One of the most important skills you need for using help windows is using hyperlinks. Any text in a help window that is displayed with an underline is a hyperlink. Choosing a link (with the mouse or the keyboard) immediately jumps to another related topic.
A solid underline (1) indicates a standard jump. A dashed underline (2) indicates a definition link, which displays a popup definition window (actually a quick help dialog).
Some Links Display a New Window. Most hyperlinks display the related topic in the same window. However, if you choose a hyperlink that jumps to a help topic for another application, a new window is displayed. Links that jump from one application's online help into another's, are called cross-volume or cross-application hyperlinks.
Knowing Where You Are |
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Since hyperlinks can quickly take you from one piece of information to another, it is sometimes helpful to know where you are. The Topic Hierarchy list provided in general help dialogs provides this information.
The first item in the list is the home topic, or top, of the current help volume. (Usually there's one help volume per application.) Each item below the home topic represents a level of hierarchy down to the last item, which is always the current topic.
As you follow hyperlinks, you'll notice the titles in the Topic Hierarchy list changing, always to reflect your current location.
Knowing Where You've Been |
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Each general help dialog keeps track of the 20 most recent topics that you have visited. To display this list, choose History from the Search menu. The History dialog lists the title of each topic (most recent topic on top).
To return to a particular topic, choose its title in the list. When you're done, choose Close.
To find a topic by exploring |
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Choose hyperlinks to jump to related topics.
Use the Topic Hierarchy list to jump "up" to a higher-level topic.
Return to the home topic by choosing Home Topic from the Navigate menu.
Go back to the previous topic by choosing Backtrack from the Navigate menu or from the popup menu in the topic display area.
Use the Keyword Index to locate topics that cover a certain subject. (Choose Keyword from the Search menu.)
To find a topic by keyword |
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Choose Keywords from the Search menu to display the Keyword dialog.
Optional: Type all or part of the keyword you are looking for into the Keyword Filter field. As you type, the keyword list is shortened to show only the keywords that begin with the characters you type in (case is ignored).
In the keyword list, select the keyword you are looking for.
In the Keyword Result List, select a title of the topic you want to view. The topic you select is displayed in the help dialog.
You may view as many topics as you want. When you are done, chose Close.
The scope of the keyword index is limited to the current help volume. That is, you cannot review a global index of keywords for all online help.
To change the topic display colors |
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Set the following resources:
*XmDialogShell.XvhHelpDialogWidget*DisplayArea.background: color
*XmDialogShell*XmDialogShell.XvhHelpDialogWidget*DisplayArea.background: color
*XmDialogShell.XvhHelpDialogWidget*DisplayArea.foreground: color
*XmDialogShell*XmDialogShell.XvhHelpDialogWidget*DisplayArea.foreground: color
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Any application started after setting these resources will use the new values for the topic display areas within its help windows.
Default Values. The default values for these resources are:
*XmDialogShell.XvhHelpDialogWidget*DisplayArea.background: white
*XmDialogShell*XmDialogShell.XvhHelpDialogWidget*DisplayArea.background: white
*XmDialogShell.XvhHelpDialogWidget*DisplayArea.foreground: black
*XmDialogShell*XmDialogShell.XvhHelpDialogWidget*DisplayArea.foreground: black
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See Also. If you're unsure how to set resources, refer to the following topics for more information:
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