Help Files are designed to allow you to create explanations and policies concerning the use of programs and fields within programs. By pressing the help key, a user can display instructions related to the current position of the VDT cursor.
Some possible uses of Help Files are:
1. At the Option field of the DBR screen, a help record can be created outlining the Daily Procedure steps for new counter managers.
2. At the Return Location field on the RA Open screen, a help record can be created which lists the codes for all accepted drop locations and their related drop charges.
3. If counter agents are frequently making errors in the use of a particular field, a help record giving instructions on its proper use can be created. Examples of this would be to create a listing of valid responses for Source and Type codes (line 9 of the RA Open screen).
It is not our intention to place a condensed version of the user manuals in the Help File, but to reserve this function for notes desired by CARS+ users.
I. HOW A HELP FILE WORKS
A help message can be created for any program Option field or data field. When a user presses the "F7" key while the cursor is at a field, the following processes take place:
1. The computer is instructed to look in the Help directory and find the Help File with a name matching that of the CARS+ program being used. If no file is found, the following message will display:
NO HELP FOUND Press RETURN to continue
2. If a Help File is found, the computer searches the file for a help message referencing the data field in question. If no reference to the data field is found, the NO HELP FOUND message displays. If a message is found, the help text displays, as follows:
a. On windowed programs, if Help is requested from either the Main window or the Option field of a sub-window, the help text displays on the lower half of the screen.
b. If Help is requested from a data field on a sub-window, the help text displays on the very bottom of the screen, one line at a time.
c. On non-windowed programs, the help text displays on the bottom three lines of the screen.
3. If the help text is longer than the space provided, a plus sign (+) appears in the lower right corner of the screen. Pressing RET causes the rest of the text to display. Pressing "ESC" twice terminates the help display and returns the cursor to its original position.
II. CREATING A HELP FILE
To access the Edit Help File Text program, type EDTHLP (RET) at any menu "OPTION:" field or the appropriate line number on the System Configuration Menu. The screen will then display:
| OPTION: EDIT HELP FILE TEXT Program Name 001. 002. 003. 004. 005. 006. 007. 008. 009. 010. 011. 012. 013. 014. 015. 016. 017. 018. 019. 020. 1SAVE 2+20 LINES3ERASE 4-20 LINES5 6 7HELP 8 |
Enter data as follows:
|
PROGRAM NAME |
From the list of program names at the end of this chapter, enter the name of the program for which you wish to create help text. EXAMPLE: Type RAOPEN (RET). |
|
FIELDS 001 |
The rest of the screen consists of twenty lines (fields) of 75 characters each. These are the first set of 20 lines out of a possible 200 lines of help text for a single CARS+ program. Using the F2 and F4 keys you can advance or return to other lines in the help record. |
CREATING HELP TEXT
Help messages are created by combining the following five types of line input on the Edit Help File Text screen:
1. Data field address codes.
2. Actual help text which will display when F7 is used.
3. Blank lines
4. Editorial comments that do not display when F7 is pressed.
5. Special display commands.
Each of the above types of input are described below.
A. DATA FIELD ADDRESS CODE
The first step in creating a help message is to enter the Field Address Code for the field you wish to attach help text. When the "F7" Help Key is pressed, the Help File is read from the beginning in an attempt to find a Field Address which matches the cursor's current field position in the screen. Field Addresses are made up of an asterisk "*" followed by a three character code. The codes are created as follows:
1. For non-windowed programs the format is:
*Pnn
where:
P = Page Number of screen. Even if the screen has only a single page, the value "1" must be entered.
nn = Data Field Number.
Examples:
*100 - references the Option Field on Page One.
*101 - references Data Field 1 on Page One.
*216 - references Data Field 16 on Page Two.
2. For window programs the format is:
*Wnn
where:
W = Window code, the options are:
M = Main window.
A, B, C, AD, etc. = Sub-window codes shown on Main window.
nn = Data Group or Data Field Number.
Examples:
*M00 - references the Option Field on the Main window.
*M09 - references Data Group 9 on the Main window.
