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 scohelp(X)                      19 June 1992                      scohelp(X)


 Name

    scohelp - provide help on Open Desktop

 Command syntax

    scohelp [Xtoptions] [bookfile]

 Desktop syntax

    Double-click on the Help icon.

    Or point to an area in a control, accessory, or application and press
    <F1>.  This does not work on the Desktop or in the UNIX window.

    Or drag and drop an icon on the Help icon, or click on an icon and select
    On Object from the Desktop Help menu.

    Or click on On Context in the Help menu of a control, accessory, or
    application then point and click on the area for which you want help.

 Description

    scohelp starts when you use any Help menu, when you use <F1>, when you
    double-click on the Help icon, or when you run scohelp from the command
    line.

    scohelp displays the Help Library window first when invoked from the com-
    mand line.  scohelp displays a Help screen first when invoked from the
    Desktop by double-clicking on the Help icon.  Click on the Close button
    to close the initial Help window, and double-click on the Help Library
    window in the lower right-hand corner of the Desktop to get the list of
    online books.

    The main Help Library window contains all Open Desktop online books:

    +  Online Help

    +  Manual Pages

    +  Online Release Notes

    +  Online Performance and Troubleshooting Guide

    Double-click on the book you want to read.  The title of the book is at
    the top of the Book window. Use the table of contents or index to choose
    your topic.  Figures, tables, and examples are also available from the
    table of contents.  In the Manual Pages book, use the Command Summary,
    table of contents, or Permuted Index and double-click on the manual page
    you want to see.

    Select a topic by double-clicking on it.  The Topic window appears with
    the title of the book at the top and the title of the topic below it.
    Move to different topics in the Topic window using the scroll bars and
    the Topic, Screen, and Go Back buttons.

    In the Topic window, a reference in the text to a figure, a table, glos-
    sary term, or an example is a hot spot.  Double-click on the figure,
    table, glossary term, or example to display it.  Cross-references to
    other sections of text are also hot spots.  Double-clicking on a refer-
    ence to another section displays the new topic in the Topic window.

    Hot spots are visible only when you move the pointer over the reference.
    You can turn on (put a box around) all hot spots by clicking Hot Spot
    from the Topic window View menu.

 Command options

    scohelp supports all of the options from the Xtoptions(X) manual page,
    except -iconic.


    bookfile  specifies a book file.

    Book files available from scohelp are view.bkr, manpages.bkr,
    release.bkr, and perform.bkr.

 Desktop options

    Each menu and menu option has a mnemonic you can use instead of the
    mouse.  For example, <Alt>F opens the File menu.  The O mnemonic opens a
    book or topic when the File menu is open.

    Library window


    File menu         opens books, switches libraries, and exits Help.


    Open Book From Library (O)
                        opens the book you selected. Double-click on a
                        bookshelf to see the books in it.  Double-click on
                        the book to select it.

    Open Book In New Window (N)
                        opens a new window and displays the book you
                        selected.  The book's table of contents and index is
                        displayed in the Book window.

    Open Book... (B)    opens a File Selection window so you can open any
                        book.  Type the name of the book in the Selection box
                        at the bottom of the Open Book window.

    Switch Library (S)  opens a new Library.

    Switch to Default Library (D)
                        returns to the default library,
                        /usr/lib/scohelp/library.bks.

    Exit (E)            exits Help and closes all windows.


    View menu (V)     controls what appears in the Library window.

    Expand (E)        expands the selected bookshelf.  Double-clicking on a
                      collapsed bookshelf also expands it.

    Collapse (C)      collapses the selected bookshelf.  Double-clicking on
                      an expanded bookshelf also collapses it.

    Collapse All (A)  collapses all expanded bookshelves.

    Help menu (H)     gives you help on Help.

                      On Context (C) enables you to point to anything in the
                                     Library window using the the question-
                                     mark cursor and get help.

                      On Window (W)  is a general description of the Library
                                     window.

                      On Help (H)    gives you a description of all Help menu
                                     options.

                      On Version (V) tells you the version of scohelp.


    Book window


    File menu (F)  opens topics and closes the book.


                   Open Topic (O) opens the selected topic; click on a topic
                                  to select it.  Double-clicking on the topic
                                  also opens it.

                   Open Topic In New Window (N)
                                  opens the selected topic in a new window.

                   Close Book (C) closes the book and any open Topic windows.


    View menu (V)  changes the information available in the Book window.

                   Expand (E)     expands the selected topic.  Double-
                                  clicking on the triangle (pointing down)
                                  next to a collapsed topic also expands it.

                   Fully Expand (F)
                                  expands all topics in the table of contents
                                  or index.

                   Collapse (C)   collapses the selected topic.  Double-
                                  clicking on the triangle (pointing left)
                                  next to an expanded topic also collapses
                                  it.

                   Collapse All (A)
                                  shows only the top-level topics in the
                                  table of contents.

                   Contents (o)   displays the table of contents.

                   Index (I)      displays the index.


    Help menu (H)  gives you help on Help.

                   On Context (C) enables you to point to anything in the
                                  Book window using the the question-mark
                                  cursor and get help.

                   On Window (W)  is a general description of the Book win-
                                  dow.

                   On Help (H)    gives you a description of all Help menu
                                  options.

                   On Version (V) tells you the version of scohelp.


    Topic window


    File menu (F)  opens and closes selected topics (hot spots).  To see all
                   hot spots, use Hot Spots in the View menu.

                   Open Topic (O) opens the selected topic in the same win-
                                  dow.  Click on Go Back to return to the
                                  previous topic.

                   Open Topic in New Window (N)
                                  opens the selected topic in another Topic
                                  window.

                   Close Topic (C)
                                  closes the Topic window. The Close button
                                  at the bottom left of the Topic window also
                                  closes it.


    View menu (V)  moves you through a book.

                   Previous Topic (P)
                                  displays the previous topic in the table of
                                  contents.

                   Next Topic (N) displays the next topic in the table of
                                  contents.

                   Go Back (G)    displays the topic you were viewing prior
                                  to the current topic.

                   Hot Spots (H)  a toggle that enables and disables showing
                                  (putting a box around) hot spots, which are
                                  references to figures, tables, glossary
                                  terms, examples, footnotes, or other sec-
                                  tions of text.


    Help menu (H)  gives you help on Help.

                   On Context (C)   enables you to point to anything in the
                                    Topic window using the the question-mark
                                    cursor and get help.

                   On Window (W)    is a general description of the Topic
                                    window.

                   On Help (H)      gives you a description of all Help menu
                                    options.

                   On Version (V)   tells you the version of scohelp.


 Resources

    You can customize some characteristics of scohelp by editing your own
    personal X resource file; this file contains user preferences for all of
    the X clients.  If the file does not already exist, create it with the
    full pathname:

       $HOME/.Xdefaults-hostname/ScoHelp

    where $HOME represents your home directory and hostname is the name of
    the machine.

    The most common resources are listed here.  For a more complete list of
    resources and guidelines on how to modify resources, refer to the Desktop
    Administrator's Guide.

    scohelp*initialState
                specifies whether scohelp starts up with the selection window
                displayed, or starts up as an icon.  Setting the initial
                state to 3 causes scohelp to start up as an icon.

    scohelpTopic:showhotspots
                specifies whether hot spots are shown with a box around them.
                By default a hot spots shows only when the pointer travels
                over it.  Setting this resource to true shows all hot spots
                when scohelp is started.  The default is false.


    Example

    To show all hot spots by default, add the following entry to your
    .Xdefaults-hostname file:

       scohelp*scohelpTopic:show_hot_spots:    true


 Files

    /usr/lib/scohelp/library.bks
    /usr/lib/scohelp/view.bkr
    /usr/lib/scohelp/view.hk
    /usr/lib/scohelp/manpages.bkr
    /usr/lib/scohelp/release.bkr
    /usr/lib/scohelp/perform.bkr
    /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/ScoHelp
    /usr/lib/X11/$LANG/app-defaults/ScoHelp
    /usr/lib/X11/sco/startup/ScoHelp

 See also

    Xtoptions(X)


Typewritten Software • bear@typewritten.org • Edmonds, WA 98026