help (command)

In computing, help is a command in various command line shells such as COMMAND.COM, cmd.exe, Bash, 4DOS/4NT, Windows PowerShell, Singularity shell, Python, MATLAB[1] and GNU Octave.[2] It provides online information about available commands and the shell environment.[3]

The end of the HELP command output from RT-11SJ displayed on a VT100.
The BusyBox HELP command

Implementations
The ReactOS help command

The command is available in operating systems such as Heath Company HDOS,[4] DOS, IBM OS/2,[5] Microsoft Windows, ReactOS,[6] THEOS/OASIS,[7] Zilog Z80-RIO,[8] Microware OS-9,[9] Stratus OpenVOS,[10] HP MPE/iX,[11] Motorola VERSAdos,[12] KolibriOS[13] and also in the DEC RT-11,[14] TOPS-10[15] and TOPS-20[16] operating systems. Furthermore it is available in the open source MS-DOS emulator DOSBox and in the EFI shell.[17]

On Unix, the command is part of the Source Code Control System and prints help information for the SCCS commands.

DEC OS/8

The DEC OS/8 CCL help command prints information on specified OS/8 programs.[18]

DOS

MS-DOS

The help command is available in MS-DOS 5.x and later versions of the software.[19] The help command with a 'command' parameter would give help on a specific command. If no arguments are provided, the command lists the contents of DOSHELP.HLP.

In MS-DOS 6.x this command exists as FASTHELP.

The MS-DOS 6.xx help command uses QBasic to view a quickhelp HELP.HLP file, which contains more extensive information on the commands, with some hyperlinking etc. The MS-DOS 6.22 help system is included on Windows 9x CD-ROM versions as well.

PC DOS

In PC DOS 5 and 6 help is the same form as MS-DOS 5 help command.

PC DOS 7.xx help uses view.exe to open OS/2 style INF files (cmdref.inf, dosrexx.inf and doserror.inf), opening these to the appropriate pages.

PC-MOS

The Software Link's PC-MOS includes an implementation of help.[20] Like the rest of the operating system, it is licensed under the GPL v3.[21]

DR-DOS

In DR-DOS, help is a batch file that launches DR-DOS' internal help program, dosbook.

FreeDOS

The FreeDOS version was developed by Joe Cosentino.[22]

4DOS/4NT

The 4DOS/4NT help command uses a text user interface to display the online help.

cmd.exe
Pocket CMD v 3.0 (cmd.exe) on Windows CE 3.0 showing the help command output

Used without parameters, help lists and briefly describes every system command. Windows NT-based versions use MS-DOS 5 style help. Versions before Windows Vista also have a Windows help file (NTCMDS.HLP or NTCMDS.INF) in a similar style to MS-DOS 6.

PowerShell

In PowerShell, help is a short form (implemented as a PowerShell function) for access to the Get-Help Cmdlet.

Windows PowerShell includes an extensive, console-based help system, reminiscent of man pages in Unix. The help topics include help for cmdlets, providers, and concepts in PowerShell.

GNU Bash

In Bash, the builtin command help'[23] lists all Bash builtin commands if used without arguments. Otherwise, it prints a brief summary of a command. Its syntax is:

help [-dms] [pattern]

Syntax

The command-syntax is:

help [command]

Arguments:

  • command This command-line argument specifies the name of the command about which information is to be displayed.

Examples

DOSBox

 
Z:\>help
If you want a list of all supported commands type help /all .
A short list of the most often used commands:
<DIR     > Directory View.
<CD      > Display/changes the current directory.
<CLS     > Clear screen.
<COPY    > Copy files.
...

Python

 
 Main article: Docstring
>>> help
Type help() for interactive help, or help(object) for help about object.
>>> help()

Welcome to Python 2.5!  This is the online help utility.

If this is your first time using Python, you should definitely check out
the tutorial on the Internet at https://www.python.org/doc/tut/.

Enter the name of any module, keyword, or topic to get help on writing
Python programs and using Python modules.  To quit this help utility and
return to the interpreter, just type "quit".
...

GNU Octave

 
octave-3.0.0.exe:1> help

Help is available for the topics listed below.
Additional help for built-in functions and operators is
available in the on-line version of the manual.  Use the command
`doc <topic>' to search the manual index.
...
gollark: TempleOS/MirageOS unikernel dualboot.
gollark: You could use the insults in `sudo` too.
gollark: Most webservers support that anyway.
gollark: Kernel level anticheat stuff is common yet *highly* uncool.
gollark: Does the kernel level anticheat run under Haiku?

See also

References
  1. https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/help.html
  2. https://octave.sourceforge.io/octave/function/help.html
  3. Microsoft TechNet Help article
  4. Heath Company. "Software Reference Manual HDOS SYSTEM Chapter 2 General Operations" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  5. http://www.jatomes.com/Help/Os2Cmd.php#HELP
  6. https://github.com/reactos/reactos/blob/master/base/applications/cmdutils/help/help.c/
  7. THEOS/OASIS User′s Handbook
  8. Z80-RIO OPERATING SYSTEM USER'S MANUAL
  9. Paul S. Dayan (1992). The OS-9 Guru - 1 : The Facts. Galactic Industrial Limited. ISBN 0-9519228-0-7.
  10. http://stratadoc.stratus.com/vos/19.1.0/r098-19/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/r098-19.pdf
  11. MPE/iX Command Reference Manual
  12. M68000 Family VERSAdos System Facilities Reference Manual
  13. http://wiki.kolibrios.org/wiki/Shell
  14. http://paleoferrosaurus.com/beta/documents/rt11help.html#HELP
  15. TOPS-10 Operating System Commands Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. August 1980. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  16. "TOPS-20 Command manual" (PDF).
  17. "EFI Shells and Scripting". Intel. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  18. "Concise Command Language" (CCL)."OS/8 Handbook" (PDF). April 1974. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  19. Wolverton, Van (2003). Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7.
  20. PC-MOS User Guide
  21. Jansen, Roeland (8 February 2018). "pcmos386v501: PC-MOS/386 v5.01 final release including cdrom driver sources" – via GitHub.
  22. http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/1.2/repos/pkg-html/help.html
  23. "Bash Reference Manual". www.gnu.org. Retrieved 2016-05-09.

Further reading
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