# Help Reference

- HelpMenuCommands

- HelpMenuShortcutKeys

- Mouse-And-Keyboard

- HelpWindowsAndDialogBoxes

- HelpWindowConfiguration

- ErrorMessages

## See Also

1. - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

## Help Menus

The Help menus in the help window are:

- Help-File-Menu

- Help-Edit-Menu

- Help-Search-Menu

- Help-Navigate-Menu

- Help-Help-Menu

- Help-Popup-Menu

## See Also

1. - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

   &sigspace;

### Help File Menu

Print

- Opens the Print dialog

Close

- Closes the help window

When using Help Manager to view help information, the Help File menu includes a New Window command.

New Window

- Creates a copy of the current general help window

### See Also

1. - Printing

   - ToBrowseDesktopHelp

   - HelpMenuCommands

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Help Edit Menu

Copy

- Copies selected text to the clipboard

### See Also

1. - CopyingTextFromHelp

   - HelpMenuCommands

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Help Search Menu

Index

- Opens the Index Search dialog box, which lists the help volume's key words and phrases

### See Also

1. - Index-Search

   - HelpMenuCommands

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Help Navigate Menu

Backtrack

- Returns to the previous topic.

Home Topic

- Takes you to the "home topic," or the first topic of a help volume.

History

- Opens the History dialog box, which lists help volumes and topics you've visited.

The Backtrack and Home Topic commands are available in a pop-up menu in the topic display area.

### See Also

1. - ToReturnToAPreviousTopic

   - ToReturnToTheHomeTopic

   - History

   - Help-Popup-Menu

   - HelpMenuCommands

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Help Menu

Overview - Using Help&sigspace;

- Provides help on using help windows

Table Of Contents

- Displays an outline of the topics in a help volume

Tasks

- Displays task instructions for using the Help System

Reference

- Displays reference summaries for various Help features, such as windows and dialog boxes, menus, and resources

Mouse And Keyboard

- Provides information on using the mouse and keyboard commands in help windows

About Help

- Displays the version and copyright information for the Help System

### See Also

1. - HelpMenuCommands

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Help Pop-up Menu

A Help pop-up menu is available in a general help window. To display the pop-up menu, point to the topic display area and press mouse button 3. &newline;(On a two-button mouse, press both buttons simultaneously.)

Bactrack

- Returns to the previous topic.

Home Topic

- Returns to the first topic of a help volume.

### See Also

1. - ToReturnToAPreviousTopic

   - ToReturnToTheHomeTopic

   - HelpMenuCommands

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

## Help Menu Shortcut Keys

Use these shortcut keys to activate Help menu commands:

Command

- Shortcut Key

Print

- Control+P

Close

- Alt+F4

Copy

- Control+C

Index

- Control+I

Backtrack

- Control+B

HomeTopic

- Control+H

If your keyboard does not have an Alt key, ask your system administrator to identify the corresponding key or refer to your system documentation.

&sigspace;

## See Also

1. - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

## Mouse Actions and Keyboard Commands

## Mouse Actions

1. Action&sigspace;

2. Behavior

Click mouse button 1

- Selects a topic in the topic tree or a hyperlink and displays the content in the current help window.

Hold mouse button 1 and drag

- Copies selected text to the clipboard.

Control+button&sigspace;1

- Selects a topic in the topic tree or hyperlink and displays the content in a new window.

Shift+button&sigspace;1

- Same as above.

Alt+button&sigspace;1

- Same as above.

If your keyboard does not have an Alt key ask your system administrator to identify the corresponding key or refer to your system documentation.

&sigspace;

## Keyboard Commands

1. To use your keyboard to display topics or to scroll data, first move the window selection highlight to the appropriate area of the help window, such as the topic tree or topic display area. Press the Tab key to move the selection highlight forward. To move the highlight backward, press Shift+Tab.

