Pg. of GC20-1819-2 Rev March 30, 1979 by Supp. SD23-9024-1 for 5748-IX8 ENCLOSING TEXT (.BX FORMAT WORD) The HELP facility can insert vertical and horizontal lines in the
formatted output to enclose text, illustrations, or tables. You use the .BX format word to specify when you want the horizontal lines to appear
and in which columns the vertical lines should appear.
The .BX format word is used in three steps to completely enclose
text:
1. The first time you issue the .BX format word,
in which you want the vertical lines to appear. • bx 1 10 20 30 results in the following output:
,
specify the columns For example: Note that this first occurrence of the .EX format word causes a
horizontal line to appear between the first and last column you
specified.
2. After the first issuance of .BX, begin entering the text that is to
be enclosed. As HELP formats these lines, vertical lines are
placed in the columns that you specified on .BX. However, if a
column already has a data character in it, it is not overlaid with
the vertical line.
Note that whenever you want just a horizontal line to appear (for
example, to separate lines in a table), enter the .BX format work
without operands. For example: .bx
results in the following output:
3. When you have finished entering the text that is to be enclosed,
issue:
.bx off
to cause another horizontal line to appear and to prevent any more vertical lines from appearing. This output is: 1.-----1 The following example illustrates this technique of enclosing text • • fo off • bx 1 10 50 .in 2
.of 8 Item 1 Put Item1 text here.
The second line can be written here • • bx
.of 8
Item 2 Then put Item2 text here • • bx off
324.6 IBM VM/370 eMS User's Guide

Pg. of GC20-1819-2 Rev ftarch 30, 1979 by Supp. SD23-9024-1 for 5748-XX8 When these input lines are processed, the result is:
i
Item1 IPut Item1 text here. IThe second line can be written here. I Item2 IThen put Item2 text This example shows how you can change the vertical structure several
tiaes in succession. The control words:
.bx 10 20 .sp
.bx 5 25
.sp abx 10 20 .sp
.bx 5 25
.sp
.bx 10 20 .sp .hx off
result in:
J
,
i
i I PLACING COftMENTS IN HELP FILES (.Cft FORMAT WORD) In addition to text and format words, HELP files can contain comments. Comments are useful for: I • Tracking files. You can include comments that give your na.e, the I date and reason you created a file, and a future date at which the I file may be erased. I • Documenting formats. If you use a special format in a HELP file that I may be accessed by other peoFle, you may want to place notes within I the file explaining how to update the file. I • Place-holders. If a file is incomplete, you may want to put com.ents I in the file where information should be added later. You can place com.ents in a HELP file with the .CM format word:
.cm Created 12/21/75
.cm Updated 3/3/76 HELP ignores all .CM format words when processing. Section 18. HELP File Naming Conventions and Creation 324.1