To translate one or more files of help source into a library which can be read by an application program, execute the hlib command script:
where source.. is a file of help text to be input and (on VAX/VMS platforms only) library is the library file to be written.
On VAX/VMS, the default file extensions are .HLP for the source file and .SHL for the library file. A wildcard in the name of the source file will cause each such file to be processed individually. If the first argument is omitted it defaults to "*". If the second argument is omitted then library = source with extension changed to .SHL. A wildcarded name in the second argument defaults to the name field of the first filename. Typical uses are as follows.
To translate source EXAMPLE.HLP into library file EXAMPLE.SHL:
$ @HLP_DIR:HLIB EXAMPLE
To translate all *.HLP source files in the current directory into *.SHL library files:
$ @HLP_DIR:HLIB
To translate all *.HLP source files in the current directory into *.SHL library files in directory [.SUB]:
$ @HLP_DIR:HLIB * [.SUB]*
On Unix platforms, less flexibility is provided. The library file always has file extension .shl. A series of source file names may be specified, perhaps using a wildcard, and each one will be translated into an appropriately-named .shl file. Typical uses are as follows.
To translate source example.hlp into library file example.shl:
% hlib example.hlp
To translate all *.hlp source files in the current directory into *.shl library files:
% hlib *.hlp
Programmers wishing to integrate help library creation into their application packages may use the HLP_CREH subprogram:
CALL HLP_CREH (NAMETR, LUIN, SOURCE, LUOUT, LIB, LUERR, EOS, JSTAT)
where the arguments are as follows:
The conventional EOS value in all present implementations is CHAR(0).