PureBasic Forums - English

Hi there,

let's start with a screenshot:

In this example the cursor was on `OffsetOf` and I pressed F1.

The help opens on "Compiler Functions", so far so good. But `OffsetOf` is not in sight. This is a bit annoying imho. Also the content tree in the left panel does not update to show the page you see on the right. It still shows the entry I selected last time I put the help window into foreground which can be confusing additionally.

I think the reason for the second point is that it is a "hidden page" you only can find if you first go to `Reference handbook" and then find the topic about `Compiler functions`. It has no dedicated entry in the left panel.

But the most annoying thing for me is that the help seems not to use anchors in the bigger help pages that are basically a collection of multiple commands. Maybe a general restructuring would be a nice thing. I mean why not creating single pages for each compiler function? One for `SizeOf`, one for `OffsetOf`, one for `TypeOf`, and so on. Just like it is in every other module.

Another thing: If you go to the "Search" tab in the left panel you can not simply press 'Enter', you must click on the "Search" button. Would be nice to have it accept the 'Enter'/'Return' key.

What do you think?

I agree, especially the compiler functions never end-up correctly and you have to scroll and search.

I have already done this in the Russian reference.

But at the moment, this is not embedded in the tree, I am afraid I might encounter a situation where the file system will interpret the anchor as part of the file name.
In this case, you need to click on the function you want on the page again.

Directives

Include


Data


Pointers


Enough with the screenshots, here are some more:
Structure + StructureUnion
Dim + ReDim
CallDebugger + Debug + DebugLevel + DisableDebugger + EnableDebugger
etc.

AZJIO wrote: Wed Jun 25, 2025 4:28 amI have … Russian reference.

Just out of curiosity, how do you synchronise the Russian version for changes and updates in the official documentation?

spikey wrote: Wed Jun 25, 2025 3:14 pm

AZJIO wrote: Wed Jun 25, 2025 4:28 amI have … Russian reference.

Just out of curiosity, how do you synchronise the Russian version for changes and updates in the official documentation?

The author of the reference file is Sergey2400. He originally translated the html pages. Therefore, I now have to process the html pages using scripts and add new things manually. Since I don't have much free time, I translate what is required for programs and ignore what is required for 3D games, or rather, I write them down in a plan to do them later. Sergey2400 stopped at version 5.73, where he finally translated everything. Starting with this version, I don't keep a detailed record of everything, but I can extract two versions of the reference file and compare them in WinMerge, and modify the files based on the differences.
I've suggested a lot of things for the help file - highlighting the code, embedding all the pages in a tree, and adding a link to the original page.