scohelp(X1)
scohelp --
display documents and context sensitive help
Command syntax
scohelp [Xt_options]
[-version] [-visual id-or-number]
[-install] [-no-install]
[-ncols n] [-mono]
[-remote remote-command]
[-id window-id]
[-raise] [-noraise]
[-iconic]
[URL | file]
Desktop access
Start SCOhelp in one of these ways:
-
Enter scohelp at the command
line in an xterm window on your desktop.
-
On the CDE desktop, select the Help menu
(above the help icon in the Control Panel), then select SCO Help.
-
On the CDE desktop, single or double-click on the SCO logo
in the Control Panel (this starts Netscape Navigator),
then open the URL http://localhost:457.
-
On the Panorama desktop, pull down the Root menu and select
Help.
-
From within any SCOadmin manager in the character environment,
press <F1> or pull down the Help menu, select an option,
and press <Enter>.
-
From within any SCOadmin manager in a graphical environment:
-
Point to (or highlight) the item you want help on and press <F1>.
-
Click on a Help button (if available).
-
Use a Help menu (if available).
NOTE:
If Netscape
Navigator
is already running,
you see a warning.
It is safe to continue; however, you will be unable
to use the disk cache and global history.
To exit from SCOhelp, select:
File
Exit
WARNING:
This might exit other Netscape Navigator windows you have open.
To close a SCOhelp window, select:
File
Close
You can view the SCO online documentation with
Netscape Navigator or another HTML browser
by opening the following URL:
http://document-server:457
where document-server is either localhost
(if the documentation is on the local system)
or the fully qualified domain name of the document server.
Description
SCOhelp is a general purpose document browser based on
Netscape Navigator Version 3.
SCOhelp uses
``frames''
to display the hyperlinked
system documentation and context-sensitive help.
SCOhelp functions in one of two modes -- stand-alone and help-server.
In stand-alone mode, SCOhelp displays the help topics
and functions as a stand-alone document browser.
In this mode, SCOhelp does not function as a help-server
for other clients.
To start scohelp in stand-alone mode,
enter scohelp at the command line in
an xterm window.
In help-server mode, scohelp functions as a help server
for another X application.
When called by a graphical application, scohelp
starts a help window and displays the help topic linked to the
application requesting help.
Any further requests for help from the same application
change the contents of the help window rather than open a new window.
Do not confuse scohelp in help-server mode with the
document server,
scohelphttp(X1M),
which is the name of the
document server responsible for finding and giving
documents to scohelp.
Command options
scohelp supports all the
Xt_options(X1).
The following options are also available
when starting scohelp from the command line:
- -version
-
shows the version number and build date
- -visual id-or-number
-
uses a specific server visual
- -install
-
installs a private colormap
- -no-install
-
uses the default colormap
- -ncols n
-
sets the maximum number of colors to allocate for images
when not using -install
- -mono
-
forces 1-bit-deep image display
- -remote remote-command
-
executes a command in an already-running scohelp process
(for more information, see
http://home.netscape.com/newsref/std/x-remote.html)
- -id window-id
-
specifies the ID of an X window to send -remote
commands; if unspecified, uses the first window found
- -raise
-
specifies whether following -remote commands
cause the window to raise itself to the top (default behavior)
- -noraise
-
specifies that the following -remote commands do not
auto-raise the window
- -iconic
-
directs scohelp to start with the help window iconified
- URL | file
-
opens the specified URL or file instead
of the default home document, at startup
Frames
The content area of the scohelp browser
is divided into four subpages, or ``frames''
when viewing the documentation:
- top left frame
-
displays a hierarchy of topic lists
- top right frame
-
displays either an introduction to the topic list on the left
or the content
- bottom left frame
-
displays
buttons
which affect the content of the top left frame
- bottom right frame
-
displays
buttons
which affect the content of the top right frame
To navigate the top frames, use the buttons in the bottom frames.
The top-level page, or ``frameset'',
that defines these four frames is located in
/usr/lib/scohelp/LANG/CONTENTS.html.
Some actions, such as saving and mailing documents,
affect only the currently selected frame.
To select a frame, click on it.
To resize a frame, place the cursor in the border between frames
(the cursor changes to a cross-hair) and drag the frame border
to a new location.
NOTE:
If you resize the browser window, SCOhelp reloads the
top-level frameset page (CONTENTS.html);
you might lose your context.
Online documentation
The scohelp documentation is located in the scohelphttpd
server's DocumentRoot, which is set by default to
/usr/lib/scohelp/LANG.
Each ``topic'' is a subdirectory of the DocumentRoot.
For example, the topic Installing and removing software
(under Installation)
is located at /usr/lib/scohelp/LANG/INST_install.
scohelp uses URLs (Uniform Resource Locators)
to access information.
URLs take the general form:
http://danton.sco.com:457/INST_install/_Network_Installation.html
In this example, ``http'' refers to the type of URL
(hyper-text transfer protocol), danton.sco.com:457
refers to the system name and port number of the scohelphttpd
server, INST_install refers to the topic, and
_Network_Installation.html refers to the topic file in
INST_install.
When a help request is made, scohelp creates
the URL from the topic and filename
and passes it to the help server (scohelphttpd).
By default, the help server is located on the local system,
but it can be located on any system accessible on the network.
scohelphttpd prepends DocumentRoot
to the help request and delivers the document (if found).
Thus, for example, if you start scohelp from the command line,
it requests the base SCO online documentation page
(home document) using the URL:
http://localhost:457
If the documentation is installed on the server system,
scohelphttpd finds the document and delivers it to scohelp.
That document contains hypertext links (more URLs) to the other
topics contained in the online documentation.
You can change the default home document or
add documents to the help system.
See
``Changing the default homepage''
and
``Adding documents to the help system''
for more information.
Internationalization and localization
scohelp supports internationalization and localization.
This means that scohelp can be adapted to present
information in different languages.
To deliver help in different languages, scohelp passes
an extended HTTP request header called Accept-Language
to the help server,
scohelphttp(X1M).
The server uses Accept-Language to determine which language
to use when serving help information.
If LANG is not set, scohelp sets Accept-Language
by reading the *httpAcceptLanguage resource in
/usr/X/lib/app-defaults/Netscape.
If LANG is set, the
locale(1)
environment variable LC_MESSAGES ensures that a locale-specific
resource file
(/usr/X/lib/LANG/app-defaults/Netscape)
with *httpAcceptLanguage correctly set is loaded.
If Accept-Language is not set or if the locale requested does
not exist, then no Accept-Language will be sent
and the documentation defaults to English.
On the server side, you can provide multiple ways
to refer to the same locale.
scohelphttpd compares the value of
Accept-Language to a list specified by LanguageAlias
and remaps the value if necessary.
For example, to map an Accept-Language
of french_france.8859
to fr, the lang.conf
configuration file contains the following line:
LanguageAlias french_france.8859 fr
If Accept-Language is not set by the browser,
scohelphttpd attempts to locate the file specified by
DocumentRoot in
/usr/ns-home/httpd-scohelphttp/config/lang.conf.
For more information on localizing
scohelp, see
scohelphttp(X1M),
/usr/ns-home/httpd-scohelphttp/config/lang.conf,
and
``Specifying the locale''.
Files
- /usr/lib/scohelp/LANG/CONTENTS.html
-
default home document (base SCO online documentation page)
- /usr/X/lib/app-defaults/ScoHelpD
-
default file for SCOhelp
- /usr/X/lib/app-defaults/msg/ScoHelp
-
default message file for SCOhelp
- $HOME/.netscape/preferences
-
Netscape preferences file
Resources
scohelp is configured from its resource database.
This database is built from the following sources, listed
in order of precedence, with each succeeding resource definition
file capable of overriding the ones preceding it.
/usr/X/lib/app-defaults/ScoHelpD
$HOME/.Xdefaults
$HOME/.Xdefaults-host_name
scohelp command-line options
The filenames /usr/X/lib/app-defaults/ScoHelpD and
$HOME/.Xdefaults represent
customary locations for these files.
The actual location of the system-wide class resource file
depends on the XFILESEARCHPATH environment variable and the
current language environment.
The actual location of the user-specific class resource file
depends on the XUSERFILESEARCHPATH and XAPPLRESDIR
environment variables and the current language environment.
To customize the system's scohelp resources,
edit the following files:
/usr/X/lib/app-defaults/ScoHelpD
/usr/X/lib/app-defaults/font/ScoHelp
/usr/X/lib/app-defaults/msg/ScoHelp
/usr/X/lib/app-defaults/color/ScoHelp
To customize a user's scohelp resources,
edit that user's personal X resource files.
Note that if scohelp is running in help-server mode,
changes made to resources might not take effect until
your next login or until you start a new X session.
To implement scohelp resource changes from the Desktop,
log out and log in again, then restart scohelp.
To implement changes if you are not running the Desktop,
close your current X session, restart X, and then restart scohelp.
The most common scohelp resources are listed here.
Functional resources
- docServer: string
-
Sets the HTTP address of the SCOhelp document server.
Default is http://localhost:457.
scohelp can be set to use any server accessible to it on the network.
NOTE:
If you set docServer to use a different server,
you must also set the port number.
For example, to set scohelp to use the scohelphttpd
server on the system named danton.sco.com, use this
syntax:
docServer: http://danton.sco.com:457
457 is the default port number used by the scohelphttpd server.
Visual resources
Default configurations for the following Netscape resources
are found in
/usr/X/lib/app-defaults/Netscape.
Specify them in your $HOME /.Xdefaults file as follows:
*linkForeground: #0000EE
NOTE:
Changing these resources changes both Netscape and SCOhelp
configuration.
- *linkForeground: color
-
Specifies foreground text color of unfollowed links
(links which have not yet been visited).
Default is #0000EE.
- *vlinkForeground: color
-
Specifies foreground text color of followed links
(links which have been visited).
Default is #551A8B.
- *alinkForeground: color
-
Specifies foreground color of activated links
(links which are being clicked on).
Default is FF0000.
- *selectForeground: color
-
Specifies foreground color of text selected with the mouse.
Default is #000000.
- *selectBackground:
-
Specifies background color of text selected with the mouse.
Default is #FFFFCC.
- *defaultBackgroundImage: filename or URL
-
Specifies default background image (filename or URL for a
GIF, JPEG, or XBM image).
If blank, uses the default background color.
- *documentColorsHavePriority: boolean
-
If set to False,
specifies that user-specified colors and backgrounds override
any colors and backgrounds in documents viewed.
Default is True.
Fonts
To customize the fonts in your scohelp window,
select
Options
General Preferences
Fonts.
The font configuration is stored in the ~/.netscape/preferences file.
NOTE:
Do not edit this file directly.
Instead, use the options in the Preferences dialogs.
References
scohelphttp(X1M)
``Getting help''
30 January 1998
© 1998 The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. All rights reserved.