diff --git a/base/dict.jl b/base/dict.jl
index 5a5ebb79c6ec8..ab5ef3785b1d5 100644
--- a/base/dict.jl
+++ b/base/dict.jl
@@ -763,15 +763,6 @@ length(t::WeakKeyDict) = length(t.ht)
 # TODO:
 #  - take care of hash collisions when tidying up WeakRef(nothing)
 
-const secret_table_token = :__c782dbf1cf4d6a2e5e3865d7e95634f2e09b5902__
-
-import Base: KeyIterator, ValueIterator, haskey, get, getkey, delete!,
-             pop!, empty!, filter!, setindex!, getindex, similar,
-             sizehint, length, filter, isempty, start, next, done,
-             keys, values, _tablesz, skip_deleted, serialize, deserialize, serialize_type, 
-             convert
-
-
 type WeakObjectIdDict{K,V} <: Associative{K,V}
     slots::Array{Uint8,1}
     keys::Array{WeakRef,1}
@@ -851,9 +842,15 @@ function deserialize{K,V}(s, T::Type{WeakObjectIdDict{K,V}})
     return t
 end
 
-# have two hashindex.  For setindex:
-hashindex(::WeakObjectIdDict, key::WeakRef, sz) =  error("asdf") #(int(hash(object_id(key.value))) & (sz-1)) + 1
-# For getindex:
+# use these functions to access the h.keys array.  Does conversion to
+# and from WeakRef.
+gkey(h::WeakObjectIdDict, ind) = h.keys[ind].value
+
+skey!(h::WeakObjectIdDict, val, ind) = (h.keys[ind] = WeakRef(val))
+skey!(ar::Array{WeakRef,1}, val, ind) = (ar[ind] = WeakRef(val))
+
+numslots(h::WeakObjectIdDict) = length(h.slots)
+
 hashindex(::WeakObjectIdDict, key, sz) = (int(hash(object_id(key))) & (sz-1)) + 1
 
 isslotempty(h::WeakObjectIdDict, i::Int) = h.slots[i] == 0x0
@@ -889,7 +886,7 @@ function rehash{K,V}(h::WeakObjectIdDict{K,V}, newsz)
 
     for i = 1:sz
         if olds[i] == 0x1
-            k = getkey(h, i)
+            k = gkey(h, i)
             if k==wnothing #&& i!=indexnothing_old # TODO: do something about hash collisions!
                 # a gc'ed immutable was here
                 continue
@@ -900,7 +897,7 @@ function rehash{K,V}(h::WeakObjectIdDict{K,V}, newsz)
                 index = (index & (newsz-1)) + 1
             end
             slots[index] = 0x1
-            setkey!(keys, k, index)
+            skey!(keys, k, index)
             vals[index] = v
             count += 1
 
@@ -942,16 +939,6 @@ function empty!{K,V}(h::WeakObjectIdDict{K,V})
     return h
 end
 
-# use these functions to access the h.keys array.  Does conversion to
-# and from WeakRef.
-getkey(h::WeakObjectIdDict, ind) = h.keys[ind].value
-getkey(ar::Array{WeakRef,1}, val, ind) = ar[ind].value
-
-setkey!(h::WeakObjectIdDict, val, ind) = (h.keys[ind] = WeakRef(val))
-setkey!(ar::Array{WeakRef,1}, val, ind) = (ar[ind] = WeakRef(val))
-
-numslots(h::WeakObjectIdDict) = length(h.slots)
-
 # get the index where a key is stored, or -1 if not present
 function ht_keyindex{K,V}(h::WeakObjectIdDict{K,V}, key)
     sz = numslots(h)
@@ -963,7 +950,7 @@ function ht_keyindex{K,V}(h::WeakObjectIdDict{K,V}, key)
         if isslotempty(h,index)
             break
         end
-        if !isslotmissing(h,index) && isequal(key, getkey(h, index))
+        if !isslotmissing(h,index) && isequal(key, gkey(h, index))
             return index
         end
 
@@ -998,7 +985,7 @@ function ht_keyindex2{K,V}(h::WeakObjectIdDict{K,V}, key)
                 # in case "key" already exists in a later collided slot.
                 avail = -index
             end
-        elseif isequal(key, getkey(h, index))
+        elseif isequal(key, gkey(h, index))
             return index
         end
 
@@ -1016,7 +1003,7 @@ end
 
 function _setindex!(h::WeakObjectIdDict, v, key, index)
     h.slots[index] = 0x1
-    setkey!(h, key, index)
+    skey!(h, key, index)
     h.vals[index] = v
     h.count += 1
 
