VUEHELP(1X) UNIX Programmer's Manual VUEHELP(1X)
NAME
vuehelp - The VUE Help Manager.
SYNOPSIS
vuehelp [options]
DESCRIPTION
The HP VUE Help Manager (vuehelp) is an X11 Motif client
that provides access to on-line help documentation. Vuehelp
can be run standalone or started via an application. The
Help Manager is used by all HP VUE Tools and is accessible
by any other motif application via the Help API.
The Help Manager is based on a shared window help facility.
All tools using the Help Manager will share its two main
windows. As a result of this shared window facility, the
Help Manager will let only one executable per display run at
a time. This one executable will service all incoming help
requests.
The Help Manager has two main windows: Help Index and Help
Viewer. The Help Index window serves as a browser into the
system's on-line help documentation. The Help Viewer win-
dow allows the user to view specific help files, system
documentation, and system man pages.
Two other Help windows are also provided for static text
viewing: Snapshot window and File Viewer window. The
Snapshot window allows the user to copy the current help
text from the Help Viewer and 'post it' on the screen in a
snapshot window for prolonged viewing. The File Viewer win-
dow (called from the File Manager, vuefile (1X)), allows the
user to view an ASCII text file.
OPTIONS
-fp helpFilePath/CatFile
This option specifies the help system to display in
the Help Viewer the given help file "CatFile".
"helpFilePath" must be relative to the 'tools'
directory in the Help file tree.
-unmapped
This option specifies that the help system be
started and initialized in an unmapped state.
RESOURCES
Vuehelp uses the following resources:
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HP VUE Help Files Resource Set
Name Class Type Default
_________________________________________________________
fileSize FileSize XmInt 512000
helpFiles HelpFiles XmString Default
searchPath SearchPath XmString Application must Set
fileSize
This resource is set to a default value of 512000 char-
acters. The Help Manager File Viewer can deal with
much larger files. However, the resources required can
cause severe performance degradation while the Help
Manager is processing the file.
helpFiles
This resource is used to set the absolute path to the
help files located on your system. The default resource
path is "/usr/lib/X11/vue/help" (default language is
'C').
searchPath
This resource must be defined in the application's
app-defaults file. It is a relative path from the
'tools' directory within the Help file tree pointing to
the application's help files.
HP VUE Help Fonts Resource Set
_______________________________________________
systemFont SystemFont FontList Default
userFont UserFont FontList Default
systemFont
This resource is used for setting text portions of the
interface that are not user manipulated (e.g. labels,
buttons, titles).
userFont
This resource is used for setting text portions of the
interface that are manipulated by the user (e.g. Text
Edit areas).
APPEARANCE
The following sections describe the basic default behavior
of the different types of VUE Help system windows. The
appearance and behavior of these windows will only change
based on the Help text being viewed.
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HELP VIEWER WINDOW
The HP VUE Help server builds and manages one Help Viewer
window. This window is shared by all applications/tools
using the Help system.
The first invocation of help from within a workspace causes
the Help Server to map the Help Viewer window in that
workspace. If the Help Viewer window is already mapped in
the workspace, the Help server repaints the new help text in
the window. The window is resizable by the user; however, it
has a default minimum size.
The Help Viewer window contains four areas. From top to
bottom they are:
Pulldown Menu Bar
The menu bar contains three menu buttons (File,
Browse, and Help) used for accessing the menu
items available within the Help Viewer window.
Text This area contains a scrollable Help text docu-
ment that relates to the previously selected
function.
Related Topics
This area contains a scrollable list of related
topics.
History and Options
This area contains two buttons and a menu. Two
buttons for history manipulation and a menu to
access the Word Search, Man Page Search and Glos-
sary options.
HELP INDEX WINDOW
The Help server builds and manages one Help Index window.
This window is shared by all applications/tools using help.