   You can use these keyboard commands in the following help window areas:

   - Topic Tree

     Key

   - Cursor Action

   Up Arrow

   - Up one line

   Down Arrow

   - Down one line

   Return

   - Display help topic for selected title

   Control+Return&sigspace;

   - Display help topic for selected title in a new window

   Control+/

   - Select topic tree list

   Control+\

   - Deselect topic tree list

2. Topic Display Area

   Key

3. Behavior

Up Arrow or Left Arrow

4. Move highlight to previous hyperlink

Down Arrow or Right Arrow

5. Move highlight to next hyperlink

Control+/

6. Select entire topic

Control+\

7. Deselect entire topic

Control+C

8. Copy selection to clipboard

Control+V

9. Paste selection to clipboard

Return

10. Display help topic for the selected hyperlink

Control+Return&sigspace;

11. Display help topic for the selected hyperlink in a new window

Shift+F10

12. Displays the pop-up menu

13. Help Window

    Key

14. Behavior

Escape

15. Cancels an operation such as scrolling or resizing. Otherwise, if there is no current operation, closes the help window.

Alt key+Up Arrow

16. Moves window to top of window stack.

Alt key+Down Arrow&sigspace;

17. Moves window to bottom of window stack.

18. Buttons Press Tab to move the selection highlight to the desired button and press Return.

19. Vertical Scroll Bars

    Key

20. Cursor Movement

Up Arrow

21. Scroll up

Down Arrow

22. Scroll down

Control+Up Arrow

23. Scroll to top of list or topic

Control+Down Arrow&sigspace;

24. Scroll to end of list or topic

PageUp or Previous

25. Scroll one screen up

PageDown or Next

26. Scroll one screen down

27. Horizontal Scroll Bars

    Key

28. Cursor Movement

Left Arrow

29. Scroll left

Control+Left Arrow

30. Scroll to leftmost edge of data

Right Arrow

31. Scroll right

Control+Right Arrow&sigspace;

32. Scroll to rightmost edge of data

## See Also

1. - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

## Help Windows And Dialog Boxes

- GeneralHelpWindow

- Quick-Help

- HistoryDlg

- PrintDlg

- IndexSearchDlg

- Volume-Select

- Execution-Policy

## See Also

1. - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### General Help Window

A general help window has a menu bar, topic tree, and a topic display area. The topic tree lists help topics that you can choose. The lower portion of the window&emdash;the topic display area&emdash;displays the selected topic.

Any underlined text is a hyperlink. You use hyperlinks to &dquote;jump&dquote; to other topics. See To Select a Hyperlink for a description of hyperlinks.

&sigspace;

A general help window has these Help Buttons:

Backtrack

- Returns to a previous topic.

History

- Lists topics and help volumes that you visited and enables you to redisplay a topic.

Index

- Opens a help index that you can search to find help on a subject.

&sigspace;

### See Also

1. - ToReturnToAPreviousTopic

   - History

   - Quick-Help

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Quick Help Window

A quick help window is a streamlined help window. It has a topic display area and one or more dialog buttons.

&sigspace;

Button

- Action

Close

- Closes the quick help window

Backtrack

- Goes to the previous topic

Print

- Displays a Print dialog box

Help

- Displays Help on the quick help window

### See Also

1. - Printing

   - GeneralHelpWindow

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### History Dialog Box

&sigspace;

Help Volumes Visited&sigspace;

- Lists help volumes you have visited

Help Topics Visited

- List topics you have visited

To return to a volume or help topic, click its title in the History list.

&sigspace;

### See Also

1. - History

   - HelpWindowsAndDialogBoxes

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Print Dialog Box

&sigspace;

Printer

- The Help System uses your default printer (set by the LPDEST environment variable).

Copies

- Type the number of copies you want to print.