@@ -1030,7 +1017,7 @@ end
 
 function weak_key_delete!(t::WeakObjectIdDict, k)
     # when a weak key is finalized, remove from dictionary if it is still there
-    wk = getkey(t, k, secret_table_token) # getkey returns the WeakRef.value
+    wk = getkey(t, k, secret_table_token) # gkey returns the WeakRef.value
     if !is(wk,secret_table_token) && is(wk, k)
         delete!(t, k)
     end
@@ -1050,7 +1037,7 @@ function setindex!{K,V}(h::WeakObjectIdDict{K,V}, v0, key0)
     index = ht_keyindex2(h, key0)
 
     if index > 0
-        setkey!(h, key0, index)
+        skey!(h, key0, index)
         h.vals[index] = v
     else
         _setindex!(h, v, key0, -index)
diff --git a/base/help.jl b/base/help.jl
index 6cd57273424b8..9a0b6dce03c5d 100644
--- a/base/help.jl
+++ b/base/help.jl
@@ -6,57 +6,69 @@ import Base.WeakObjectIdDict
 # - switch off when not running interactively (but what about tests?)
 # - make @doc work for methods
 # - make @doc work for modules
-# - make APROPOS_DICT = WeakObjectIdDict(), currently this make julia very unstable
+# - make an APROPOS_DICT mapping keywords to objects
+
 
-typealias HelpDict Dict{Symbol,Any}
-# keys
-# :desc : help text
 # :mod  : module which contains this object/concept/keyword (if applicable)
+type HelpEntry
+    desc::String                       # description
+    mod::Union(Module,String,Nothing)  # module of entry. This is useful for type instances
+                                       # for which figuring out the defining module is hard.
+    HelpEntry() = new("", nothing)
+    HelpEntry(desc) = new(desc, nothing)
+    HelpEntry(desc, mod) = new(desc, mod)
+end
 
 # internal data
-NOOBJ_DICT = Dict{String, HelpDict}()   # To keep documentation for non-object entities, like keywords, ccall, &&, ||, ", ', etc.  
+NOOBJ_DICT = Dict{String, HelpEntry}()   # To keep documentation for non-object entities, like keywords, ccall, &&, ||, ", ', etc.  
                                          # And also for macros as they cannot be used as dict-keys directly.
-APROPOS_DICT = ObjectIdDict()        # this is used in apropos search. Maps objects to their help text [:desc]. 
-APROPOS_DICT[NOOBJ_DICT] = Dict{String, String}() # to hold the apropos for stuff in NOOBJ_DICT
 INIT_OLD_HELP = true # flag
 
 # low level functions
 ##
 function hasdoc(obj)
-    if hasmeta(obj, :doc)
-        true
-    elseif haskey(NOOBJ_DICT, obj)
+    if hasmeta(obj, :doc) || haskey(NOOBJ_DICT, obj)
         true
     else
         false
     end
 end
 
+function getdoc(obj)
+    doc = getdoc(obj, nothing)
+    doc==nothing ? error("No documentation associated with $obj") : doc
+end
 function getdoc(obj, default)
-    doc = getmeta(obj, :doc, nothing)
-    if doc!=nothing
-        doc[:doc]
+    if hasmeta(obj, :doc)
+        getmeta(obj, :doc)
     elseif haskey(NOOBJ_DICT, obj)
         NOOBJ_DICT[obj]
     else
         default
     end
 end
-function getdoc(obj)
-    doc = getdoc(obj, nothing)
-    doc==nothing ? error("No documentation associated with $obj") : doc
+function getdoc!(obj; string_into_meta=false)
+    # If string_into_meta==true then add the doc to the metadata of the
+    # string-object, otherwise is goes into the NOOBJ_DICT (default).
+    if hasdoc(obj)
+        return getdoc(obj)
+    else
+        he = HelpEntry()
+        setdoc!(obj, he; string_into_meta=string_into_meta)
+        return he
+    end
 end
 
-function setdoc!(obj, doc::HelpDict; string_into_meta=false)
+
+function setdoc!(obj, doc::HelpEntry; string_into_meta=false)
     # If string_into_meta==true then add the doc to the metadata of the
     # string-object, otherwise is goes into the NOOBJ_DICT (default).
     if !isa(obj, String) || string_into_meta
         setmeta!(obj, :doc, doc)
-        APROPOS_DICT[obj] = doc[:desc]
     else
         NOOBJ_DICT[obj] = doc
-        APROPOS_DICT[NOOBJ_DICT][obj] = doc[:desc]
     end
+    nothing
 end
 
