# \<help>

### \<help> <a href="#help" id="help"></a>

The `<help>` element is an abbreviation for \<catch event=“help”>.

### Attributes

<table><thead><tr><th width="165.33333333333331">Name</th><th width="172">Data type<select><option value="5f09298b58524a08b2ebaa8efe1ccbb5" label="String" color="blue"></option><option value="fc137a2641074a6cbad65a6e4b939112" label="Integer" color="blue"></option><option value="b9fc89d0d9f141b685370e0c59a8db38" label="Boolean" color="blue"></option></select></th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>count</td><td><span data-option="fc137a2641074a6cbad65a6e4b939112">Integer</span></td><td><p>(defaults to 1) The occurrence of the event. The count allows you to handle different occurrences of the same event differently. </p><p></p><p>Each &#x3C;form>, &#x3C;menu>, and form item maintains a counter for each event that occurs while it is being visited. These counters are reset each time the &#x3C;menu> or form item's &#x3C;form> is re-entered. The form-level counters are used in the selection of an event handler for events thrown in a form-level &#x3C;filled>.</p><p></p><p>Counters are incremented against the full event name and every prefix matching event name. For example, occurrence of the event “event.foo.1” increments the counters associated with handlers for “event.foo.1” plus “event.foo” and “event”.</p></td></tr><tr><td>cond</td><td><span data-option="5f09298b58524a08b2ebaa8efe1ccbb5">String</span></td><td>(defaults to true) An expression that must evaluate to true after conversion to Boolean in order for the event to be caught.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Notes

None

### Example

```markup
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<vxml version="2.0">
  <form>
    <block>
      <throw event="help" message="help help help."/>
    </block>
    <!-- The "help" tag is shorthand for a "catch" tag that catches an -->
    <!-- event named "help". -->
    <help>
      <prompt>
        Caught my help event with the following message:
        <break time="1s"/>
        <value expr="_message"/>
      </prompt>
    </help>
  </form>
</vxml>
```

The output of the above script would be:

> Computer: Caught my help event with the following message:\
> Computer: help help help.

### Child Tags

[\<assign>](/dev/voicexml/tags/assign-tag.md), [\<audio>](/dev/voicexml/tags/audio-tag.md), [\<clear>](/dev/voicexml/tags/clear-tag.md), [\<data>](/dev/voicexml/tags/data-tag.md), [\<disconnect>](/dev/voicexml/tags/disconnect-tag.md), [\<enumerate>](/dev/voicexml/tags/enumerate-tag.md), [\<exit>](/dev/voicexml/tags/exit-tag.md), [\<foreach>](/dev/voicexml/tags/foreach-tag.md), [\<goto>](/dev/voicexml/tags/goto-tag.md), [\<if>](/dev/voicexml/tags/if-tag.md), [\<log>](/dev/voicexml/tags/log-tag.md), [\<prompt>](/dev/voicexml/tags/prompt-tag.md), [\<reprompt>](/dev/voicexml/tags/reprompt-tag.md), [\<return>](/dev/voicexml/tags/return-tag.md), [\<script>](/dev/voicexml/tags/script-tag.md), [\<submit>](/dev/voicexml/tags/submit-tag.md), [\<throw>](/dev/voicexml/tags/throw-tag.md), [\<value>](/dev/voicexml/tags/value-tag.md), [\<var>](/dev/voicexml/tags/var-tag.md)

### Parent Tags

[\<field>](/dev/voicexml/tags/field-tag.md), [\<form>](/dev/voicexml/tags/form-tag.md), [\<initial>](/dev/voicexml/tags/initial-tag.md), [\<menu>](/dev/voicexml/tags/menu-tag.md), [\<record>](/dev/voicexml/tags/record-tag.md), [\<subdialog>](/dev/voicexml/tags/subdialog-tag.md), [\<transfer>](/dev/voicexml/tags/transfer-tag.md), [\<vxml>](/dev/voicexml/tags/vxml-tag.md)


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.plumvoice.com/dev/voicexml/tags/help-tag.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.