*A00 - references the Option Field on sub-window A.
*C02 - references Data Group 2 on sub-window C.
B. ACTUAL HELP TEXT
All lines of text entered into lines WITHOUT a leading asterisk will display when the F7 key is pressed. Enter up to 75 characters per line of help text. Your terminal will beep at you if you attempt to enter more than 70 characters and all subsequent characters will be lost. After each line press RETURN to drop down to the next numbered field.
Warning: When typing the Help text, DO NOT use the TAB key to move the cursor. Using the TAB key will cause scrolling problems to occur when the message is displayed on a CARS+ screen.
C. BLANK LINES
Blank lines are created in a message by typing a period "." in the first character position of a line and then pressing Return.
D. THE "END" COMMAND
The last line of each help message MUST be *END. This indicates the end of the message and that any lines that appear after it are meant for a new Field Address Code.
EXAMPLE 1:
The following is an example of a Help File for the RA Open screen's Data Group 9 on the Main Window:
| OPTION: EDIT HELP FILE TEXT Program Acronym RAOPEN 001 *M09 002 DATA GROUP 9 SOURCE CODE, TYPE CODE, ID NUMBER 003 . 004 We do not make use of the Type Code or ID Number fields, but a Source 005 Code is required on all RAs. The Source Code answers the question 006 "How did this customer hear about us?" It identifies our general 007 sources of business. The following are the accepted Source Codes: 008 . 009 APH Airport courtesy phone HTL Local Hotel referral 010 INS Insurance replacement rental MAG Inflight magazine 011 REP Repeat customer REZ National Res Center 012 WLK Walk-up WOM Word of Mouth 013 YP Yellow Pages 014 . 015 Plus the following special codes are active for July: 016 . 017 2ND State Secondary School Teachers Convention July 14th-17th 018 CM Connie Mack Little League World Series July 20th-25th 019 *END 020 1SAVE 2+20 LINES3ERASE 4-20 LINES5 6 7HELP 8 |
This message would appear as follows if the F7 key were pressed while the cursor was at Field 9:
| OPTION: __________ RA OPEN 1 Name */* 11 Ret Date/Time */* 2 Address * 12 Ret Loc/Drop TUS/* 3 C/S/Z */*/* 13 Veh/Cl/Rt/Cl */*/*/* 4 Phon/DOB * 14 Odom/Fuel/Ppd */*/* 5 Locl Cnt * 15 CDW/PAI/PEC */N/N 6 Li/St/Ex */*/* 16 Empl/Drw TMC/1 7 FOP/#/Ex */*/* A-Rates E-ADrv/Veh N-Notes 8 Ath#/Amt */* B-DB/Cust F-Res/Comm X-Exchng 9 Sr/Ty/ID */*/* C-Dep/Vch G-Dts/Misc 10 Notes * D-Options H-RA Close F1=SAVE F2=SWIPE F3=ERASE F6=SEARCH F8=ESTIMATE DATA GROUP 9 SOURCE CODE, TYPE CODE, ID NUMBER We do not make use of the Type Code or ID Number fields, but a Source Code is required on all RAs. The Source Code answers the question,"How did this customer hear about us?" It identifies our general sources of business. The following are the accepted Source Codes: APH Airport courtesy phone HTL Local Hotel referral INS Insurance replacement rental MAG Inflight magazine REP Repeat customer REZ National Res Center WLK Walk-up WOM Word of Mouth YP Yellow Pages + |
The plus sign "+" in the lower right corner indicates that this help message was too long to display on just one screen. If the user presses the Return Key, the next twelve lines of this message will display.