 # making docs from helpdb.jl
@@ -82,8 +94,8 @@ function init_help()
         INIT_OLD_HELP = false
         println("Loading help data...")
         helpdb = evalfile(helpdb_filename())
-        for hd in helpdb
-            mod_,obj,desc = hd
+        for he in helpdb
+            mod_,obj,desc = he
             # split objects up between what goes into META and what
             # goes into NOOBJ_DICT
             if obj[1]=='@' # a macro
@@ -105,14 +117,9 @@ function init_help()
             catch
                 mod_ = mod_ # keep as string
             end
-            if !hasdoc(obj) # do not overwrite existing doc
-                hdnew = HelpDict() 
-                hdnew[:desc]= desc; hdnew[:mod]=mod_; 
-                setdoc!(obj, hdnew)
-            else # append to it
-                hdnew = getdoc(obj)
-                hdnew[:desc] *= "\n$(string(mod_)).$desc"
-            end
+            henew = getdoc!(obj)
+            henew.desc *= desc
+            henew.mod = mod_
         end
     end
 end
@@ -121,10 +128,7 @@ end
 ##
 function doc(obj, docstr::String; mod=nothing, string_into_meta=false)
     # the module cannot be set automatically with this function, use the macro instead
-    hd = HelpDict()
-    hd[:desc] = docstr
-    hd[:mod] = mod
-    setdoc!(obj, hd; string_into_meta=string_into_meta)
+    setdoc!(obj, HelpEntry(docstr, mod); string_into_meta=string_into_meta)
 end
 
 macro doc(args...)
@@ -134,8 +138,6 @@ macro doc(args...)
              """
     if length(args)==2
         docstr, obj = args
-    elseif length(args)==3
-        docstr, obj = args
     else
         error(errmsg)
     end
@@ -223,9 +225,9 @@ end
 
 function help(io::IO, obj)
     init_help()
-    docdict = getdoc(obj, nothing)
-    if docdict!=nothing
-        out = _decor_help_desc(obj, docdict[:mod], docdict[:desc])
+    if hasdoc(obj)
+        he = getdoc(obj)
+        out = _decor_help_desc(obj, he.mod, he.desc)
         print(io, out)
     else 
         if isa(obj, DataType) # try to print something generic:
@@ -254,29 +256,30 @@ end
 
 help(args...) = help(STDOUT, args...)
 
-apropos(io::IO, s::String) = apropos(io, s)
+apropos(s::String) = apropos(STDOUT, s)
 function apropos(io::IO, txt::String)
-    # This could be done better.
     init_help()
     n = 0
     r = Regex("\\Q$txt", Base.PCRE.CASELESS)
-    for (obj, desc) in APROPOS_DICT
-        if isequal(obj,NOOBJ_DICT)
-            for (objj, desc) in obj
-                if ismatch(r, string(obj)) || ismatch(r, desc)
-                    println(io, "Object: \"$objj\"")
-                    n = 1
-                end
-            end
-        else
+    println(io, "The string '$txt' appears in the documentation of following objects:")
+    for (obj, cont) in Base._META
+        if hasdoc(obj)
+            desc = getdoc(obj).desc
             if ismatch(r, string(obj)) || ismatch(r, desc)
-                println(io, "Object: \"$obj\"")
-                n = 1
+                println(io, string(obj))
             end
         end
+        n+=1
+    end
+    for (obj, cont) in NOOBJ_DICT
+        desc = cont.desc
+        if ismatch(r, obj) || ismatch(r, desc)
+            println(io, obj)
+        end
+        n+=1
     end
     if n == 0
-        println(io, "No help information found.")
+        println(io, "Non occurrence found.")
     end
 end
 
diff --git a/base/metadata.jl b/base/metadata.jl
index 4cfe612324014..a141d53418a08 100644
--- a/base/metadata.jl
+++ b/base/metadata.jl
@@ -11,42 +11,46 @@
 # Each metadata entry is just a dict Any=>Any:
 typealias MetaData Dict{Any,Any}
 
-# The Dict for _META: ideally this would be a typed, weak-key
-# ObjectIdDict.  --> make one...
-
+# The Dict for META:
+typealias MetaDict WeakObjectIdDict{Any, MetaData}
 #typealias MetaDict WeakKeyDict{Any, MetaData} # Problem: does not work for immutables
 #typealias MetaDict Dict{Any, MetaData} # Problem: if a mutable changes the hash changes
-#typealias MetaDict ObjectIdDict
-typealias MetaDict WeakObjectIdDict{Any, MetaData}
+#typealias MetaDict ObjectIdDict  # Problem: does not free references
+
+META = MetaDict() # this holds all the metadata
 
