Easy Help for CICS

Q:

How are users authorized to enter and update help text?

A:

The primary menu for Easy Help configuration (HCFG transacation) includes a way to define users and assign a particular "authorization" level. The authorization level is an integer, with '1' being the lowest level (display only) and '5' being the highest level (display, update, add, delete).

Q:

Can a user select text from the help screen and copy it into a field on the screen?

A:

You can allow any text to be copied into any field on the screen, or you can set an option so that only text delimited by special characters can be copied into the screen. The delimited text is highlighted so that it is easy to see. This is an easy way to help users provide correct values.

Q:

We're paying too much for our current product--how do we get our data into Easy Help?

A:

The answer to this question depends on where your data is now and to some extent, how much of it there is. The batch update facility of Easy Help can be used to import data extracted from your current help product.  This requires some massaging of the data to convert it from the old system to Easy Help. 

Typically, you would export or unload your data from the old system and run a conversion program to convert it into Easy Help's batch update format. This can be done by your own staff, or contracted to MacKinney Systems. There is one conversion utility supplied for one of the well-known, more expensive help system vendor. If there is not an overwhelming amount of data to migrate, it could be less expensive to hire some temporary help to re-key (possibly using cut/paste) the data from the old system into Easy Help.

Q:

How can I define help text for a field or screen?

A:

There are two primary ways to define help text in Easy Help:

1. When a user screen displays and the help PF key is pressed, either field-level or screen-level help displays if it has been defined. If neither field-level nor screen-level help is defined when an authorized user presses the help key, the user is asked if he would like to define help text for the screen.  If he wants to define help text, he uses other PF keys to define the beginning and ending locations to identify the screen.  The user can then supply the screen name and the help text directly on the CICS terminal.
2. A batch update facility can also be used to define help text for screens and fields.  While parts of this, such as identifying the start and stop positions on the screen, is a bit harder to do, this facility allows importing help text from other sources (such as an existing product).

Q:

What can I do with Easy Help?

A:

Easy Help provides the ability to display help text for a CICS screen by pressing a pre-defined "Help" PF key. There are two levels of help. "Screen Level" help allows you to define an overview description of the purpose and usage of a particular CICS screen. You can choose to describe the various fields on the screen, or you can define "Field Level" help that is displayed if the cursor is in a particular area on the screen when the Help PF key is pressed. If no field-level help has been defined for the cursor location, the screen-level help is displayed.

Q:

Why do I receive this message - ERROR: File suffix "x" is not available.