Paper Size

- Click the paper size button to display the following choices:

  Letter

- 8.5 x 11 in

Legal

- 8.5 x 14 in

Executive

- 7.25 x 10.5 in

A4

- 210 x 297 mm

B5

- 182 x 257 mm

Topics To Print&sigspace;&sigspace;

- Select the topic or topics to print:

  Current Topic

- Print only the displayed topic (the default)

Current and Subtopics

- Print the current topic and any subtopics it contains

Table of Contents and Index&sigspace;

- Print the Table of Contents and Index of the help volume

Entire Volume

- Print Table of Contents, Index, and all topics in the help volume

Print

- Prints the topic or topics you have chosen

Cancel

- Closes the Print dialog box

Help

- Provides a description of the Print dialog box

### See Also

1. - Printing

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Index Search Dialog Box

### Search

1. Current

2. Displays a Help index for the volume that you are viewing. The current volume is the default.

All Volumes

- Displays a combined Help index for all help volumes registered on your system.

Selected

- Lists available help volumes in a dialog box (see Volume-Select). Choose the volumes whose index entries you want to view or search. If you select volumes and close the dialog box, the Volumes Selected button can be used to reopen the list of your choices.

### Show

1. Complete Index&sigspace;

2. Lists all the index entries found for the volume or volumes you have chosen.

Entries with:

3. Type a word or phrase to search for in the index entries of the volume or volumes you chose.

### Status Line

1. Indicates if you chose the Complete Index option. If you search the index, the status line displays the search string or reports "No index entries found".

### Index Display Area

1. Lists index entries found for the volume or volumes you chose, or entries that match the search string you entered.

   Start Search

2. Searches the index for the word or phrase supplied in the Entries with field. Pressing Return also activates the search.

Close

3. Closes the Index Search dialog box.

### See Also

1. - Index-Search

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Search Volume Selection Dialog Box

&sigspace;

The Search Volume dialog box lists help volumes available on your system. You can select one or more volumes, whose index entries are then displayed in the Index Search dialog box. To deselect a volume, click the volume name again.

When you close the Search Volume dialog box, the Select Volumes button in the Index Search dialog box can be used to reopen the list of choices.

### See Also

1. - Index-Search

   - HelpWindowsAndDialogBoxes

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### Execution Link Confirmation Dialog Box

An execution hyperlink executes a command instead of displaying a help topic. Because execution links interact with your system, you can choose how you want the Help System to respond when an execution link is selected.

The Help System default behavior is to display a confirmation dialog box.

Execution policy is controlled by the Help dialog widget resource `DtNexecutionPolicy`. The default value is `help_execute_query_unaliased`.

To change the default behavior, you add the execution policy resource to your `.Xdefaults` file for the application you want to change.

The set of resource values is:

`help_execute_all`

- Executes all execution links without displaying a confirmation dialog box.

`help_execute_query_unaliased`

- Displays a dialog box only for those links which do not have execution aliases defined. An execution alias is a resource that assigns a name to the command executed by an execution link.

`help_execute_query_all`

- Displays a dialog box for all execution links

`help_execute_none`

- Disables all execution links, but displays the execution command in a dialog box

### Example

1. To disable all execution links within your application, perform these steps:

   1. Create an `.Xdefaults` file in your home directory or edit the current `.Xdefaults` file to include this resource:

          application_name*executionPolicy:help_execute_none

   2. Replace application_name with the name of the application you want to change. If you are unsure of the name of the application, consult your application documentation.

   3. Start the application.

   4. To test your change, choose the application Help menu and display a topic that contains an execution link.

   Before modifying the execution policy for an application's help volume, carefully review all execution link commands and their interaction with your system.

   &sigspace; For more information about the Help System execution policy refer to the Help System Author's and Programmer's Guide.

### See Also

1. - Hyperlinks

   - HelpWindowsAndDialogBoxes

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

## Help Window Configuration

You can change the colors of the topic tree and topic display area in a help window. You can also modify the default size of help windows.

- ToChangeHelpWindowColorsForAnApplication

- ToChangeHelpWindowDefaultSize

## See Also

1. - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### To Change Help Window Colors for an Application

1. Create an `.Xdefaults` file in your home directory or edit your current `.Xdefaults` file to include the resources shown in the following example. The name of the color you have chosen follows the : (colon) in the resource specification.

2. Replace application_name with the name of the application you want to change. If you do not know the name of the application, consult your application documentation.

