Answers to a few common questions

Following are the answers to a few common questions

about SCOhelp. If you have a question about an error message you received when you tried to get help, see ``Troubleshooting SCOhelp''.

I requested help from my application and nothing happens.
What should I do?

If SCOhelp requests fail without displaying error messages, a server lock may be set. See ``If SCOhelp fails without an error message'' for more information.

Can I add documents to the help system?

Yes, documents can be added to the help system or you can change the default home document. For more information on how to do that, see Chapter 22, ``Making documents available to the network'' in the Networking Guide.

Why do I keep getting the Documentation Library (or an error message) when I ask for context-sensitive help?

When the help server (scohttp) cannot find
the help topic for a given client, it looks first for the book containing that topic, and then for the Library containing the book, using the theory that some help is better than no help at all. From the Documentation Library, you have access to all of the installed online documentation. If you get to the library from a context-sensitive help request, it is likely that the documentation for that application is not installed either on your local system (if you are running the help server) or on the server system (if you are using a network documentation server). See ``Using context-sensitive help on a document server system'' in the Networking Guide or scohelp(XC), and scohttp(ADM) for more information.

If you get an error message when requesting help on a given topic, see ``Troubleshooting SCOhelp'' or ``Using context-sensitive help on a document server system'' in the Networking Guide.

I got help but not the help I needed. How do I find help on a specific topic?

There are a lot of ways to find help on a topic. If you know what you want help on, but you do not know where it is, you should probably use search. If you are not sure what you want help on, you might start with the Documentation Library or the current book's table of contents or index . For more information on which to choose, see ``Finding information''.

How do I get help on a specific context? I looked for a help menu but there was none.

If you are not using the Desktop, put your cursor over what you
want help on, and press <F1>. If you want help for a Desktop icon, hold down mouse button 3 with the cursor over the Desktop object. When the Icon menu appears, select Help. For more information, see Chapter 1, ``Getting help'' or Chapter 1, ``Using the Desktop'' in Using the Desktop

I cannot read the help on my screen. How do I change the size of the fonts?

SCOhelp lets you change your font type and size at any time. From the Options menu choose Fonts then select the font you want. For more information, see ``Changing the appearance of SCOhelp''.

How do I find out what is on the toolbar?

You can place your cursor over the toolbar item you

want to know about and read the information in the status bar. The SCOhelp status bar is at the bottom of the window. For more information, see ``The SCOhelp toolbar''

If a toolbar item is not dimmed and point help still does not appear, set pointHelp to True in your $HOME/.Xdefaults file. For more information on setting help resources, see scohelp(XC) and Chapter 5, ``Understanding resources'' in the Graphical Environment Guide.

I tried to use point help on the toolbar, but no message appeared in the point help field. What do I do?

If point help does not appear when you put the cursor
over the item, make sure the item is not dimmed. If the item is dimmed, that means it is not available in the current context. Open a help topic and place your cursor over the item when it is not dimmed and point help should appear.

Why does the world turn? How can I stop it?

The world turns while SCOhelp is loading help topics or documents. Occasionally, because a document is very large or because there is some problem with the network, SCOhelp can take a long time to load a document. To stop document loading click on the turning world.

How do I get help when I am not using the graphical environment?

Although we do not recommend using character-based SCOhelp

for browsing the Documentation Library, help is available in character environments. In addition to man(C), you can get help from any of the SCOadmin managers. To do so (from any manager), select an item from the Help menu, or (if applicable) press the Help button at the bottom of the screen. For more information on getting help in a character environment, see ``Getting character-based help'' in the SCO OpenServer Handbook.

I cannot access the internet with SCOhelp? Other people can. Why can't I?

They are using SCOhelp's Web Browser Mode. SCOhelp can be used as a simple help viewer or as a fully functional web browser. To set your help viewer to Web Browser Mode, open the Preferences menu and select Web Browser Mode. For more information about Web Browser Mode, see Chapter 2, ``Web Browser Mode'' and scohelp(XC).