-------------- Fastgraph/Help -------------- Copyright 1993 Ted Gruber Software. All rights reserved. Version 3.03b: Wide-area beta version Introduction ------------ Fastgraph/Help is a context-senstive help system that you can use with any DOS text editor to provide quick assistance when using Fastgraph. It can run as an ordinary DOS program, or as a resident program (TSR). It features hypertext jumps and a cut and paste facility. It is provided to Fastgraph customers as copyrighted freeware. Files ----- Fastgraph/Help is distributed on our bulletin board in the file FGH303B.ZIP The zip file contains the following files: FGHELP.EXE -- help engine FGHELP.HLP -- binary help file FGHELP.CFG -- optional configuration file FGHELP.DOC -- this file FILE_ID.DIZ -- BBS file description When you run Fastgraph/Help, if you do not have enough EMS to swap the help file to memory, a swap file will be created on your disk. This file will reside in the same directory as FGHELP.EXE. FGHELP.SWP -- Swap file created by FGHELP.EXE. Installing Fastgraph/Help ------------------------- To install Fastgraph/Help, simply copy the necessary files into a subdirectory in your path. We recommend you use an existing subdirectory such as C:\FG or C:\BIN, or, if you prefer, you can create a separate subdirectory for FGHELP and add it to your path. It is not necessary to set an environment variable for Fastgraph/Help, but it may be helpful. If you put the binary help file in a subdirectory that is not in your path, you can use an environment variable to tell Fastgraph/Help where to look for it: SET FGHELP= where is the full directory path where the FGHELP.HLP file is located. Fastgraph/Help checks the environment, the current directory, the directory of the help engine, and the path, in that order, to find the binary help file. If it is unable to find the binary help file, Fastgraph/Help will not run. Starting Fastgraph/Help ----------------------- Fastgraph/help will run as either a stand-alone program or as a TSR. To run Fastgraph/Help in stand-alone mode, simply type: FGHELP To load Fastgraph/Help as a swappable TSR, type: FGHELP /S When running in TSR mode, a small kernel of the program is loaded in conventional memory. The remainder of the program is loaded into expanded or extended memory, provided enough memory is available to do so. If there is not enough expanded or extended memory, the non-kernal portion of the program is swapped to disk. If you prefer, you can force Fastgraph/Help to swap to disk. This will be slower, but it will free up your EMS and XMS memory for other uses. To force disk swapping, type: FGHELP /D To unload Fastgraph/Help, type: FGHELP /U This will remove Fastgraph/Help from RAM and also delete the current swap file. These commands only work from the DOS command line. Do not try to load or unload Fastgraph/Help as a TSR when shelled from another program or while in Windows. As an added safety feature, Fastgraph/Help cannot be loaded twice. If you try to load it a second time, you will receive a simple warning message. Running Fastgraph/Help ---------------------- When Fastgraph/Help is loaded into RAM in TSR mode, you can make it pop up over your other applications. For example, you can make Fastgraph/Help pop up over your editor or compiler IDE. To cause it to pop up, you must press the hot key. The default hot keys are as follows: -- pop up on the FGHELP topic index -- pop up on context-sensitive help The context-sensitive help feature is nifty. Suppose you can't remember what parameters to pass to fg_showpcx. You can put your cursor anywhere under the letters in "fg_showpcx" and press CTRL-F1. Fastgraph/Help will pop up the description of fg_showpcx. In other words, you will receive immediate help, you don't have to go through the menus to find the topic you have a question about. Navigating Fastgraph/Help ------------------------- When in Fastgraph/Help, the following keys will be active: display the topic index display the previous topic mark the beginning of a block mark the end of a block

