OpenDX - Documentation
Full Contents QuickStart Guide User's Guide User's Reference
Previous Page Next Page Table of Contents Partial Table of Contents Index Search

5.3 Using Online Help

The online Help facility offers the following options in its pull-down menu:

Figure 32 depicts a sample Help window.

Figure 32. Sample Help Window

Figure helpwin not
displayed.


In addition, an HTML version of the documentation is available. Point your browser at $(DXROOT)/html/index.htm. The html documentation can now be accessed as the context-sensitive help within OpenDX instead of the internal help system. By setting an environment variable, DX will override its older built-in help and launch a browser to display the html help. In the UN*X environment set the environment variable DX_WEB_BROWSER to your web browser or a url handler script such as the one included in the dx/bin directory. Within Windows or MacOS X just set this environment variable and the system default browser will launch.

The HTML version of the docs also includes a JavaScript local search engine.

For Future Reference
  • In the Help window you can directly access any topic, subtopic, subsubtopic, or related item that is "boxed", simply by clicking on the box.
  • If the amount of information exceeds the length of the displayed Help window, use the vertical scroll bar on the right side of the window.
  • To return to a topic you have viewed during the current session of visual program, move the mouse cursor into the Help window and press the right-hand button: A list of viewed Help topics appears. Keeping the mouse button depressed, move the cursor to the desired topic in the list and then release the button.
  • To return to the previous Help topic, click on Go Back at the bottom of the Help window.
  • To exit online Help, click on Close at the bottom of the Help window.

User-Defined Help Files

Visual programmers can create online documentation for their visual programs and Control Panels. A user can access the comments for the visual program from any primary window, and can access the comments for a Control Panel from the Control Panel with which the comments are associated. For information on how to add this documentation to your own visual program, see "Adding Comments to a Visual Program" and "Customizing a Control Panel".

To access comments for the visual program, select the Application Comment option from the Help pull-down menu. A dialog box opens with the comments.
Note:If there are no comments associated with the visual program, this menu option is grayed-out. Also, you cannot modify the comments when using this option--only view them.

The user can also access the comments for the visual program from the Open... or Load Macro... file selection dialog boxes, even before the visual program is opened. For information on how to do this, see "Restoring a Previously Created Program".

To access comments for a specific Control Panel, select the On Control Panel option from the Help pull-down menu in the Control Panel about which you want to learn. A dialog box opens with the comments.
Note:If there are no comments associated with the Control Panel, this menu option is grayed-out. Also, you cannot modify the comments when using this option--only view them.


Full Contents QuickStart Guide User's Guide User's Reference

[ OpenDX Home at IBM | OpenDX.org ]