Invoke the Help Index from the "?" button in the workspace
manager or from a Help Viewer's Browse menu. If the Help
Index is already mapped in the current workspace, the Help
server repaints the new help index information in the exist-
ing Help Index window. If the Help Index exists but is
unmapped or in another workspace, the Help server updates
the text and maps the window in the current workspace. The
window is resizable by the user; however, it has a default
minimum size.
The Help Index window contains three areas. From top to
bottom they are:
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Pulldown Menu Bar
The pulldown menu contains two menu buttons
(File, Help) used for accessing the menu items
available within the Index Window.
Index This area contains a scrollable index of help
topics and navigation buttons.
Viewer and Search
This area contains two buttons: Viewer and Show
Search Option. The Viewer button opens the Help
Viewer window, and the Show Search Option shows
the Index area search option.
HELP SNAPSHOT WINDOW
The Help Snapshot window provides the user with a means of
saving a copy of the current Help Viewer help text. The user
creates a snapshot from the Help Viewer window by selecting
"Snapshot" (camera) button on the Help Viewer window. At
any given time, a user may have numerous snapshots and one
Help Viewer window.
Help Snapshot windows do not browse further into the help
system, but the do support all the other Help window func-
tions: text scrolling, word searching, and printing. The
intent of the snapshot windows are to give the user the
ability to compare/save multiple Help text views at the same
time.
Once a Snapshot window is created, its existence is managed
by the user. That is, it will be the user's responsibility
to close the view. Exiting the Help Window will leave any
snapshot windows intact.
The Snapshot window contains three areas. From top to bot-
tom they are:
Text This area contains a copy of the Help text in the
current Help Viewer window.
Word Search
A word search mechanism provided here is the same
as the word search mechanisms in the Help window.
The intent is to give the user the ability to
search through the Snapshot window Help text for
a user-selected word or phrase. The Find Next
and Find Previous buttons allow the user to
search forwards and backwards within the text for
the given word or phrase. As each instance of
the search string is found, it is highlighted.
Command Options
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This area displays three buttons: a Print button,
which prints a copy of the current Snapshot
Help-Text; a Help button, which causes the Help
Viewer window to display help information about
the Snapshot Window; and a Close button, which
closes the window.
FILE VIEWER WINDOW
The File Viewer Window provides an application with a means
of viewing a text file in a window. Access the File Viewer
window from the File Manager (vuefile (1X)) by choosing
"VIEW" from the "Actions" menu. There is no direct way via
the help system that a user can request that a file be
viewed. Files may only be viewed by an application making
the proper help API call. The File Viewer window looks and
works just like the Snapshot windows.
Once a File Viewer is created, its existence is managed by
the user. That is, it is the user's responsibility to close
the view.
The File Viewer window contains three areas. From top to
bottom they are:
Text This area contains the text of the file
requested.
Word Search
A word search mechanism provided here is the same
as the word search mechanisms in the Help Window.
This allows the user the ability to search
through the File Viewer text for user-selected
words or phrases. The Find Next and Find Previ-
ous buttons allow the user to search forwards and
backwards within the text for the given word or
phrase. As each instance of the search string is
found, it is highlighted.
Command Options
This area displays three buttons: a Print button,
which prints a copy of the current File View
Help-Text; a Help button, which causes the Help
Window to display help information about the File
Viewer window; and a Close button, which closes
the window.
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X DEFAULTS
VUE Help is configured from its resource database. This
database is built from the following sources. They are
listed in order of precedence, low to high:
app-defaults/Vuehelp
RESOURCE_MANAGER root window property or
$HOME/.vue/vue.resources
XENVIRONMENT variable or $HOME/.vue/vue.resources
Entries in the resource database may refer to other resource
files for specific types of resources.
Vuehelp is the resource class name of vuehelp and vuehelp is
the resource name used by vuehelp to look up resources.
COPYRIGHT
(c) Copyright 1989 by Open Software Foundation, Inc.
(c) Copyright 1987, 1988, 1989 by Hewlett-Packard Company
All rights reserved.
ORIGIN
Hewlett-Packard Company ITO.
SEE ALSO
X(1), vuefile(1X).
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