Contents for How to Use Help

How To...

 Move Around in a Help file

 Search for a Help Topic

 Use Help Menu Items

 Get Help within an Application

 View an Application and Help Together

Commands and Buttons

 How to Use Help Menu Commands and Buttons


Contents for How to Use Help

How To...

 Move Around in a Help file

 Choosing a Jump

 Choosing a Popup

 Backtracking Through Help Topics

 Displaying Help Contents

 Returning to a Help Topic You Have Viewed

 Scrolling Through a Help Topic

 Search for a Help Topic

 Use Help Menu Items

 Get Help within an Application

 View an Application and Help Together

Commands and Buttons

 How to Use Help Menu Commands and Buttons


Contents for How to Use Help

How To...

 Move Around in a Help file

 Search for a Help Topic

 Using the Search button

 Using the Find button

 Using Full-Text Search

 Entering Full-Text Search Requests

 Use Help Menu Items

 Get Help within an Application

 View an Application and Help Together

Commands

 How to Use Help Menu Commands and Buttons


Contents for How to Use Help

How To...

 Move Around in a Help file

 Search for a Help Topic

 Use Help Menu Items

 Annotate a Help Topic

 Copy a Help Topic onto the Clipboard

 Define and Use Bookmarks

 Keep Help on Top of Other Windows

 Open Another Help File

 Print a Help Topic

 Get Help within an Application

 View an Application and Help Together

Commands

 How to Use Help Menu Commands and Buttons


Contents for How to Use Help

How To...

 Move Around in a Help file

 Search for a Help Topic

 Use Help Menu Items

 Get Help within an Application

 Getting Help

 Using Full-Text Search

 View an Application and Help Together

Commands

 How to Use Help Menu Commands and Buttons


Contents for How to Use Help

How To...

 Move Around in a Help file

 Search for a Help Topic

 Use Help Menu Items

 Get Help within an Application

 View an Application and Help Together

 Changing the Size or Position of the Help Window

 Keep Help on Top of Other Windows

Commands

 How to Use Help Menu Commands and Buttons


Contents for How to Use Help

How To...

 Move Around in a Help file

 Search for a Help Topic

 Use Help Menu Items

 Get Help within an Application

 View an Application and Help Together

Commands

 How to Use Help Menu Commands and Buttons

 File Menu Commands

 Edit Menu Commands

 Bookmark Menu Commands

 Help Menu Commands

 Help Buttons


Contents-All Topics
Contents for How to Use Help

How To...

 Move Around in a Help file

 Choosing a Jump

 Choosing a Popup

 Backtracking Through Help Topics

 Displaying Help Contents

 Returning to a Help Topic You Have Viewed

 Scrolling Through a Help Topic

 Search for a Help Topic

 Using the Search button

 Using the Find button

 Entering Full-Text Search Requests

 Use Help Menu Items

 Annotate a Help Topic

 Copy a Help Topic onto the Clipboard

 Define and Use Bookmarks

 Keep Help on Top of Other Windows

 Open Another Help File

 Print a Help Topic

 Get Help within an Application

 Getting Help

 Using Full-Text Search

 View an Application and Help Together

 Changing the Size or Position of the Help Window

 Keep Help on Top of Other Windows

Commands

 How to Use Help Menu Commands and Buttons

 File Menu Commands

 Edit Menu Commands

 Bookmark Menu Commands

 Help Menu Commands

 Help Buttons


Choosing a Jump

Help topics can include graphics and text that link to other Help topics by displaying a new topic in the Help window. These are called jumps.

Jumps are usually identified by a color and an underline (unless the jump is a graphic). When you point to a jump, the pointer changes to a hand shape.

To choose a jump

Point to the text or graphic, and click the mouse button.

Or press TAB to select the jump, and then press ENTER.

You can press SHIFT+TAB to move backward and select a jump.

If the jump you choose is linked to another topic, that topic appears in the Help window.

To display all jumps in a topic

Press CTRL+TAB.

See Also

Choosing a Popup

Backtracking Through Help Topics

Displaying Help Contents

Returning to a Help Topic You Have Viewed

Scrolling Through a Help Topic


Choosing a Popup

Help topics can include graphics and text that display more information about the current topic in a window that appears over the main Help window. These are called popups.

