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diff --git a/doc/khelpcenter/help.docbook b/doc/khelpcenter/help.docbook new file mode 100644 index 000000000..98536e1f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/khelpcenter/help.docbook @@ -0,0 +1,740 @@ +<chapter id="help-system-user-manual"> +<chapterinfo> +<date>2002-02-03</date> +<releaseinfo>0.08.00</releaseinfo> +</chapterinfo> +<title>&kde; Help System User Manual</title> +<anchor id="help"/> + +<sect1 id="help-introduction"> +<title>&kde; Help System</title> + +<para>The &kde; help system is designed to make accessing the common +&UNIX; help systems (<application>man</application> and +<application>info</application>) simple, as well as the native &kde; +documentation (&XML;). +</para> + +<para> All base &kde; applications come fully documented, thanks to +the efforts of the Documentation team. If you would like to help, +please write to the Documentation coordinator, Lauri Watts, at +<email>[email protected]</email> for information. No experience is +required, just enthusiasm and patience. +</para> + +<para> +If you would like to help translating &kde; documentation to your native +language, the Translation coordinator is Thomas Diehl, +<email>[email protected]</email>, and he would also welcome the help. More +information, including the coordinators for each language team, can be +found on the <ulink url="http://i18n.kde.org">Internationalization web +site</ulink>, and in the <link linkend="contact">Contact</link> section +of this document. +</para> + +<sect2 id="installation"> +<title>Installation</title> + +<para> +&khelpcenter; is an integral part of the &kde; Base installation, and +is installed with every copy of &kde;. It can be found in the kdebase +package, and is available from the &kde-ftp;, or will be found in your +operating system kdebase package. +</para> + +</sect2> +</sect1> + +<sect1 id="invoking-help"> +<title>Invoking Help</title> + +<para> +&khelpcenter; can be called in several ways: +</para> + +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term>From the <guimenu>Help</guimenu> menu</term> +<listitem> +<para> +The most common will probably be from within an application. Choose +<menuchoice><guimenu>Help</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>Contents</guimenuitem></menuchoice> to open that +application's help file, at the contents page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term>From the <guimenu>K</guimenu> menu</term> +<listitem> +<para> +Choose the big <guiicon>K</guiicon> in your panel, and select +<guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem> to open &khelpcenter;, starting at the +default welcome page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term>From the panel</term> +<listitem> +<para> +By default, the &kicker; panel contains an icon to call &khelpcenter;. +Again, the default welcome page is displayed. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term>From the command line</term> +<listitem> +<para> +&khelpcenter; may be started using a &URL; to display a +file. &URL;s have been added for +<command>info</command> and <command>man</command> pages +also. You can use them as follows: +</para> + +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term>An application help file</term> +<listitem> +<para> +<command>khelpcenter</command> +<option>help:/<replaceable>kedit</replaceable></option> +</para> +<para> +Opens the &kedit; help file, at the contents page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term>A local &URL;</term> +<listitem><para> +<command>khelpcenter</command> +<option>file:/ +<replaceable>usr/local/src/qt/html/index.html</replaceable></option> +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term>A Man page</term> +<listitem> +<para> +<command>khelpcenter</command> +<option>man:/<replaceable>strcpy</replaceable></option> +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term>An Info page</term> +<listitem> +<para> +<command>khelpcenter</command> +<option>info:/<replaceable>gcc</replaceable></option> +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> +</variablelist> + +<para> +Invoking <command>khelpcenter</command> with no parameters opens the +default welcome page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +</variablelist> +</sect1> + +<sect1 id="interface-basics"> +<title>The &khelpcenter; interface</title> + +<para> +The &khelpcenter; interface consists of two panes of information. +</para> + +<para> +The toolbar and menus are explained further in <xref + linkend="menu-and-toolbar-ref"/>. +</para> + +<para> +Documents contain their own navigation tools, enabling you to move +either sequentially through a document, using +<guilabel>Next</guilabel>, <guilabel>Previous</guilabel>, and +<guilabel>Home</guilabel> links, or to move around in a less +structured manner, using hyperlinks. +</para> + +<para> +Links can take you to other parts of the same document, or to a +different document, and you can use the <guiicon>Back</guiicon> (Left +pointing arrow) or <guiicon>Forward</guiicon> (Right pointing arrow) +icons on the toolbar to move through the documents you have viewed in +this session. +</para> + +<para> +The two panes display the contents of the help system, and the help +files themselves, on the left and right respectively. +</para> + +<sect2 id="contents-pane"> +<title>The <guilabel>Contents</guilabel> pane</title> + +<para> +The <guilabel>Contents</guilabel> pane in &khelpcenter; is +displayed on the left hand side of the window. As you might expect, you +can move the splitter bar, to make sure you can comfortably read the +contents of either pane. +</para> + +<para> +The <guilabel>Contents</guilabel> pane is further divided into two +tabs, one containing a <link linkend="contents-menu">menu</link> +showing all the help information &khelpcenter; is aware of, and the +other contains the &kde; <link linkend="kde-glossary">glossary</link> +of terms. +</para> + +<sect3 id="contents-menu"> +<title>The <guilabel>Contents</guilabel> Menu</title> + +<para> +The <guilabel>Contents</guilabel> contains the following default +entries: +</para> + +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Introduction</guilabel></term> +<listitem><para>Welcome to &kde; - an introduction to the K Desktop +Environment.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Introduction to &kde;</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +The &kde; Quickstart guide. Contains a tour of the &kde; +Interface and specific help and tips on how to work smarter with &kde;. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>&kde; User's manual</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +The &kde; User's manual is an in-depth exploration of &kde;, including +installation, configuration and customization, and use. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Application manuals</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Native &kde; application documentation. All &kde; applications have +documentation in &XML; format, which are converted to +<acronym>HTML</acronym> when you view them. This section lists all the +&kde; applications with a brief description and a link to the full +application documentation. +</para> +<para> +The applications are displayed in a tree structure that echoes the default +structure of the <guimenu>K</guimenu> menu, making it easy to find the +application you are looking for. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>&UNIX; manual pages</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +&UNIX; man pages are the traditional on-line documentation format for +&UNIX; systems. Most programs on your system will have a man page. In +addition, man pages exist for programming functions and file +formats. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Browse info pages</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +TeXinfo documentation is used by many &GNU; applications, +including <command>gcc</command> (the C/C++ compiler), +<command>emacs</command>, and many others. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Tutorials</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Short, task based or informational tutorials. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>The &kde; FAQ</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Frequently asked questions about &kde;, and their answers. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>&kde; on the web</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Links to &kde; on the web, both the official &kde; website, and other +useful sites. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Contact Information</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Information on how to contact &kde; developers, and how to join the +&kde; mailing lists. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Supporting &kde;</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +How to help, and how to get involved. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> +</variablelist> + +</sect3> +<!-- +<sect3 id="search"> +<title>The <guilabel>Search</guilabel> tab</title> + +<para> +Searching requires you have the <application>ht://Dig</application> +application installed. Information on installing and configuring the +search index is available in the document. Configuration of the search +index is performed in the &kcontrol;, by choosing +<menuchoice><guisubmenu>Help</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Index</guimenuitem></menuchoice>, +and detailed help is available from this module. +</para> + +<para> +For the purposes of this document, we'll assume you already have this set +up and configured. +</para> + +<para> +Searching the help files is fairly intuitive, enter the word(s) you wish +to search for in the text box, choose your options (if any), and press +<guibutton>Search</guibutton>. The results display in the viewer pane +to the right. +</para> + +<para>The options available are:</para> + +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Method</guilabel></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Choose how to search for multiple words. If you choose +<guilabel>and</guilabel>, results are returned only if all your search +terms are included in the page. <guilabel>or</guilabel> returns results +if <emphasis>any</emphasis> of the search terms are found, and +<guilabel>boolean</guilabel> lets you search using a combination. +</para> +<para> +Boolean syntax lets you use the operators <literal>AND</literal>, +<literal>OR</literal> and <literal>NOT</literal> to create complex +searches. Some examples:</para> +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term><userinput>cat and dog</userinput></term> +<listitem><para>Searches for pages which have both the words +<userinput>cat</userinput> and <userinput>dog</userinput> in them. Pages with +only one or the other will not be returned.