.help phelp Mar90 system
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NAME
phelp -- page the output of the HELP task
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USAGE
phelp template
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PARAMETERS
The \fIphelp\fR parameters are the same as for \fIhelp\fR except that
the \fIpage\fR and \fInlpp\fR parameters are omitted.
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DESCRIPTION
The \fIphelp\fR task is a front end to \fIhelp\fR which spools the output
of \fIhelp\fR in a scratch file, then calls the file pager \fIpage\fR to
view the output text.  The advantage is that while \fIhelp\fR pages its
output, one can only move forward through the output text.  By using
\fIphelp\fR it is possible to randomly scan the spooled help text, e.g.,
skipping forward to get a quick overview and then backing up to read the
details more carefully.  This capability is especially useful when viewing
large multipage help pages, or when viewing a number of related help pages
all at once.
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EXAMPLES
1. Page the help page for the \fImkpkg\fR task.

    cl> phelp mkpkg

2. View the help pages for all the tasks in the IMAGES package.

    cl> phelp images.*

When viewing multiple help pages as in this last example, note that the
'N' and 'P' keystrokes in the pager may be used to move to the next or
previous help page.  "." will return to the first help page (the start
of the spooled help text) and 'G' will skip to the end of file.  Type '?'
while in the pager to get a summary of the most often used keystrokes.

3. Format and page the Lroff (IRAF HELP) format document "MWCS.hlp" in
the system directory "mwcs".

.nf
    cl> cd mwcs
    cl> phelp MWCS.hlp fi+
.fi

In this case the text being viewed is not part of the on-line help system,
but is a technical document describing one of the IRAF programming interfaces.
Any .hlp file may be viewed in this way.
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TIME REQUIREMENTS
\fIphelp\fR is not quite as fast as \fIhelp\fR since it must fully format
the help text into a temporary file before the file can be viewed.  For
small help pages, or to view only the first few screens of a help page,
the \fIhelp\fR task will be faster.
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BUGS
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SEE ALSO
page, help, references
.endhelp