Popups are usually identified by a color and a dotted underline (unless the popup is a graphic). When you point to a popup, the pointer changes to a hand shape.

To choose a popup

Point to the text or graphic, and click the mouse button.

Or press TAB to select the jump, and then press ENTER.

You can press SHIFT+TAB to move backward and select a popup.

Click the mouse to dismiss the popup.

To display all popups in a topic

Press CTRL+TAB.

See Also

Choosing a Jump

Backtracking Through Help Topics

Displaying Help Contents

Returning to a Help Topic You Have Viewed

Scrolling Through a Help Topic


Getting Help from Your Application

You can get Help while using an application by choosing a command from the application's Help menu or by pressing F1. Some applications also have a Help button in dialog boxes.

To access Help from an application

From the Help menu in the application, choose a Help command.

Or press F1 while using the application.

Or choose the Help button in a dialog box.

A Help window appears. The topic that is displayed depends on which Help command you chose, what was selected when you pressed F1, or which dialog box you were using when you chose the Help button. With some applications, the Help Contents for the application appears. With other applications, a Help topic on the selected command or dialog box appears.

Note:	If F1 does not display Help, you must use the application's Help menu.

Note:	Some applications can add menus to an existing menu bar.  For example, an applications might add a new menu to the menu bar in File Manager.  To get help on this application, select a menu item and press F1 or choose the Help button in a dialog box.


Using Full-Text Search

Windows NT offers a full-text search capability you can use to find any text phrase or combination of text phrases in Help topics.

To search for topics that contain a certain word or phrase

1.	Choose the Find button in the button bar of the Help window.

2.	Enter the text you want to search for in the Find edit box.  To find an exact match to the text you enter, place quotes around the text.  Without quotes, the search will find the words in your search phrase, but not necessarily as you entered the phrase.

This edit box also is a list box that you can open by clicking the DOWN ARROW to the right of the edit box.  This list box contains your 10 most recent search queries.  Select an entry from this list, or type a new search entry.

3.	Select All Text in the Look At options.

The Look At option lets you choose to search through all the text within the Help topics or to search only specially coded topic headings.

Note:	The Help files in Windows NT do not use the specially coded topic headings for Help messages.  Use only the All Text option.

4.	Choose the Help files you want to search by selecting the check boxes.  The default is to search all the Help files listed.

5.	Choose the Search button to perform the search.

Note:	The Hints button provides a quick reference to additional ways you can perform searches and allows you to change the value of NEAR in search requests.

6.	All topics that contain the word or phrase searched for are listed in a small window.  Select a topic to view, the previous topic in the list, or the next topic in the list.  All words or phrases contained in the Help topic are highlighted.

See Also

Using the Find Button

Using the Search Button

Entering Search Requests


Keeping Help on Top of Other Windows

When you first open Help, the Help window appears on top of other windows. If you select another window, it might cover up the Help window.

You can choose to keep the Help window on top of other windows even when you switch to other applications. This can be useful if you are using Help to follow a step-by-step procedure in your application.

Note:	If you minimize a Help window that is on top, its icon also appears on top of other windows.

To keep the Help window on top

From the Help menu in the Help window, choose Always On Top.

A check mark appears next to the command, and a shadow appears around the window border to indicate that the Help window is on top.

If you do not want the Help window to be on top, choose Always On Top again.

See Also

Changing the Size or Position of the Help Window


Entering Full-Text Search Requests

You can search for words or phrases in numerous ways, using the search operators AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR to narrow your search.

Search Request	Searches For
"Network Printers"	Topics that contain the exact phrase "Network Printers".
Network Printers or Network AND Printers	Topics that contain both the word Network AND the word Printers, but not necessarily together.
Network OR Printers	Topics that contain Network or Printers or both Network and Printers.
Network NOT Printers	Topics that contain Network, but not Printers.
Network NEAR Printers	Topics that contain Network and Printers if the two words are no more than the specified number of words apart from each other in the text.  To specify how close the words must be, choose the Hints button in the Search dialog box and enter a number in the NEAR Means Within box.  Words that are next to each other are within one word of each other.
Network Printer* (*=wildcard search character)	Topics that contain both the word Network AND Printer or Printers.


