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diff --git a/doc/user/help.xml b/doc/user/help.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca44a40 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/user/help.xml @@ -0,0 +1,153 @@ +<!-- + + __COPYRIGHT__ + + Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining + a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the + "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including + without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, + distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to + permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to + the following conditions: + + The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included + in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. + + THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY + KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE + WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND + NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE + LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION + OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION + WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. + +--> + + <para> + + It's often very useful to be able to give + users some help that describes the + specific targets, build options, etc., + that can be used for your build. + &SCons; provides the &Help; function + to allow you to specify this help text: + + </para> + + <programlisting> + Help(""" + Type: 'scons program' to build the production program, + 'scons debug' to build the debug version. + """) + </programlisting> + + <para> + + (Note the above use of the Python triple-quote syntax, + which comes in very handy for + specifying multi-line strings like help text.) + + </para> + + <para> + + When the &SConstruct; or &SConscript; files + contain such a call to the &Help; function, + the specified help text will be displayed in response to + the &SCons; <literal>-h</literal> option: + + </para> + + <screen> + % <userinput>scons -h</userinput> + scons: Reading SConscript files ... + scons: done reading SConscript files. + + Type: 'scons program' to build the production program, + 'scons debug' to build the debug version. + + Use scons -H for help about command-line options. + </screen> + + <para> + + The &SConscript; files may contain + multiple calls to the &Help; function, + in which case the specified text(s) + will be concatenated when displayed. + This allows you to split up the + help text across multiple &SConscript; files. + In this situation, the order in + which the &SConscript; files are called + will determine the order in which the &Help; functions are called, + which will determine the order in which + the various bits of text will get concatenated. + + </para> + + <para> + + Another use would be to make the help text conditional + on some variable. + For example, suppose you only want to display + a line about building a Windows-only + version of a program when actually + run on Windows. + The following &SConstruct; file: + + </para> + + <programlisting> + env = Environment() + + Help("\nType: 'scons program' to build the production program.\n") + + if env['PLATFORM'] == 'win32': + Help("\nType: 'scons windebug' to build the Windows debug version.\n") + </programlisting> + + <para> + + Will display the completely help text on Windows: + + </para> + + <screen> + C:\><userinput>scons -h</userinput> + scons: Reading SConscript files ... + scons: done reading SConscript files. + + Type: 'scons program' to build the production program. + + Type: 'scons windebug' to build the Windows debug version. + + Use scons -H for help about command-line options. + </screen> + + <para> + + But only show the relevant option on a Linux or UNIX system: + + </para> + + <screen> + % <userinput>scons -h</userinput> + scons: Reading SConscript files ... + scons: done reading SConscript files. + + Type: 'scons program' to build the production program. + + Use scons -H for help about command-line options. + </screen> + + <para> + + If there is no &Help; text in the &SConstruct; or + &SConscript; files, + &SCons; will revert to displaying its + standard list that describes the &SCons; command-line + options. + This list is also always displayed whenever + the <literal>-H</literal> option is used. + + </para> |