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> +<varlistentry> +<term><userinput>cat not dog</userinput></term> +<listitem><para>Searches for pages with <userinput>cat</userinput> in them, but +only returns the ones that don't have the word <userinput>dog</userinput> in +them.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> +<varlistentry> +<term><userinput>cat or (dog not nose)</userinput></term> +<listitem><para>Searches for pages which contain <userinput>cat</userinput>, and +for pages which contain <userinput>dog</userinput> but don't contain +<userinput>nose</userinput>. Pages which contain both +<userinput>cat</userinput> and <userinput>nose</userinput> would be returned, +pages containing all three words would not.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> +</variablelist> +<para>If your searches are not returning the results you expect, check +carefully you haven't excluded the wrong search term with an errand +<literal>NOT</literal> or a stray brace.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Max. results</guilabel></term> +<listitem><para>Determines the maximum number of results returned from your +search.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Format</guilabel></term> +<listitem><para>Decide if you want just a short link to the page +containing your search terms, or do you want a longer +summary.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Sort</guilabel></term> +<listitem><para>Sort the results in order of <guilabel>Score</guilabel> (how +closely your search terms were matched,) alphabetically by +<guilabel>Title</guilabel> or by <guilabel>Date</guilabel>. Selecting the +<guilabel>Reverse order</guilabel> check box, naturally enough, reverses the +sort order of the results.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> +<varlistentry> +<term><guilabel>Update index</guilabel></term> +<listitem><para>Update the search index, to incorporate new documents, +or if you think your database is incomplete or damaged. This may take +some time.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> +</variablelist> +</sect3> +--> + +</sect2> + +<sect2 id="man-and-info"> +<title>The <application>Man</application> and <application>Info</application> +sections</title> + +<para>Man pages are the standard &UNIX; manual pages, and have been in +use for many years on many operating systems. They are extremely +thorough, and are the very best place to get information about most +&UNIX; commands and applications. When people say +<quote>RTFM</quote>, the Manual they are referring to is very often the +man page.</para> + +<para>The man pages are not perfect. They tend to be in depth, but +also extremely technical, often written by developers, and for +developers. In some cases this makes them somewhat unfriendly, if not +downright impossible for many users to understand. They are, however, +the best source of solid information on most command line +applications, and very often the only source.</para> + +<para>If you've ever wondered what the number is when people write +things like man(1) it means which section of the manual the item is +in. You will see &khelpcenter; uses the numbers to divide the very many +man pages into their own sections, making it easier for you to find +the information you're looking for, if you're just browsing.</para> + +<para>Also available are the Info pages, intended to be a replacement +for the man pages. The maintainer of some applications no longer +update the man pages, so if there is both a man page and an info page +available, the info page is probably the most recent. Most +applications have one or the other though. If the application you are +looking for help on is a &GNU; utility, you will most likely find it +has an info page, not a man page.</para> + +<sect3 id="navigation"> +<title>Navigating inside the <application>Info</application> pages</title> + +<para>Info documents are arranged hierarchically with each page called +a node. All info documents have a <guilabel>Top</guilabel> node, +&ie; the opening page. You can return to the +<guilabel>Top</guilabel> of an info document by pressing +<guilabel>Top</guilabel>.</para> + +<para><guibutton>Prev</guibutton> & <guibutton>Next</guibutton> +are used to move to the previous/next page at the current level of the +hierarchy.</para> + +<para>Clicking on a menu item within a document moves you to a lower +level in the hierarchy. You may move up the hierarchy by pressing +<guibutton>Up</guibutton>.</para> + +<para>Man is treated similarly to info, with the section index being +the Top node and each man page on the level below. Man entries are +one page long.</para> + +</sect3> +</sect2> + +<sect2 id="kde-glossary"> +<title>The &kde; glossary</title> + +<para> +The glossary provides a quick reference point, where you can look up +the definitions of words that may be unfamiliar to you. These range +from &kde; specific applications and technologies, through to general +&UNIX; computing terms. +</para> + +<para> +In the left hand pane you will see a tree view, with two choices: +<guilabel>Alphabetically</guilabel> or <guilabel>By topic</guilabel>. +Both contain the same entries, sorted differently, to allow you to +quickly find the item of interest. +</para> + +<para> +Navigate down the tree views to the left, and items you select will be +displayed on the right. +</para> + +</sect2> + +<sect2 id="menu-and-toolbar-ref"> +<title>The menus and toolbar</title> + +<para> +&khelpcenter; has a very minimal interface, allowing you to concentrate +on getting help rather than learning how to use the help browser. +</para> + +<para> +The icons available to you in the toolbar are as follows: +</para> + +<variablelist> +<title>Toolbar Icons</title> + +<varlistentry> + +<term><guiicon>Back</guiicon></term> +<listitem> +<para>Go to the previous page you viewed.