paste the marked block into your editor (TSR version) or text file (non-resident version) move to next cross reference topic, if there is one move to previous cross reference topic, if there is one find next topic match in context-sensitive mode exit the current help window, or if at the topic index, exit Fastgraph/Help exit Fastgraph/Help Context-Sensitive Help ---------------------- Context-sensitive help will search for the best match on a partial reference. For example, if you type "fg_cl" and hit the context-sensitive hot key, and you will get the reference to fg_clipmask. Pressing several times will pop up fg_clpimage, fg_cliprect, and fg_clprectw. Fastgraph/Help will cycle through the available choices. This is helpful when you can't remember the exact spelling of a Fastgraph function. If you can remember the first four letters, Fastgraph/Help will tell you the rest. Cut and Paste ------------- Perhaps one of the most useful operations in Fastgraph/Help is the ability to cut and paste text from the help system to the underlying text editor. Cut and paste is available in both the resident and non-resident versions. However, it is implemented differently in each. In the resident version, you can paste the text directly to your underlying text editor. In the non-resident version, it gets appended to a text file. Cut and Paste (resident mode) ----------------------------- To cut and paste, you must first mark the desired block of text. Use the F7 key to begin marking the text. Use F8 to mark the end of the text. The marked text is shown highlighted in red. If you want a different block of text, press F7 and F8 again. When you have successfully highlighted the desired block of text, press

This will cause Fastgraph/Help to exit from popup mode and return to the background. The highlighted text will then appear in whatever program is now in the foreground, such as your editor, word processor, or IDE. For pasting to your editor, we recommend you turn auto-indenting off. Otherwise, the text will gradually be seen to indent after each line. Cut and Paste (non-resident mode) --------------------------------- To cut and paste in non-resident mode, first mark the text using F7 and F8 as above. Then press

The desired text will be written to a text file called FGHELP.TMP This is a temporary ASCII file. It will show up in your current directory. You may edit this file or copy it into other files. After you are done using it, you will probably want to delete it. SideKick -------- Borland's SideKick can create problems for other TSRs. Fastgraph/Help avoids these problems by first checking to see if SideKick is in memory. If it is, Fastgraph Help tries to patch the copy of SideKick that is in memory so that other TSRs can be loaded safely after SideKick. However, a patched copy of SideKick is not able to keep from loading it twice. Fastgraph/Help also is able to detect the presence of SideKick Plus. However, SideKick Plus is normally more well-behaved than SideKick, so you should almost always be able to safely load a TSR after SideKick Plus. Configurable HotKeys -------------------- Fastgraph/Help can be activated with two hotkeys, depending on how you want to use it. By default these keys are set at master topic index, and for context-sensitive help. We realize that these hotkeys may not be to your liking, so a mechanism to customize these is available. You can create a configuration file called FGHELP.CFG. Fastgraph/Help will look for this file when you load the program. Once the program is resident, you must first unload it and then reload it before any changes to the configuration file are recognized. To do this, you need to have two lines in the configuration file. The first line describes the hot key for popping up the topical index. The second line describes the context-sensitive hot key. TSRs are normally activated by a combination of keys pressed simulataneously. For Fastgraph/Help, a hot key is really a combination of a single key that is pressed along with one or more shift keys (Ctrl, Alt, LeftShift, RightShift, etc.). The following chart show numeric values of the shift keys that are used in the configuration file: Value Hot Key 0x0800 Alt key 0x0400 Ctrl key 0x0200 Left Shift key 0x0100 Right Shift key 0x00xx Scan code for main key To produce a hot key for , you would find that 0x0400 represents the key, and 0x003B represents the key. Combined, you get a value of 0x043B. For , you would get a hot key combination of 0x023B. Therefore, the configuration file looks like this: Line 1: 0x043B Line 2: 0x023B Just create this file with your favorite text editor, and put it in the same directory as FGHELP.EXE. Fine Print ---------- Fastgraph/Help is provided as is, without any warranties, express or implied or otherwise. It is copyrighted freeware, which means you may use it without charge. You may give copies of this program to your friends, and you may upload it to bulletin boards and online services. You may not sell this program or include it in any catalog or CD-ROM distribution without the express written permission of Ted Gruber Software. Acknowledgements ---------------- Fastgraph/Help was written by: Mike Stephenson KRC Technologies 204 S Nardo Ave Solana Beach, CA 92075-2023 (619) 259-5225 KRC Technologies does computer consulting and custom software on a work for hire basis. Fastgraph was written by: Ted Gruber Software PO Box 13408 Las Vegas, NV 89112-1408 (702) 735-1980 voice (702) 796-7134 bbs (702) 735-4603 fax Fastgraph is a programmer's graphics library useful for writing games and other graphics application. For more information about Fastgraph, including a shareware evaluation kit, contact Ted Gruber Software.