I am joining in on this thread and agree with both Ken and Glenn.  When you
request HELP from a tool all of the available topics and secondary files
should be searched to satisfy the user's request no matter how many new
topic files have been created.  I'm aware that when a help is done and the
topic is not found in the main help file a secondary search is done in the
security help file.  As new topic files are being created the help search
function needs to be modified to include all files that may assist the
users.  I would also like to see the STREAMX help file included in the
search instead of the user needing to do a "HELP ::" to see the available
commands for STREAMX.  This will assist new users to MPEX to be able to see
the whole picture instead of particular areas that may be unknown to the
current staff.  Also in environments where the department is large and
different individuals are responsible for specific areas, i.e. a
third-party software integrator, the new documentation that is shipped for
upgrades generally does not make it out to the supporting staff keeping
them in the dark on new features especially when these new help topics
reside in additional files.  At least the information is documented and
available.  The only piece missing is the inclusion of these additional
files in one search process/request.

It's 3:00am and you received that dreaded "production is broke" call.  You
dial in half awake and review a job that was recently productionalized by a
team member who added some new features.  You stumble across some new
features that you haven't seen before and this jcl line is the culprit to
the abort.  You do a 'HELP' and no entries are found.  You mumble under
your breath and proceed to 'fix it' by taking out this vital piece of code
and resubmit the job.  When you arrive in the morning to have that long
talk on why didn't you test your job and you used commands that do not
exist you are informed that these features are documented some where else
and are new features that have been available for quite some time.  You
mumble some more under your breath and say "Why didn't they include this in
their 'HELP' facility?...."

If we are voting I would like to add my vote in having the help facility
search all of their 'help' files and also include my $.03 worth into this
topic.

Tom Renz
COTC Computer Consulting
[log in to unmask]


>Date:    Wed, 4 Mar 1998 17:06:08 -0800
>From:    Glenn Cole <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: DDX attributes in MPEX
>
>Ken Paul writes a *great* note about DDX datasets, and their integration
>with MPEX and Adager.  He also mentions:
>
>> I called VESOFT and talked to Vladimir, who explained that there are new
>> DDX attributes but they are not documented in the HELP facility.  There is
>> a file called FAQ.HELP.VESOFT which contains new information.  Vladimir
>> stated that several users were getting overwhelmed by the size of the
>> manual (which is also the HELP subsystem) so they are not adding to HELP
>> but adding to FAQ which is not a part of the HELP subsystem.  (editorial
>> comment: I feel that this is not a very good decision.)
>
>I have to agree (though no-one asked me either) that this may potentially
>be a pain.  Perhaps the HELP engine can ask "Should I search the FAQ?",
>or better yet, just do it!  (I just *know* I'm going to forget about the
>FAQ right when I need it most.)
>
>To their credit, at least the info is documented *somewhere*. :)
>But having to look in only ONE place is just fine, thank you!
>
>--Glenn Cole
>  Software al dente, Inc.
>  [log in to unmask]