-const secret_default = :__c782dbf1cf4d6a2e5e3865d7e95634f2e09b5903__
+## metadata interface:
+# (If defining type which also holds metadata, implement the "#*"
+# methods for it)
 
-_META = MetaDict() # this holds all the metadata
+hasmeta(obj) = haskey(META, obj) #*
+hasmeta(obj, key) = hasmeta(obj) && haskey(getmeta(obj), key)
 
-getmeta(obj) = _META[obj]
-getmeta(obj, key) = _META[obj][key]
+getmeta(obj) = META[obj] #*
+getmeta(obj, key) = getmeta(obj)[key]
 function getmeta(obj, key, default)
-    out = get(_META, obj, secret_default)
-    out==secret_default ? default : out
+    if hasmeta(obj)
+        return get!(getmeta(obj), key, default)
+    else
+        default
+    end
 end
 
-getmeta!(obj) = get!(_META, obj, MetaData())
+getmeta!(obj) = get!(META, obj, MetaData()) #*
 function getmeta!(obj, key, default) 
     md = getmeta!(obj)
     return get!(md, key, default)
 end
 
-setmeta!(obj, md::MetaData) = ( _META[obj] = md )
+setmeta!(obj, md::MetaData) = ( META[obj] = md ) #*
 function setmeta!(obj, key, value) 
     md = getmeta!(obj)
     md[key] = value
 end
 
-hasmeta(obj) = haskey(_META, obj)
-hasmeta(obj, key) = hasmeta(obj) && haskey(getmeta(obj), key)
-
-# note: this only clears the central Base._META dict, meta-storage in
+# This only clears the central Base.META dict, meta-storage in
 # used-defined types will not be affected:
-emptymeta!() = (global _META = MetaDict(); nothing)
-deletemeta!(obj) = (delete!(_META, obj); nothing)
-deletemeta!(obj, key) = (delete!(_META[obj], key); nothing)
+emptymeta!() = (global META = MetaDict(); nothing)
+
+deletemeta!(obj) = (delete!(META, obj); nothing) #*
+deletemeta!(obj, key) = (delete!(getmeta(obj), key); nothing) 
diff --git a/test/help.jl b/test/help.jl
index e546bee49343b..79a9273cdf0a4 100644
--- a/test/help.jl
+++ b/test/help.jl
@@ -2,32 +2,82 @@ getdoc = Base.Help.getdoc
 setdoc! = Base.Help.setdoc!
 hasdoc = Base.Help.hasdoc
 
-function makeHelpDict() 
-    hd = Base.Help.HelpDict()
-    hd[:desc] = ""
-    hd[:mod] = nothing
-    return hd
+## Old Help:
+# Tests that old-help from helpdb.jl is correct.  These tests are
+# quite fragile/temperamental, I'm not sure why.  Running in parallel
+# may be one of the problems?
+
+# initialise old-help
+Base.Help.init_help()
+helpdb = evalfile(Base.Help.helpdb_filename())
+
+# For these the help is broken, sometimes.
+broken_help = {"eval", "MS_SYNC", "CPU_CORES", "BoundingBox", "isinside", "ENDIAN_BOM", "C_NULL",
+               "im"  ,"Inf16"  ,"NaN16"  ,"NaN"  ,"NaN32"  ,"ccall"   ,"Inf32"  ,"Inf", "cglobal"}
+# - eval does not work with help.jl machinery
+# - MS_SYNC, CPU_CORES are both Int64
+# - "BoundingBox", "isinside" don't exist anymore
+# - ENDIAN_BOM
+
+mod_,obj,desc = 1,2,3
+missingdoc = 0
+for hd in helpdb
+    mod_,obj,desc = hd
+    if obj in broken_help
+        continue
+    end
+    str = ""
+    if obj[1]=='@' # a macro
+        obj = obj # keep as string
+        str = obj
+    else
+        try
+            obj = eval(parse(obj))
+            str = string(obj)
+        catch
+            try
+                obj = eval(parse(mod_ * "." * obj))
+                str = mod_ * "." * string(obj)
+            catch
+                obj = obj # keep as string
+            end
+        end
+    end
+    # @show obj, typeof(obj), desc
+    # @test hasdoc(obj)
+    # @test contains(getdoc(obj).desc,desc)
+    if hasdoc(obj)
+        @test contains(getdoc(obj).desc,desc)
+    else
+        missingdoc += 1
+    end
+end
+if missingdoc>0
+    println("Docs missing from $missingdoc objects")
 end
 
