed down the
> tree to find the document they are interested in. The VMS Help facility is a
> good example of the type of system I am looking for.

> Can the VMS Help facility be used  as a separate process? This project should
> not be part of the Help system. I want the user to be able to type XYZ and get
> into the system just like Help gets you into the help system.

> Are there better systems you would suggest I look at? I am looking for free
> software, but would consider a commercial package.

This can easily be achieved using VMS HELP - why re-invent the wheel by
writing a heirarchical text database when  d i g i t a l  has already done
it for you?  Format your documents in help file format (remember only 74
characters per line). You can add the appropriate escape sequences to make
it all pretty e.g. reverse video, double height/width, graphics mode for simple
diagrams and flow charts, etc. Then build the modules into your own help
library and define a symbol to point to it - such as
$ XYZ :== HELP/LIBRARY=Dxxx:[WHEREVER]YOURHELP.HLB
remembering the full device and directory specification (defaults to SYS$HELP).

We have implemented a drug and medical procedural database for resident
staff in our large multidisciplinary intensive care unit using just this
method.  It is, however, an obvious choice for any heirarchical text database
which requires modular addition and revision - and it's cheap and easy to
implement.

As an aside, an excellent online help system has been released by Sun for
their new 386i workstation.  It is hypertext-like - just click the mouse
on an underlined word in the text and you go off to help information on
that particular key word. I understand that this will be added to upcoming
versions of Sun OS for other processors. This feature would be useful in
VMS help - IS ANYONE FROM VMS DEVELOPMENT LISTENING?

John Pym

BITNET:  PYM@QUCDNSUR                    Real life:   Dr. John Pym
                                                      Department of Surgery
Telephone (613)549-3898 - office                      Queen's University
          (613)548-4879 - home                        Kingston. Ontario
          (613)541-7792 - cellular                    CANADA. K7L 2V6