Overview

The help system in the Mapping facility allows you to create help messages for an entire map or a specific field on a map.

Help created using the help system has the following advantages over user-written help:

Processing of the help request is transparent to the dialog or program that uses the map.
During a help session, the help system preserves the map attributes and any data that has been entered, but not yet stored, until the help session is over. When the session is over, the system restores that information.
Help can be added to an existing system without changing any code and without having to recompile any dialogs or programs.

This chapter provides step-by-step instructions on how to create the text and associate it with a map or field as well as a brief overview of how to use the help system.

Note: Physical Terminals (PTERMs) should be defined with the READBUFFER option. PTERMs defined with NOREADBUFFER may not function properly. For more information about the READBUFFER PTERM option, see the CA IDMS System Generation Guide.