-## test low-level functions getdoc, setdoc!, hasdoc
+
+## New-style doc
+
+## test low-level functions getdoc, getdoc!, setdoc!, hasdoc
 a = [1,2]
 @test !hasdoc(a)
 @test_throws ErrorException getdoc(a)
 @test getdoc(a,nothing)==nothing
-hd = makeHelpDict()
-setdoc!(a, hd)
+he = Base.Help.HelpEntry()
+setdoc!(a, he)
 @test hasdoc(a)
-@test isequal(getdoc(a),hd)
-@test isequal(getdoc(a,nothing), hd)
+@test isequal(getdoc(a),he)
+@test isequal(getdoc(a,nothing), he)
 # strings are special
 st1 = randstring(5)
 st2 = randstring(5)
-setdoc!(st1, hd)
-setdoc!(st2, hd, string_into_meta=true)
+setdoc!(st1, he)
+setdoc!(st2, he, string_into_meta=true)
 for st in [st1,st2]
     @test hasdoc(st)
-    @test isequal(getdoc(a),hd)
-    @test isequal(getdoc(a,nothing), hd)
+    @test isequal(getdoc(a),he)
+    @test isequal(getdoc(a,nothing), he)
 end
 @test !hasmeta(st1)
 @test hasmeta(st2)
@@ -36,34 +86,34 @@ end
 b = Dict()
 st = randstring(5); st2 = randstring(5)
 doc(b, st)
-@test getdoc(b)[:desc]==st
-@test getdoc(b)[:mod]==nothing
+@test getdoc(b).desc==st
+@test getdoc(b).mod==nothing
 @test hasmeta(b)
 doc(b, st; mod=Base)
-@test getdoc(b)[:desc]==st
-@test getdoc(b)[:mod]==Base
+@test getdoc(b).desc==st
+@test getdoc(b).mod==Base
 @test hasmeta(b)
 
 ## test @doc-macro
 st = randstring(5)
 @doc st type MyType9798 end
-@test getdoc(MyType9798)[:desc]==st
+@test getdoc(MyType9798).desc==st
 st = randstring(5)
 @doc st abstract MyA
-@test getdoc(MyA)[:desc]==st
+@test getdoc(MyA).desc==st
 st = randstring(5) 
 @doc st ffff(x) = 5x
-@test getdoc(ffff)[:desc]==st
+@test getdoc(ffff).desc==st
 st = randstring(5)
 @doc st function gggg(x) 
     5x
 end
-@test getdoc(gggg)[:desc]==st
+@test getdoc(gggg).desc==st
 st = randstring(5)
 @doc st macro  
     MyM(ex) 
 end
-@test getdoc("@MyM")[:desc]==st
+@test getdoc("@MyM").desc==st
 
 # This equivalent one-liner gives an error for me:
 # @doc st macro MyM(ex) end
@@ -76,62 +126,3 @@ end
 # @test_throws @doc st module MyMod end
 