</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guiicon>Forward</guiicon></term> +<listitem> +<para>Go forward one page. This icon is only active if you have +already used the <guiicon>Back</guiicon> icon.</para></listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guiicon>Print</guiicon></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Print the contents of the currently visible page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guiicon>Find</guiicon></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Find a word or words within the currently visible page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guiicon>Increase Font</guiicon></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Increase the size of the text in the viewer pane. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guiicon>Decrease Font</guiicon></term> +<listitem> +<para> +Decrease the size of the text in the viewer pane. This icon is only +enabled if you have previously enlarged the text. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +</variablelist> + +<para> +The menus contain the following entries: +</para> + +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term><guimenu>File</guimenu></term> +<listitem> + +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term> +<menuchoice> +<guimenu>File</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>Print...</guimenuitem> +</menuchoice> +</term> +<listitem> +<para> +Print the contents of the currently visible page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term> +<menuchoice> +<shortcut> +<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Q</keycap></keycombo> +</shortcut> +<guimenu>File</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem> +</menuchoice> +</term> +<listitem> +<para> +Close and exit &khelpcenter; +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> +</variablelist> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guimenu>Edit</guimenu></term> +<listitem> + +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term><menuchoice><shortcut> +<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>A</keycap></keycombo></shortcut> +<guimenu>Edit</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>Select All</guimenuitem> +</menuchoice> +</term> +<listitem> +<para> +Select all the text in the current page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><menuchoice><shortcut> +<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>F</keycap></keycombo></shortcut> +<guimenu>Edit</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>Find...</guimenuitem> +</menuchoice> +</term> +<listitem> +<para> +Find a word or words in the currently visible page. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> +</variablelist> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><guimenu>View</guimenu></term> +<listitem> +<variablelist> +<varlistentry> +<term><menuchoice> +<guimenu>View</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>View Document Source</guimenuitem> +</menuchoice> +</term> +<listitem> +<para> +View the <acronym>HTML</acronym> source of the page you are currently + viewing. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu> +<guisubmenu>Set Encoding</guisubmenu> +</menuchoice> +</term> +<listitem> +<para> +Change the encoding of the current page. Normally, the default setting +of <guimenuitem>Auto</guimenuitem> should be sufficient, but if you are +having problems viewing pages written in languages other than English, +you may need to choose a specific encoding in this menu. +</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> +</variablelist> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><menuchoice><guimenu>Go</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>Back</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term> +<listitem> +<para>Go back to the previous page you were viewing.</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><menuchoice><guimenu>Go</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>Forward</guimenuitem> +</menuchoice></term> +<listitem> +<para>If you have previously moved back with the back icon or menu +entry, you can work your way forward again with this menu +entry.</para> +</listitem> +</varlistentry> + +<varlistentry> +<term><menuchoice><guimenu>Go</guimenu> +<guimenuitem>...</guimenuitem> +</menuchoice></term> +<listitem> +<para>At the bottom of the <guimenu>Go</guimenu> menu, you will find a +history list, of the last few pages you have looked at. Selecting one +will take you directly back to that page.</para> +</listitem></varlistentry></variablelist> + +</sect2> + +</sect1> + +<sect1 id="credits"> +<title>Credits and Licenses</title> + +<para>&khelpcenter;</para> + +<para>Originally developed by &Matthias.Elter; &Matthias.Elter.mail;</para> +<para>The current maintainer is &Cornelius.Schumacher; &Cornelius.Schumacher.mail;</para> + +&underFDL; +&underGPL; + +</sect1> +</chapter> + |