Subj : RESCAN
To   : Nicholas Boel
From : Michael Dukelsky
Date : Sun Feb 07 2021 12:36:48

Hello Nicholas,

Saturday February 06 2021, Nicholas Boel wrote to Kai Richter:

[...skipped...]
 NB> I'm only trying to avoid that confusion. Keeping a blank %RESCAN
 NB> command in the help file will make users think they can use it by
 NB> itself. So I was asking if the blank command was necessary. Maybe it
 NB> should include:

 NB> %RESCAN
 NB> <area>
 NB> <area2>
 NB> <...>

 NB> So that it is more specific to the %RESCAN function actually needing
 NB> input afterwards. Just because you don't see it as confusing, doesn't
 NB> mean others that don't actually setup, RTFM, and use the program on a
 NB> daily basis won't be. You must remember also, these *users* may have
 NB> access to multiple hosts and areafixes that do not act the same, or
 NB> even use the same commands. So the helpfile should be as specific as
 NB> possible to make sure the users understand and use the proper
 NB> commands.

I agree with you when you say that the helpfile should be as specific as possible. But the short help areafix sends now in response to %help command should be *short*. It is mainly intended to be used by a person who already knows how to talk to areafix but wants to look up a command she/he has not used for a long time. It would be inappropriate to give details here. I think it would be better to add a command for sending a detailed help with examples. Something like a man page. Maybe the command could be named %man.

Michael

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