   For a list of available colors, check with your system administrator or refer to your system documentation.

3. Start the application.

4. To check the new colors, choose the application Help menu.

### Example

1. This entry changes the background and foreground colors of the topic tree (TocArea) and topic display area (DisplayArea) for general help (DtHelpDialog) and quick help (DtHelpQuickDialog) windows.

   Because quick help windows do not have a topic tree, the `TocArea` is omitted in the quick help window resources.

       application_name*XmDialogShell.DtHelpDialog*DisplayArea.background: blue
       application_name*XmDialogShell.XmDialogShell.DtHelpDialog*DisplayArea.background: blue
       application_name*XmDialogShell.DtHelpDialog*DisplayArea.foreground: goldenrod
       application_name*XmDialogShell.XmDialogShell.DtHelpDialog*DisplayArea.foreground: yellow
       application_name*XmDialogShell.DtHelpDialog*TocArea.background: blue
       application_name*XmDialogShell*XmDialogShell.DtHelpDialog*TocArea.background: blue
       application_name*XmDialogShell.DtHelpDialog*TocArea.foreground: yellow
       application_name*XmDialogShell*XmDialogShell.DtHelpDialog*TocArea.foreground:yellow

       application_name*XmDialogShell.DtHelpQuickDialog*DisplayArea.background: blue
       application_name*XmDialogShell.XmDialogShell.DtHelpQuickDialog*DisplayArea.background: blue
       application_name*XmDialogShell.DtHelpQuickDialog*DisplayArea.foreground: yellow
       application_name*XmDialogShell.XmDialogShell.DtHelpQuickDialog*DisplayArea.foreground: yellow

### See Also

1. - HelpWindowConfiguration

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

### To Change Help Window Default Size

You can change the default window size for general help or quick help windows by modifying resources. The &dquote;rows&dquote; resource determines window height and the &dquote;columns&dquote; resource sets the window width. The display font affects window dimensions.

1. Create an `.Xdefaults` file in your home directory or edit your current `.Xdefaults` file.

2. Choose which resources you want to add from the examples which follow.

3. Replace application_name with the name of the application you want to change and supply new rows and columns values. If you do not know the name of the application, consult your application documentation.

4. Start the application.

5. To check the new window size, choose the application's Help menu. If you have modified one of the quick help window types, be sure to choose a topic that is displayed in the type of window you have changed.

### Examples

1. For all general help windows:

       application_name*DtHelpDialog.rows: 65
       application_name*DtHelpDialog.columns: 45

   For all quick help windows:

   The Help System uses a quick help window to display copyright information, glossary terms, definition links, and Using Help information. This example changes all instances of quick help windows.

       application_name*DtHelpQuickDialog.rows: 25
       application_name*DtHelpQuickDialog.rows: 25

   For quick help windows used to display Using Help and copyright information:

       application_name*onHelpDialog.rows: 25
       application_name*onHelpDialog.columns: 25

   For definition link quick help windows:

       application_name*definitionBox.rows: 10
       application_name*definitionBox.columns: 20

### See Also

1. - HelpWindowConfiguration

   - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic

## Help Error Messages

- If the Help System cannot find a help volume, it displays this message:

  Possible causes are:

  - The application's help volume is not installed

  - Your desktop help search path does not include the directory where the help volume has been installed.

    Ask your system administrator to verify that the application's help volume is properly installed and that your help search paths are set correctly.

- If the Help Viewer cannot find the ID of a help topic in a help volume, it displays a message like this:

  Possible causes are:

  - A hyperlink points to a topic that does not exist or whose ID has been changed

  - A hyperlink points to a valid ID in another help volume that is not installed

    Ask your system administrator to verify that the application's help volume is properly installed and that your help search paths are set correctly.

- If the run-time help volume (`.sdl` file) has an error, the Help Viewer displays this message:

  Possible causes:

  - The run-time help volume may be incomplete or contain an error.

    Ask your system administrator to check the help volume.

## See Also

1. - Reference

   - Tasks

   - Table-Of-Contents

   - Home Topic