Printing a Help Topic

You can print any Help topic. A topic prints on the default printer. If you have installed more than one printer, you can make any of them the default printer. You can also change the options for the default printer.

To print the current Help topic

From the File menu in Help, choose Print Topic.

To change printers and printer options

1.	From the File menu in Help, choose Print Setup.

2.	Select the printer you want to use.

3.	To change the default printer options, choose the Setup button.

The options vary, depending on the printer you select.

4.	Select the options you want.

5.	Choose the OK button to close the printer's Setup dialog box.

6.	Choose the OK button.

For help with the Setup dialog box, choose the Help button or press F1 while using the dialog box.

Note:	You cannot print information that is in a pop-up window.


Scrolling Through a Help Topic

If the information in a Help topic doesn't fit in the window, use the scroll bar.

To scroll through a Help topic

Click one of the scroll arrows to scroll one line at a time, or drag the scroll box to scroll quickly through a topic.

Or use the arrow keys to scroll up or down.

To scroll up or down, one window at a time

Click above or below the scroll box in the scroll bar.

Or use the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys.

See Also

Choosing a Jump

Choosing a Popup

Backtracking Through Help Topics

Displaying Help Contents

Returning to a Help Topic You Have Viewed


Changing the Size or Position of the Help Window

When you use Help, you may want to change the size of the Help window and move it so that you can see both the Help window and your application window. By positioning windows so that they are both visible, you can follow step-by-step procedures without having to switch between windows.

Another way to make sure that you can see both Help and your application is to keep the Help window on top of the application window while you work.

To change the size of the Help window

Drag the corner or border of the window until the window is the size you want.

Or press ALT, SPACEBAR to open the Control menu, and use the Size command to change the size of the window.

To move the Help window

Drag the title bar of the window to the new location.

Or press ALT, SPACEBAR to open the Control menu, and use the Move command to move the window.

For more information on moving and sizing windows, see your Windows NT documentation.

See Also

Keeping Help on Top of Other Windows


Annotating a Help Topic

You can add your own comments and notes to a Help topic and view this information later. When you annotate a Help topic, Help places a paper-clip icon to the left of the topic title to remind you that you have added text to this topic.

To add text to the current Help topic

1.	From the Edit menu in Help, choose Annotate.

2.	In the Annotate dialog box, type the text you want to add.

If you make a mistake, press BACKSPACE to remove any unwanted characters, and continue typing.

Text wraps automatically, but you can end a line before it wraps by pressing ENTER.

3.	Choose the Save button.

If you have added comments to a Help topic, you can view them at any time.

To view an annotation

1.	Click the paper-clip icon to the left of the topic title.

Or press TAB to select the paper-clip icon, and then press ENTER.

2.	When you finish viewing the annotation, choose the Cancel button.

If you no longer need your comments about a Help topic, you can remove the annotation.

To remove an annotation

1.	Click the paper-clip icon to the left of the topic title.

Or press TAB to select the paper-clip icon, and then press ENTER.

2.	Choose the Delete button.

You can copy text from an annotation and paste it into another annotation in Help or into a document. You can also paste text from documents into annotations.

To copy an annotation

1.	Click the paper-clip icon to the left of the topic title.

Or press TAB to select the paper-clip icon, and then press ENTER.

2.	To copy the annotation to the Clipboard, choose the Copy button.

If you want to copy only a portion of the annotation, select the text that you want to copy onto the Clipboard, and then choose the Copy button. You can drag the mouse pointer over text to select it. Or press and hold down SHIFT while you use the arrow keys to select text.

3.	Choose the Save button.

To paste an annotation

1.	Copy onto the Clipboard the text you want to paste into the annotation.

2.	In the Help topic where you want to paste the annotation, click the paper-clip icon to the left of the title.

Or press TAB to select the paper-clip icon, and then press ENTER.

3.	To paste the contents of the Clipboard at the beginning of the topic, choose the Paste button.

Or press SHIFT+INS.

Or place the insertion point at the location where you want to insert the new text, and then choose the Paste button.

4.	Choose the Save button.


Backtracking Through Help Topics

Use the Back button to go back through the Help topics you have viewed, in the order in which you viewed them. If there is no previous topic to view, the Back button is dimmed. The record of topics you have viewed is removed each time you quit Help.

