SYNOPSIS
    help server
 
  
DESCRIPTION
    The server for help keywords is designed to be a simple extension
    to the help command for players. The help command is functional but
    limited in the way it searches for help topics. When a player types
    'help <topic>', the builtin help command searches the text files
    located in /doc/helpdir/* to see if it finds a file name which 
    matches <topic>. If it finds one, the content of the file is 
    output to the player; otherwise the player gets a message that we
    don't have a help file matching that topic.
    
    The problem arises when players attempt to access help on a topic
    which we actually do have a file for, but the player uses the wrong
    keyword. Examples of this are 'help HP' (file is named 'hitpoints'),
    'help mail' (file is named 'email') or 'help emote' (the file is
    named 'emotes'). You see the problem.
    
    The help server attempts to bridge this gap with a simple mechanism.
    It consists of two pieces: the server itself (keyword_server.c) and
    the keywords file (help_keywords). The keywords file stores a hard
    copy of the various aliases plus pointers to the files. The server
    keeps a mapping of keywords and file paths in memory and allows
    public queries. This way, any one help file can have an unlimited
    number of aliases to it.
    
    
THE KEYWORD FILE
    
    The format for entering new keywords is:
    
        keyword:absolute file name
    
    Comments beginning with // are ignored, as are blank lines.
    Only one entry per line is allowed. There must be no spaces 
    between the keyword, colon and file path.
    
    That's it - easy, eh?
    
    When the server loads, it automatically checks the keywords 
    file and updates itself if necessary.
    
    
THE KEYWORD SERVER 
    
    The server maintains a mapping of keywords and file paths. This
    mapping is stored via save_object() and restore_object() into a
    local save ("keyword_server.o") file.
    
    When the server loads, it checks the age of the keywords file and
    compares it against the age of its save file. Depending
    on which is newer, it either keeps the local mapping or
    reloads the keyword data from the save file. This way it only
    uses up resources parsing the text file when the text file has
    changed. 
    
    If it reloads from the keywords file, the data mapping is always 
    cleaned out, not simply appended to, in case a help file  
    has been deleted.
    
    The keyword server performs a number of checks to ascertain that
    the data it's reading in is valid.
    
    It is not possible to clone the server. It could be possible to make
    it inheritable for other projects though.
    
FUNCTIONS

    There are only 2 public functions in the server.
    
    mixed QueryKeyword(string keyword)
    
      The server returns either the absolute path for the given keyword,
      or 0 if not found.
      
    void update_server()
     
       This forces the server to reload the keyword file.
       
SEE ALSO