QBHELP!
=============

QBHELP!.EXE is MicroHelp's newest memory-resident programmer's aid. It
includes an ASCII table, keyboard scan codes, a color attribute table,
BASIC error codes, and much more! Since it is written entirely in
assembly language, it is small (requiring only 25K of DOS memory) and
fast. Once it is loaded, it is available anytime by simply pressing
the "hot key".



Introduction

QBHelp! is a memory-resident programmer's reference tool,
designed especially for users of Microsoft QuickBASIC(r) 4.x
and BASCOM 6.

The information contained in the program includes color
attribute values, an ASCII table, keyboard scan code
information, screen mode data for the most popular video
adapters, and a table of runtime error codes. The color
attribute information is especially valuable when you are
using assembler subroutines that requires such information.

Having these features available instantly at almost any time
means that you don't have to worry about having a manual
handy.


Loading QBHelp! Into Memory

Using the same logic as described in Section 3, you load
QBHelp! into memory by typing its name at the DOS prompt:

QBHELP!

A short message will be displayed and then QBHelp! will be
ready and waiting to "pop up" whenever you need it.


Activating QBHelp!

In order to activate the program, whether you are at the DOS
prompt or another program is running, press the F1 key. (You
may change the pop up key, as described in Section 7.)

The first QBHelp! screen that you see contains information
about color attributes, an ASCII table, and a table for
displaying scan code and shift status data for the keys that
you press.

While viewing this screen, you may cycle through the entire
ASCII table by pressing the up and down arrow keys.

Whenever you press a key, the scan code and shift status of
the keypress is displayed at the bottom of the screen. In
addition, if the key you pressed represents a printable
character, the character is displayed.

You may cycle through the other reference screens by
pressing the PgUp and PgDn keys.

If you popped up QBHelp! while working inside the Microsoft
QuickBASIC environment, you may press the F1 key in order to
view the "normal" QuickBASIC help screens. Pressing F1
causes QBHelp! to "pop down" and to tell the BIOS that the
F1 key has been pressed. That, in turn, causes QuickBASIC to
think that the F1 key has been pressed.

Alternatively, you may press the 'Esc' key twice to cause
QBHelp! to pop down, and return control to the program that
was running (or DOS) when you pressed the pop up hot key.


Removing QBHelp! from Memory

If you are positive that QBHelp! is the last memory-resident
program that you loaded, and you are at the DOS prompt, you
have the ability to remove the program from memory. This is
accomplished by first popping up the program, followed by
holding the 'Ctrl' and 'Alt' keys, and pressing the 'F1' key
once. (You may change the hot key used to remove QBHelp!
from memory - see Section 7.)

It is very important that you do not attempt to remove
QBHelp! from memory if you are not at the DOS prompt or if
QBHelp! was not the last memory-resident program loaded into
memory.


Configuring QBHelp!

The program CONFIG.EXE is used to "customize" QBHelp! to
your own taste. In order to run the program, type in the
program's name when you are at the DOS prompt:

CONFIG

Be sure to follow the logic described in Section 3, so that
CONFIG.EXE is in the current directory on the default drive.
In addition, the file QBHELP!.EXE must be in the current
directory.

The configuration program is very simple to operate, and all
instructions for using it are built into the program.

When you are configuring the program, keep in mind the
following:

1. The "hot key" that you select for popping the
program up or removing it from memory, should not be
the same key(s) that you use for any other memory-
resident programs.

2. If you configure QBHelp! so that it will pop up only
when Microsoft QuickBASIC 4 is operating, you will
not be able to remove the program from memory using
the "hot key". That is because memory-resident
programs must not be removed from memory when
another program is running.

3. The changes to the program will not be effective
until you next install QBHelp! into memory. For
example, if QBHelp! is already in memory when you
are configuring the program, and you change the pop
up hot key, that change will not be effective until
you run QBHelp! again.