To backtrack through Help topics

Choose the Back button on the Help button bar.

Or type b.

You return to the previously viewed topic. The topic appears as you left it, unless you resized the window before backtracking.

See Also

Choosing a Jump

Choosing a Popup

Displaying Help Contents

Returning to a Help Topic You Have Viewed

Scrolling Through a Help Topic


Copying a Help Topic onto the Clipboard

You can copy some or all of the text in a Help topic onto the Clipboard. From the Clipboard, you can paste the text into another document.

Note:	You cannot copy the graphics in a Help topic onto the Clipboard.

To copy text in the current Help topic onto the Clipboard

1.	From the Edit menu in Help, choose Copy.

2.	To copy all the text onto the Clipboard, choose the Copy button.

Or select the text you want to copy onto the Clipboard, and then choose the Copy button.

You can paste the text that is on the Clipboard into a Help annotation or into a document from another application.

To copy the entire topic directly onto the Clipboard

Press CTRL+INS.

See Also

Annotating a Help Topic


Defining and Using Bookmarks

Just as you can place bookmarks in a book to mark specific references, you can place bookmarks in Help topics you use frequently. After you have placed a bookmark in a topic, you can access that topic quickly from the Bookmark menu.

To place a bookmark in the current topic

1.	From the Bookmark menu in Help, choose Define.

2.	In the Bookmark Name box, the topic title appears. If you want to use a different name to identify the bookmark, type a name in this box.

3.	Choose the OK button.

The bookmark name now appears on the Bookmark menu in Help.

To view a topic that has a bookmark

From the Bookmark menu in Help, choose the bookmark name for the topic you want to view.

Underlined numbers precede the first nine bookmark titles. You can type the corresponding number to go quickly to a marked topic.

If more than nine bookmarks have been defined, choose More from the Bookmark menu in Help. Select a bookmark in the Go To Bookmark box, and then choose the OK button.

To remove a bookmark

1.	From the Bookmark menu in Help, choose Define.

2.	Select the bookmark you want to remove.

3.	Choose the Delete button.

The bookmark name is removed from the Bookmark menu in Help.


Displaying Help Contents

Help Contents generally lists available Help topics. If you are viewing a Help topic and you want to return to Help Contents, use the Contents button.

To display Help Contents from within Help

Choose the Contents button on the Help button bar.

Or type c.

See Also

Getting Help from Your Application

Choosing a Jump

Choosing a Popup

Backtracking Through Help Topics

Returning to a Help Topic You Have Viewed

Scrolling Through a Help Topic


Opening Another Help File

You can open a Help file for any application that offers Help. You do not have to be using the application to open its Help file. For example, you can be working in Windows NT Notepad and open the Help file for Windows NT Program Manager to read about group windows.

To open another Help file

1.	From the File menu in Help, choose Open.

2.	In the File Name box, select the name of the Help file you want to open.

If the file you want to open is not in the current directory, select a different directory in the Directories box and choose the OK button. Then select a Help file in the File Name box.

If the file you want is not on the current drive, open the Drives box, and select a drive. Then select a Help file in the File Name box.

3.	Choose the OK button.

See Also

Getting Help from Your Application


Using the Search Button

You can find information quickly by using the Search button in the Help window. The Search button opens the Search dialog box, where you select a word that you want to search for. All Help topics associated with that word are listed, and you can select one to view. For example, to find out how to save a file, you could select "save" from the list. Topics that have the word "save" associated with them would then be listed in the Search dialog box.

To search for Help information

1.	On the Help button bar, choose the Search button.

Or type s.

2.	Select the word or phrase you want to search for. When you start typing, the words that most closely match the text you type are displayed.

3.	Choose the Show Topics button.

4.	Select the topic you want to view. If necessary, use the scroll bar to see more topics.

5.	Choose the Go To button.

See Also

Using the Find Button


Using the Find Button

The Find button opens the Find dialog box, where you enter a word or phrase that you want to locate. All Help topics associated with that word or phrase are listed in a small window, from which you can select a topic to view. For example, to find all topics that have information on setting up network printers, you could search for "network printers" or "setting up network printers".  All the Help topics that contain the phrase "network printers" would be displayed.

To search for topics that contain a certain word or phrase

1.	Choose the Find button in the button bar of the Help window.

2.	Enter the text you want to search for in the Find edit box.  To find an exact match to the text you enter, place quotes around the text.  Without quotes, the search will find the words in your search phrase, but not necessarily as you entered the phrase.

This edit box also is a list box that you can open by clicking the DOWN ARROW to the right of the edit box.  This list box contains your 10 most recent search queries.  Select an entry from this list, or type a new search entry.

3.	Select All Text in the Look At options.

The Look At option lets you choose to search through all the text within the Help topics or to search only specially coded topic headings.

Note:	The Help files in Windows NT do not use the specially coded topic headings for Help messages.  Use only the All Text option.

4.	Choose the Help files you want to search by selecting the check boxes.  The default is to search all the Help files listed.

5.	Choose the Search button to perform the search.

Note:	The Hints button provides a quick reference to additional ways you can perform searches and allows you to change the value of NEAR in search requests.

6.	All topics that contain the word or phrase searched for are listed in a small window.  Select a topic to view, the previous topic in the list, or the next topic in the list.  All words or phrases contained in the Help topic are highlighted.

See Also

Using the Search Button

Entering Search Requests

Using Full-Text Search


Returning to a Help Topic You Have Viewed

You can use the History button to see a list of the previous 40 Help topics you have viewed. To return to a topic, choose it from this list.

To use the History button to return to a topic

1.	On the Help button bar, choose the History button.

Or type t.

2.	Double-click the topic you want to return to (or select it and press ENTER).

If necessary, use the scroll bar to see more topics.

The History window stays open until you close it or quit Help.

To close the History window

Double-click the Control-menu box.

Or press ALT+F4.

See Also

Choosing a Jump

Choosing a Popup

Backtracking Through Help Topics

Displaying Help Contents

Scrolling Through a Help Topic


Help Buttons

Help buttons are located along the top of the Help window and enable you to Move Around easily in Help. If a feature is not available, its button name is dimmed.

Note:	Some applications may have additional Help buttons not described in the following table.

Button	Function
Contents	Displays Help Contents for the application you are using.
Search	Lists all the words you can use to search for topics in the application's Help. By typing or selecting one of these words, you can search for and go to a specific Help topic.
Back	Displays the last topic you viewed. You move back one topic at a time in the order you viewed the topics.
History	Displays the last 40 topics you have viewed in the Windows NT session. The most recent topic viewed is listed first. To revisit a topic, double-click it.
Find	Displays the full-text search dialog box where you can search for words or phrases in any of the Help files listed in the Look In list box.
To choose a Help button

Click the Help button you want.

Or type the letter that is underlined in the Help button name.


File Menu Commands

Use the scroll bar to see more commands.

Open

Opens a Help file.

Print Topic

Prints the topic that is in the Help window. You can print only entire topics.

Print Setup

Sets printer options before printing a topic. You can select a printer and set or change options for the printer. The options available depend on the type of printer selected.

Exit

Quits Help and saves any annotations or bookmarks you created.


Edit Menu Commands

Use the scroll bar to see more commands.

Copy

Copies the text of the current Help topic to the Clipboard.

From the Clipboard, you can paste the text into another application or document.

Annotate

Adds text to the current Help topic.

Annotations are marked with a paper-clip icon, which appears in front of the topic heading.


Bookmark Menu Commands

Use the scroll bar to see more commands.

Define

Places a bookmark in the current topic or removes a bookmark from any topic. The name you specify for the topic appears on the Bookmark menu.

List of Bookmark Names

Appears after you have defined a bookmark. From this list, you can choose the bookmark for the topic you want to display in the Help window.

More

Appears when you have defined more than nine bookmarks. Displays the complete list of bookmark names you have defined.


Help Menu Commands (in Help)
Help Menu Commands

Use the scroll bar to see more commands.

How to Use Help

Displays Contents for How To Use Help. Choosing this command is the same as pressing F1 while you are using Help.

Always on Top

Causes all Help windows to appear on top of other windows. After you choose this command, a shadow appears around the window border to indicate that the Help windows are on top.

About Help

Displays version and copyright information about Windows NT.