 
-## Old Help:
-# Tests that old-help from helpdb.jl is correct.  These tests are
-# quite fragile/temperamental, I'm not sure why.  Running in parallel
-# may be one of the problems?
-
-# initialise old-help
-Base.Help.init_help()
-helpdb = evalfile(Base.Help.helpdb_filename())
-
-# For these the help is broken, sometimes.
-broken_help = {eval, MS_SYNC, CPU_CORES, "BoundingBox", "isinside", ENDIAN_BOM, C_NULL}
-# sometimes_brocken = {im, Inf16, Inf32, Inf}
-# append!(broken_help, sometimes_brocken)
-# - eval does not work with help.jl machinery
-# - MS_SYNC, CPU_CORES are both Int64
-# - "BoundingBox", "isinside" don't exist anymore
-# - ENDIAN_BOM
-
-mod_,obj,desc = 1,2,3
-for hd in helpdb
-    @show hd
-    mod_,obj,desc = hd
-    if obj=="im" || obj=="Inf16" || obj==="NaN16" || obj==="NaN" || obj==="NaN32" || obj=="ccall"
-        continue
-        # otherwise I get this error?!
-# LLVM ERROR: Cannot select: 0x2f42fa0: i64 = bitcast 0x9425f40 [ORD=88214] [ID=9] dbg:operators.jl:9:1
-#   0x9425f40: i8 = truncate 0x2f4d780 [ORD=88214] [ID=8]
-#     0x2f4d780: i32,ch = CopyFromReg 0x15779e8, 0x9321120 [ORD=88214] [ID=7]
-#       0x9321120: i32 = Register %vreg1 [ORD=88214] [ID=2]
-# In function: julia_==;19624
-    end
-
-    os = obj
-    @show obj, typeof(obj), desc
-    str = ""
-    if obj[1]=='@' # a macro
-        obj = obj # keep as string
-        str = obj
-    else
-        try
-            obj = eval(parse(obj))
-            str = string(obj)
-        catch
-            try
-                obj = eval(parse(mod_ * "." * obj))
-                str = mod_ * "." * string(obj)
-            catch
-                obj = obj # keep as string
-            end
-        end
-    end
-    @show obj, typeof(obj), desc
-    if !(obj in broken_help)
-#        @show obj, desc
-       @test hasdoc(obj)
-       @test contains(getdoc(obj)[:desc],desc)
-    end
-end
-
diff --git a/test/metadata.jl b/test/metadata.jl
index 1678bd970d5c9..78481ea729f54 100644
--- a/test/metadata.jl
+++ b/test/metadata.jl
@@ -25,21 +25,11 @@ type MyType6498
     MyType6498(a) = new(a, MetaData())
 end
 hasmeta(obj::MyType6498) = !isempty(obj._metadata)
-hasmeta(obj::MyType6498, key) = hasmeta(obj) && haskey(obj._metadata, key)
-
 getmeta(obj::MyType6498) = hasmeta(obj) ?  obj._metadata : throw(KeyError(obj))
-getmeta(obj::MyType6498, key) = haskey(obj._metadata, key) ?  obj._metadata[key] : throw(KeyError(key))
-getmeta(obj::MyType6498, key, default) = haskey(obj._metadata, key) ? obj._metadata[key] : default
-
 getmeta!(obj::MyType6498) = obj._metadata
-getmeta!(obj::MyType6498, key, default) =  haskey(obj._metadata, key) ? obj._metadata[key] : (obj._metadata[key] = default)
-
-setmeta!(obj::MyType6498, md::MetaData) = obj._metadata = md 
-setmeta!(obj::MyType6498, key, value) = (obj._metadata[key]=value)
+setmeta!(obj::MyType6498, md::MetaData) = obj._metadata = md
 
 deletemeta!(obj::MyType6498) = (obj._metadata = MetaData(); nothing)
-deletemeta!(obj::MyType6498, key) = (delete!(obj._metadata, key); nothing)
-
 
 # other objects
 fn12(x) = x+1
@@ -147,7 +137,7 @@ setmeta!(numb, md)
 # this works
 @test isequal(getmeta(5),md)
 
-# These tests only pass for isa(META, ObjectIdDict):
+# These tests only pass for isa(META, (Weak)ObjectIdDict):
 @test_throws KeyError getmeta("asdf")
 di = {"a"=>5}
 setmeta!(di, md)
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 56fe2ab744423..cdd17e12a9c9d 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-# linalg tests take the longest - start them off first
-# help test only works reliably if it is near the front of the list!
+# - linalg tests take the longest - start them off first
+# - metadata needs to be finished before help-test runs
 testnames = [
-    "linalg", "core", "help", "keywordargs", "numbers", "strings",
+    "linalg", "core", "keywordargs", "numbers", "strings", "metadata",
     "collections", "hashing", "remote", "iobuffer", "arrayops", "reduce", "reducedim",
     "simdloop", "blas", "fft", "dsp", "sparse", "bitarray", "random", "math",
     "functional", "bigint", "sorting", "statistics", "spawn",
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ testnames = [
     "resolve", "pollfd", "mpfr", "broadcast", "complex", "socket",
     "floatapprox", "readdlm", "regex", "float16", "combinatorics",
     "sysinfo", "rounding", "ranges", "mod2pi", "euler", "show",
-    "lineedit", "replcompletions", "repl", "test", "metadata"
+    "lineedit", "replcompletions", "repl", "test", "help"
 ]
 @unix_only push!(testnames, "unicode")
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ end
 
 n = 1
 if net_on 
-    n = 1 #min(8, CPU_CORES, length(tests))
+    n = min(8, CPU_CORES, length(tests))
     n > 1  && addprocs(n)
     blas_set_num_threads(1)
 else