diff --git a/src/tools/genVersionHeader.pl b/src/tools/genVersionHeader.pl
index 28ae666e6..43bec8d80 100644
--- a/src/tools/genVersionHeader.pl
+++ b/src/tools/genVersionHeader.pl
@@ -1,128 +1,147 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env perl
+#*************************************************************************
+# Copyright (c) 2014 Brookhaven National Laboratory.
+# EPICS BASE is distributed subject to a Software License Agreement found
+# in file LICENSE that is included with this distribution.
+#*************************************************************************
 #
 # Generate a C header file which
 # defines a macro with a string
 # describing the VCS revision
 #
 
+use FindBin qw($Bin);
+use lib "$Bin/../../lib/perl";
+
 use EPICS::Getopts;
 use POSIX qw(strftime);
 
 use strict;
 
-our($opt_v,$opt_t,$opt_N,$opt_V);
+# RFC 8601 date+time w/ zone (eg "2014-08-29T09:42:47-0700")
+my $tfmt = '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S';
+$tfmt .= '%z' unless $^O eq 'MSWin32'; # %z returns zone name on Windows
+
+our ($opt_h, $opt_v);
+our $opt_t = '.';
+our $opt_N = 'VCSVERSION';
+our $opt_V = strftime($tfmt, localtime);
 
-$opt_N = "MODVERSION";
-$opt_t = ".";
 my $foundvcs = 0;
 my $result;
 
-getopts("vt:N:V:") or 
-    die "Usage: genVersionHeader.pl [-t top] [-N NAME] [-V VERSION] output.h";
+getopts('hvt:N:V:') && @ARGV == 1
+    or HELP_MESSAGE();
 
 my ($outfile) = @ARGV;
 
-chomp($opt_V);
-if(!$opt_V) {
-    # RFC 8601 date+time w/ zone (eg "2014-08-29T09:42:47-0700")
-    $opt_V = strftime "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z", localtime;
-}
-
-if(!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/_darcs") { # Darcs
+if (!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/_darcs") { # Darcs
     # v1-4-dirty
     # is tag 'v1' plus 4 patches
     # with uncommited modifications
     $result = `cd "$opt_t" && echo "\$(darcs show tags | head -1)-\$((\$(darcs changes --count --from-tag .)-1))"`;
-    chomp($result);
-    if(!$? && length($result)>1) {
+    chomp $result;
+    if (!$? && length($result) > 1) {
         $opt_V = $result;
         $foundvcs = 1;
         # see if working copy has modifications, additions, removals, or missing files
         my $hasmod = `darcs whatsnew --repodir="$opt_t" -l`;
-        if(!$?) {
-            $opt_V = "$opt_V-dirty";
-        }
+        $opt_V .= '-dirty' unless $?;
     }
 }
-if(!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/.hg") { # Mercurial
+if (!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/.hg") { # Mercurial
     # v1-4-abcdef-dirty
     # is 4 commits after tag 'v1' with short hash abcdef
     # with uncommited modifications
     $result = `hg --cwd "$opt_t" tip --template '{latesttag}-{latesttagdistance}-{node|short}\n'`;
-    chomp($result);
-    if(!$? && length($result)>1) {
+    chomp $result;
+    if (!$? && length($result)>1) {
         $opt_V = $result;
         $foundvcs = 1;
         # see if working copy has modifications, additions, removals, or missing files
         my $hasmod = `hg --cwd "$opt_t" status -m -a -r -d`;
-        chomp($hasmod);
-        if(length($hasmod)>0) {
-            $opt_V = "$opt_V-dirty";
-        }
+        chomp $hasmod;
+        $opt_V .= '-dirty' if length($hasmod) > 0;
     }
 }
-if(!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/.git") {
+if (!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/.git") {
     # same format as Mercurial
     $result = `git --git-dir="$opt_t/.git" describe --tags --dirty`;
-    chomp($result);
-    if(!$? && length($result)>1) {
+    chomp $result;
+    if (!$? && length($result) > 1) {
         $opt_V = $result;
         $foundvcs = 1;
     }
 }
-if(!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/.svn") {
+if (!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/.svn") {
     # 12345
     $result = `cd "$opt_t" && svn info --non-interactive`;
-    chomp($result);
-    if(!$? && $result =~ /^Revision:\s*(\d+)/m) {
+    chomp $result;
+    if (!$? && $result =~ /^Revision:\s*(\d+)/m) {
         $opt_V = $1;
         $foundvcs = 1;
         # see if working copy has modifications, additions, removals, or missing files
         my $hasmod = `cd "$opt_t" && svn status -q --non-interactive`;
-        chomp($hasmod);
-        if(length($hasmod)>0) {
-            $opt_V = "$opt_V-dirty";
-        }
+        chomp $hasmod;
+	$opt_V .= '-dirty' if length($hasmod) > 0;
     }
 }
-if(!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/.bzr") {
+if (!$foundvcs && -d "$opt_t/.bzr") {
     # 12444-anj@aps.anl.gov-20131003210403-icfd8mc37g8vctpf
     $result = `cd "$opt_t" && bzr version-info -q --custom --template="{revno}-{revision_id}"`;
-    chomp($result);
-    print "BZR $result";
-    if(!$? && length($result)>1) {
+    chomp $result;
+    if (!$? && length($result)>1) {
         $opt_V = $result;
         $foundvcs = 1;
         # see if working copy has modifications, additions, removals, or missing files
         # unfortunately "bzr version-info --check-clean ..." doesn't seem to work as documented
         my $hasmod = `cd "$opt_t" && bzr status -SV`;
-        chomp($hasmod);
-        if(length($hasmod)>0) {
-            $opt_V = "$opt_V-dirty";
-        }
+        chomp $hasmod;
+	$opt_V .= '-dirty' if length($hasmod) > 0;
     }
 }
 
-my $output = "#ifndef $opt_N\n# define $opt_N \"$opt_V\"\n#endif\n";
+my $output = << "__END";
+/* Generated file, do not edit! */
+
+#ifndef $opt_N
+#  define $opt_N \"$opt_V\"
+#endif
+__END
 print "== would\n$output" if $opt_v;
 
 my $DST;
-if(open($DST, '+<', $outfile)) {
-    my $actual = join("", <$DST>);
+if (open($DST, '+<', $outfile)) {
+    my $actual = join('', <$DST>);
     print "== have\n$actual" if $opt_v;
 
-    if($actual eq $output) {
+    if ($actual eq $output) {
         print "Keeping existing VCS version header $outfile with \"$opt_V\"\n";
-        exit(0)
+        exit 0;
     }
     print "Updating VCS version header $outfile with \"$opt_V\"\n";
 } else {
     print "Creating VCS version header $outfile with \"$opt_V\"\n";
-    open($DST, '>', $outfile) or die "Unable to open or create VCS version header $outfile";
+    open($DST, '>', $outfile)
+        or die "Unable to open or create VCS version header $outfile";
 }
 
-seek($DST,0,0);
-truncate($DST,0);
+seek $DST, 0, 0;
+truncate $DST, 0;
 print $DST $output;
+close $DST;
+
+sub HELP_MESSAGE {
+    print STDERR <<EOF;
+Usage:
+    genVersionHeader.pl -h
+        Display this Usage message
+    genVersionHeader.pl [-v] [-t top] [-N NAME] [-V version] output.h";
+        Generate or update the header file output.h
+        -t top     - Path to the module's top (default '$opt_t')
+        -N NAME    - Macro name to be defined (default '$opt_N')
+        -v version - Version number if no VCS (default '$opt_V')
+EOF
+    exit $opt_h ? 0 : 1;
+}
 
-close($DST);