:hide. (Hide)

Controls display of IPF text and graphics to meet conditions set by the IPF_KEYS= environment variable.

Syntax

┌───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┐
│Tag            │Element        │Attributes     │End            │
├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┤
│:hide.         │Hide           │key=           │:ehide.        │
└───────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┘

Attributes

key=' '

Defines the key that enables a user to view hidden information. You can specify one or more key names. Enclose each key name within apostrophes. When specifying more than one key name, insert a plus (+) sign after each name.

Text entered between the :hide. and :ehide. tags is only displayed when the key=' ' attribute matches the entry specified by the user. Use the OS/2 environment variable SET IPF_KEYS= to specify the key name identified for the hidden information. set in

If this attribute is not specified, the information identified by the hide tag is displayed.

Description

:hide. enables you to determine what text and graphics will be displayed within a window. This function is useful when you want to tailor the information you give to users; for example, if you want to display levels of information on the basis of a user's system configuration, you assign each level a value with the key= attribute. When a topic containing hide tags is selected for viewing, IPF will look for an environment variable called IPF_KEYS= to determine what level of information to show the user. If a match is found, the information within the hide tags is displayed; otherwise, the information is hidden from view.

The hide tag affects the display of compiled information. You can hide lines of text within the window, a word or a phrase within a line, or you can hide an instruction to display a bit map, as in the following example.

:hide key='level1'.:artwork name='mybitmap.bmp'.
:ehide.

If the user's environment does not contain the key to display the hidden information, IPF wraps the text from the last character or formatting instruction on the line preceding :hide. to the line following :ehide..

In some situations, the same user may need to view more than one level of hidden information. This can be accomplished by setting the IPF_KEYS= to concatenated values; for example:

SET IPF_KEYS=LEVEL1+LEVEL2

Take care that a window view does not contain an orphan tag. For example, you do not want to hide the information following a list item, unless you have alternate information to display, based on the setting of a key. In the case of an ordered list, which generates sequential numbers, you would not include a list item in the hidden information, unless it is the last item in the list.

Conditions

• You cannot nest one set of hide tags within another.
  
• You cannot include a heading tag that has a res= attribute within a set of hide tags.
  
• You cannot set IPF_KEYS= on a session basis.

Example

Suppose the following source has been compiled as part of a help library file:

:h1 res=001.Installation Procedure:ol.
:li.
:hide key='usera'.
Instruction for User A.
:ehide.
:hide key='userb'.
Instruction for User B.
:ehide.
:li.
Shut down the system from the Desktop.
:li.
Press Ctl+Alt+Del to restart the system.
:eol.

If the user's environment includes the setting, IPF_KEYS=USERA, the following is displayed:

• Instruction for User A.

• Shut down the system from the desk top.

• Press Ctl+Alt+Del to restart the system.

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