This application includes extensive online help documents which can be accessed by clicking the "Help" button in any window to see help for that window.
All online help documents are in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) format and are viewed in the default Web browser that is installed on your computer (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator). When viewing a help document, you can also use the browser's Print command to print a copy on your local printer if you want a "hard copy" of the help document.
Each window has its own Help Key identifier, which is passed to a standard help routine ("x50help") when Help is clicked. For example, the Help Key for User Setup is "x03user". The standard help routine then contacts the host to get the URL (address) of an HTML document which is linked to that Help Key. Finally, the default Web browser (or "HTML viewer") program on your computer is started and instructed to view the HTML document with this URL.
This host-based cross-referencing system for help documents allows more flexibility in how Online Help documents are organized and where they are stored.
Most windows also include a "Help" choice in the top menubar. When it is clicked, a drop-down menu opens to provide these menu choices:
The Help Index choice opens a document which contains an alphabetical list of all the words in the "Help Index" database table, except for "filler" words such as "the", "of", "for", etc. Under each word are a list of all documents that contain that word in their Help Key or Help Comments entries.
The Search Help choice opens a "Search Online Help" window which will create a list of all Online Help documents that meet the search criteria that you enter. When the list has been created (as a dynamic HTML document), you can view the resulting document list and click on any document in the list to view the detail contents of that document.
The Help for this Window choice opens a document which provides online help for the specific window that you are in when you select this choice. This is usually the same as clicking a "Help" button elsewhere in the window.
The About choice displays a one-line version information message in a message box. It does not use an HTML document. To close the message box, click OK. (This choice is not found in every window).
When the "Search Online Help" window opens, you can select whether to search Help Keys, Help Comments, or both by checking the corresponding checkboxes (by default, both are checked).
Next, enter one or more words in the search value textfield, then click the "View Search Results" button. The host will generate a list of all documents matching your specs and start a Web browser with the list displayed.
The Search Window also shows instructions for more complex "And/Or" searches, which can include parentheses for grouping. Very complex search expressions can be entered if needed, although most ordinary searches will not require them.
Special notes and search tips: