Chapter 9 Using the HTML Help Viewer

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This chapter contains the following sections:

• 9.1, What Is the HTML Help Viewer?
• 9.2, Displaying the HTML Help Viewer
• 9.3, Using the Contents Tab
• 9.4, Navigating by Jumping to Related Topics
• 9.5, Using F1 to Get Context-Sensitive Help
• 9.6, Using the Index Tab to Locate Topics by Index Keyword
• 9.7, Using the Search Tab to Locate Topics by Searching
• 9.8, Using the Favorites Tab for Bookmarks
• 9.9, Changing the Current Collection
• 9.10, Defining and Using Subsets
• 9.11, Other HTML Help Viewer Features
• 9.12, Problems Displaying HTML Help Viewer Information

9.1 What Is the HTML Help Viewer?

An online documentation help system called the HTML Help Viewer is integrated with the visual development environment.

The HTML Help Viewer appears in a separate window, as shown in Figure 9-1.

Figure 9-1 HTML Help Viewer

The left window area shows the contents of the titles. It has tabs for the following panes: Contents, Index, full-text Search, and Favorites.

The right window area displays text for a selected topic in a document window.

The HTML Help Viewer provides a built-in toolbar, as shown in Figure 9-2.

Figure 9-2 HTML Help Viewer Toolbar

Table 9-1 describes the buttons in the toolbar.

Table 9-1 Buttons in the HTML Help Viewer Toolbar

Click this button:	To do this:
Hide or Show	Hide removes the left pane, which contains the Contents, Index, and Search tabs. After you click Hide, click Show to redisplay the Contents pane.
Locate	Locate shows you the location of the current topic in the Contents.
Next and Previous	Next and Previous move you to the topic that follows (down arrow) or precedes (up arrow) the current topic in the Contents. Topics are ordered as they appear in the Contents.
Back and Forward	Back returns you to the last topic you viewed. Forward moves you forward (if you previously clicked Back).
Stop	Stop stops retrieval of information for the current topic.
Refresh	Refresh redisplays the contents of the screen.
Home	Home returns you to the home screen of the HTML Help Viewer help system.
Font	Font allows you to adjust the size of the text font in the HTML Help Viewer display.
Print	Print displays the print dialog box, allowing you to print the currently selected page or the text in the current heading.
Options	Options displays certain options, some of which are HTML Help Viewer buttons.

Most of the functions performed by the toolbar buttons are also available as menu items in the Go menu.

You can use the Page Up, Page Down, and arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll through text.

You can also use keyboard shortcuts for navigation. For example, to change focus from the left side of the Help Viewer to the right (text) side, click on F6.

9.2 Displaying the HTML Help Viewer

There are several ways to display the HTML Help Viewer:

• Click the Online Documentation item in the Compaq Visual Fortran program folder.

The HTML Help Viewer appears with the Contents displayed.

• Within the visual development environment, in the Help Menu, click either Contents, Index, or Search.

The HTML Help Viewer appears with the Contents, Index, or Search pane displayed.

• In a text window (such as a text editor window), move your pointer to a word of a Fortran statement, routine, intrinsic, or keyword and click F1.

The HTML Help Viewer appears with the text associated with that topic (or a selectable list) displayed.

Figure 9-3 shows the Contents with several online titles expanded. See Table 9-2, How to Use the Contents Pane.

Figure 9-3 HTML Help Viewer Window with Contents Displayed

You can also display the HTML Help Viewer by other means supported by HTML Help.

For example, you can use the HH command within a command prompt window (or desktop shortcut) to open a .CHM file installed on your hard disk. You can similarly open a .CHM file within Internet Explorer (click Open in the File menu, then click Browse). Visual Fortran HTML Help files are installed by default in the following directory:

\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\Df98\Doc 

Note:

If you have trouble displaying the HTML Help Viewer, see Section 9.12, Problems Displaying HTML Help Viewer Information.

9.3 Using the Contents Tab

The HTML Help Viewer provides a book-like table of contents showing the titles of books, sections, and topics. You can browse among the various categories of information. Visual Fortran titles appear with certain other visual development environment titles.

To display the contents, see Section 9.2, Displaying the HTML Help Viewer.

Table 9-2 shows how to use the Contents pane. See Figure 9-3, HTML Help Viewer Window with Contents Displayed.

Table 9-2 How to Use the Contents Pane

To do this:	Click this:
Open a title	Click the + symbol in front of the name or double-click the name itself. The + symbol changes to a - symbol when a title is open.
Close a title	Click the - symbol in front of the name or double-click the name itself. The - symbol changes to a + symbol when a title is closed.
View a topic	Double-click the topic's page icon or the topic name in the Contents. The topic you selected is displayed in a topic window.

9.4 Navigating by Jumping to Related Topics

From any topic window, there are several ways to jump to related information, such as:

• Click on one of the HTML Help Viewer buttons. (See Table 9-1, Buttons in the HTML Help Viewer Toolbar.)
• Select a word and click F1. (See Section 9.5, Using F1 to Get Context-Sensitive Help.)
• Click on underlined words in a color, such as blue, to move to another related topic or display a pop-up window with additional information. For certain types of jumps, a selectable list appears to allow a choice among multiple topics.

If jumps between topics in the HTML Help Viewer do not work as expected, click the HTML Help View menu, Internet Options item. Check the settings in the Security tab.

9.5 Using F1 to Get Context-Sensitive Help

Context-sensitive help on specific keywords and functions is available whenever you are working in a text window. You can also get detailed descriptions of options whenever you are working in a visual development environment dialog box.

To get help on a word in a text window, move your pointer to the word that you want help on and click F1.

The HTML Help Viewer displays the topic. If there are multiple topics indexed in Books Online under the word you specified, the Select Reference dialog box displays all topic titles that contain information on the keyword you specified.

When in a dialog box, to get help on a part of a dialog box, do either of the following:

• Click the ? (Help) button and click the item you want help on.
• Select the item you want help on and click F1.

9.6 Using the Index Tab to Locate Topics by Index Keyword

The HTML Help Viewer provides a book-like index to all topics in Books Online. Every topic is indexed under one or more keywords to make them easy for you to find.

To find a topic with the index:

1. Bring up the Index pane as described in Section 9.2, Displaying the HTML Help Viewer.
2. Enter the word(s) you want information on. Topics relevant to the word(s) you have entered appear.
3. Either select the topic you want to view and click the Display button or double-click the topic you want to view.

Certain index keywords will be dimmed to indicate they are not in the current subset or are placeholders for the indented keywords beneath them.

9.7 Using the Search Tab to Locate Topics by Searching

If you cannot easily find the information you are looking for in the index or you are looking for detailed information, you can perform a full-text search of either the entire contents of Books Online or the currently selected subset. (See Section 9.9, Changing the Current Collection.) The HTML Help Viewer displays every occurrence of a given word or phrase, anywhere within the help system.

To search the full text of the online books:

1. Bring up the Search pane as described in Section 9.2, Displaying the HTML Help Viewer.
2. Enter the word, phrase, or wildcard expression you want information on.
3. Click the List Topics button.

The list box at the bottom of the Search dialog box displays all the topics containing the word or phrase you specified.

4. Either select the topic you want to view and click the Display button or double-click the topic you want to view.

At the bottom, the Search pane contains checkboxes for the following:

• Search previous results
• Match similar words
• Search titles only

Before you perform a search by clicking the List Topics button, make sure the checkboxes in the lower-left corner of the Search tab are set appropriately.

9.7.1 Basic Search Syntax

A basic search query consists of the word or phrase you want to find. To create more complex search queries, you can use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and a proximity operator (NEAR).

Keep in mind the following rules when you are creating a query:

• Search queries are case-insensitive, so you can enter your query in uppercase or lowercase letters.
• You can search for any combination of letters (a-z) and numbers (0-9), except for the words in the exception list (a, an, and, as, at, be, but, by, do, for, from, have, he, in, it, not, of, on, or, she, that, the, there, they, this, to, we, which, with, you), which are ignored during a search.
• Punctuation marks such as the period (.), colon (:), semicolon (;), comma (,), and hyphen (-) are ignored during a search.
• Use single or double quotation marks to enclose phrases; you cannot search for these characters.
• You can use parentheses to nest expressions within your query.

9.7.1.1 Words, Phrases, and Wildcards

You can use wildcards with the basic query syntax to create powerful and flexible search queries, as shown in Table 9-3.

Table 9-3 How to Use Wildcards with the Basic Search Syntax

To search for:	Example:	The search will find:
A single word	overload	Topics that contain the word overload (you will also find its grammatical variations, such as overloads and overloaded).
A phrase, in single or double quotes	"new operator" `new operator'	Topics that contain the literal phrase new operator and all its grammatical variations. Without the quotation marks, the query is equivalent to specifying: new AND operator Using two words without quotation marks (or the AND operator) finds topics containing the individual words, not the phrase.
A wildcard expression	esc* 80?86 *86	Topics that contain the terms esc, escape, escalation, and so on. The asterisk cannot be the only character in the term. Topics that contain the terms 80186, 80286, 80386, 80x86, and so on. The question mark cannot be the only character in the term. Topics that contain the terms 386, 486, x86, 8086, and so on.

9.8 Using the Favorites Tab for Bookmarks

In the HTML Help Viewer window, click on the Favorites tab to display your bookmarks (favorite items).

To add a bookmark to your Favorites list:

1. Display the appropriate topic.
2. Click the Add button.

To remove a bookmark:

1. Click on the bookmark to be removed.
2. Click the Remove button.

To display the topic associated with a bookmark:

1. Click on the bookmark to be viewed.
2. Click the Display button.

9.9 Changing the Current Collection

In the HTML Help Viewer, a collection is a group of related titles and files.

When you use the Contents, Index, or Search functions, the current collection is used. The current collection is also used when you search for topics within the visual development environment, such as when you move your pointer to a word and click F1.

Typically, your current collection will be the Compaq Visual Fortran documentation. However, if you also have the Microsoft MSDN online documentation installed (such as for a Microsoft Visual Studio product or subscription), the MSDN Library might be the current collection.

For example, if the MSDN Library is the current collection, when you click Contents from the Help menu, the MSDN online documentation might appear instead of the Visual Fortran online documentation.

You can change your current preferred collection.

On Windows 2000 systems, you need to have at least Power user privilege to change collections.

To change the current online documentation collection in use:

1. Within the visual development environment, in the Tools menu, select Options.
2. Click on the Help System tab. (Depending on display settings, you might need to scroll to find the tab.)
3. In the Preferred Collection box, select Compaq Visual Fortran if you want to use the Visual Fortran collection or select MSDN Library if you want to use the MSDN collection.
4. Click OK. The collection you just selected is now your current collection.

If you have installed the Enterprise Edition, see Section 8.2.7, Additional HTML Help for the Enterprise Edition for information on the collection to use.

Note:

You can always display the Visual Fortran online documentation in the HTML Help Viewer by clicking the Online Documentation item in the Compaq Visual Fortran 6 program folder. However, searches will continue to use the current collection, which might or might not be the Visual Fortran collection.

9.10 Defining and Using Subsets

The HTML Help Viewer lets you define and use subsets to limit the index or search activity on your system. For example, you can define a subset for just the Visual Fortran documentation, the Array Visualizer documentation, or the Platform SDK documentation, or any combination.

The name of the current subset is shown in the upper left part of the HTML Help Viewer window in a list box labeled Active Subset. The subset titled Entire Collection displays the entire contents of the currently selected collection. (See Section 9.9, Changing the Current Collection.)

To define a new subset:

1. Start the HTML Help Viewer.
2. In the View menu, click Define Subset.
3. In the Available Items list, double-click the Compaq Visual Fortran 6.6 subcategories.
4. If needed, double-click the subcategory to display its contents.
5. Click the appropriate title. You can use the Ctrl key to select multiple titles.
6. Click the Add button; the selected titles are moved into the right pane.
7. In the lower-right corner, in the text box below Save new subset as:, highlight and enter the desired subset name.
8. Click the Save button to save the defined subset for subsequent use.
9. Click the Close button.

To use a previously defined subset, in the Active Subset list box, select the desired subset.

After you select the subset, the Contents pane shows only the contents of the current subset.

When you exit the HTML Help Viewer, it remembers the last subset selected and uses it the next time you start the HTML Help Viewer.

If you use multiple subsets and cannot find a topic you need, make sure you select the Entire Contents subset or the appropriate subset you previously defined.

9.11 Other HTML Help Viewer Features

The HTML Help Viewer environment provides other features, including locating text within a page and access to Microsoft Internet Explorer preferences.

To locate a text string within the current topic page:

1. In the Edit menu, click Find in this Topic.
2. Enter the text to be located.
3. Review and, if needed, set the displayed radio button options.
4. Click the Find Next button. The text string, if located, is highlighted.
5. If appropriate, click the Find Next button again to locate the next place where that text string is located on the current page.

To access Microsoft Internet Explorer preferences:

1. In the View menu, click Internet Options.
2. Click the appropriate tab.
3. Change the options as needed.
4. Click OK.

To open a page on your company's intranet or the Internet:

1. In the Go menu, click URL.
2. Enter the desired URL, such as: http://www.compaq.com
3. Click OK.

If you cannot access the specified page, correct the URL or check your Internet Explorer preferences (in the View menu, click Internet Options).

9.12 Problems Displaying HTML Help Viewer Information

Under Visual Fortran are the titles Compaq Visual Fortran and Compaq Array Visualizer.

If the expected HTML Help Viewer window (shown in Figure 9-1, HTML Help Viewer) does not appear, possible causes and solutions include:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 4 is not installed properly.

The HTML Help Viewer requires a certain minimum release of Internet Explorer Version 4. You can install the correct release of Internet Explorer Version 4 from the Visual Fortran CD-ROM. See Section 3.4.4, Installing Internet Explorer.

On Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4 systems, Internet Explorer Version 4 must be installed from an Administrator account.

• Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 4 was not installed before installing Visual Fortran.

You must install the minimum (or later) release of Internet Explorer Version 4 before you install Visual Fortran. See Section 3.4.4, Installing Internet Explorer.

• The current subset prevents you from locating the desired information.

You may have selected a subset of the Visual Fortran collection recently or when you last used the HTML Help Viewer. You can select the Entire Collection to locate the desired information in the Active Subsets list box. See Section 9.10, Defining and Using Subsets.

• You have Microsoft MSDN installed and the MSDN Library, not Visual Studio, appears in the Contents. See Section 9.9, Changing the Current Collection.
• The expected Visual Fortran Contents do not appear, even though you do not have Microsoft MSDN installed.

Start the HTML Help Viewer by clicking the Online Documentation item in the Compaq Visual Fortran 6 program folder. (Do not start the HTML Help Viewer from the visual development environment Help menu.)

You might find useful tips on displaying HTML Help Viewer information by looking at the Compaq Visual Fortran Knowledge Base at the Compaq Fortran Web page, described in Section 10.2, Types of Technical Support.