EXAMPLE 2:
The following is an example of a Help File for the RA Open screen's S subwindow field 2:
| OPTION: EDIT HELP FILE TEXT Program Acronym RAOPEN 001 *S02 002 PROMO CONVERSION CHART FOR DOLLAR PROMOS 003 DOLLAR CODE DESCRIPTION PC CODE 004 DXFD DOLLAR EXPRESS FREE DAY PC100203 005 KISS DOLLAR 5% OR 10% OFF PC100251 006 UPG DOLLAR ONE CAR UPGRADE PC100371 007 HLT10 DOLLAR HILTON HOTELS 10% PC100975 008 EDS01 DOLLAR 10% OFF WEEKEND PC101003 009 *END 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020 1SAVE 2+20 LINES3ERASE 4-20 LINES5 6 7HELP 8 |
This message would appear as follows if the F7 key were pressed while the cursor was at Field 2 in the S subwindow.
| OPTION: __________________ PROMOS/CERTS/VOUCHERS 1 Documnet Type PROMO $=cash off D=days off P=cash/day off 2 PC # * %=percent off U=upgrade S=special rate 3 Discount Type * G=Free Tank of Gas 13 * 14 * 15 * 16 * PROMO CONVERSION CHART FOR DOLLAR PROMOS |
F. EDITORIAL COMMENTS
Any text line beginning with an asterisk (*) is a program command line or comment. These lines are not displayed as help text when pressing "F7". Comments are used for reminders to the person creating the text file.
G. SPECIAL DISPLAY COMMANDS
In order to enhance the display of the help text, the following commands can be used:
*BLINK - Causes all following lines of text to blink on and off.
*NOBLINK - Cancels BLINK command.
*REVERSE - Causes all following lines of text to display as black letters on highlighted background (reverse video).
*NOREVERSE - Cancels REVERSE command.
The display commands MUST be used in pairs. That is if you use the command to turn on the blink feature within a message, you must also turn off the blink feature within the same message.
These commands can be combined to add extra emphasis to your text.
For example, if your counter personnel erroneously use the Direct Bill sub-window on the RA Open screen to process Insurance billings, the following help text could be created:
| OPTION: EDIT HELP FILE TEXT Program Acronym RAOPEN 001.*B00 002.*This text warns against using the B Subwindow for Ins. Billings. 003.*REVERSE 004.*BLINK 005.THIS SUBWINDOW IS NOT TO BE USED FOR INSURANCE BILLINGS. 006.*NOREVERSE 007.*NOBLINK 008 . 009.Insurance replacement billings are handled by the CV Subwindow. 010.The B Subwindow is only used for billing corporate accounts for rentals 011.made by their employees. Use of this Subwindow assumes that the Bill- 012.To party assumes FULL responsibility for ALL CHARGES. 013.. 014.*BLINK 015.IF IN DOUBT, PLEASE SEEK ASSISTANCE OF A SUPERVISOR. 016.*NOBLINK 017.*END 018. 019. 020 1SAVE 2+20 LINES3ERASE 4-20 LINES5 6 7HELP 8 |
The following special features are part of the above message:
1. The comment on line 002 does not display when a user presses the F7 key. This editorial comment is there as an aid to the person who maintains these help messages.
2. Due to the display commands on lines 003 and 004, the sentence on line 005 will appear as a flashing bar across the screen with the words as black letters.
3. The commands on lines 006 and 007 turn off those display features so that the main body of the help text is displayed as normal video display.
4. The message on line 015 will blink but will not appear as reverse video.
EDITING HELP TEXT FILES
Help text can be edited by pulling the desired text up on the edit screen through the use of the Program Acronym and paging through the text by using the F2 and F4 keys. Once up on the screen, text can be edited and then resaved.
PROGRAM NAMES
Listed below are the program names for those programs for which Help Files are most commonly written. Other program names can be obtained from Thermeon's Customer Support Department. (Please note that the program name in many cases is not the same as the acronym used to access the program from a menu "OPTION" field.)
Program Program Name
----------------------------------------------------------- Reservations RESUPD
RA Open RAOPEN
RA Close RACLOS
Foreign RA Entry FRGNIN
Petty Cash Entry PTYCSH
Edit Voucher EDTVCH
Void RA VOIDRA
Batch Open RA BCHOPN
Batch Close RA BCHCLS
One-Step Batch Entry ONESTP
Edit Opening Fields EDTOPN
Edit Closed RA EDTCLS
Vehicle History Update HSTUPD