Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!munnari.oz.au!murdu!duty
From: duty@murdu.oz (Duty Programmer)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.wanted
Subject: Looking for (fast!) VMS-style HELP and PROTOIZE/UNPROTOIZE (again)
Keywords: help, VMS, ANSI-C, prototypes
Message-ID: <1830@murdu.oz>
Date: 26 Mar 90 07:15:32 GMT
Organization: Computing Services, Melb. Uni.
Lines: 32

1. I am contemplating writing a VMS 'help' look-alike. I have seen the
   'help' code in comp.sources.unix, but the authors took the easy way out
   by using the file system to provide the layered structure. (Slow, dirty,
   inefficient, wasteful of disk space.)

   The code should be in two parts:

	a) A program to 'compile' a VMS-style input text file into a single
	   data file with an index at the top giving byte offsets into the
	   file for FAST access.

	b) A help function that could be run from the shell or an interactive
	   program that reads the help library file and provides an interactive
	   user interface, just like the VMS one.

   If anyone out there has implemented such a beast, please let me know: I would
   like to avoid re-inventing the wheel. Otherwise, I guess I'll do it myself
   soon.

2. I am looking for the source code to the "protoize"/"unprotoize" program
   which constructs and deletes ANSI C prototype declarations from C source.

   I have used ftp to get the patch files (from ics.uci.edu), but the
   original source does not seem to be there.

   Does anyone have the source code, or could they point me in the right
   direction?

Thanks in advance,

Richard Brown
duty@murdu.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU