How to Use InfoSearch

InfoSearch, the unified scheme for retrieving and viewing online information, provides you with quick and easy access to all online information available on your SGI desktop. Release notes, man pages, application help cards, and other forms of online information can be accessed through InfoSearch.

InfoSearch allows you to either search through some or all of the available online information, or browse through the information by clicking the appropriate category


Searching

Searching through the InfoSearch full-text index database is generally the quickest way to find information on a given topic or task. To search:


  1. Click the Search tab to bring up the search panel.
  2. If desired, set the extent of your search to a particular set of information sources by clicking the appropriate check boxes.
  3. Enter your search keywords in the text field. See Search Syntax for more information.
  4. Press <Return> or click the Find button.

When you perform a search, each of the search hits reported in the Results panel has an icon associated with it to tell you what category that information came from:


Icon Topic Description
Release Note Product-specific information that supplements the standard documentation
Man Page A UNIX reference page that describes a shell command or system call
Online Book A Silicon Graphics help manual that gives you detailed information about the topic related to your keyword
How Do I... A system-wide, high-level task card that points you to an application to accomplish a specific task
Application Help The online help information for a specific application


Search Syntax

InfoSearch supports the standard boolean search grammer.

Searching for Two Words

When you type default printer, InfoSearch finds all occurrences of the phrase "default printer." With this type of search, a match is made only when the two words are contiguous and in the specified order.

Use AND to search for two words, regardless of their position or order. For example, suppose you want to find a section that explains which IRIX command you use to print a file. In the search field, type:

printing AND IRIX command

Searching for One Word or Another

Use OR to search for sections that contain one word or another. For example, suppose you want to find all sections that contain the word "tape" or "drive." In the search field, you type:

tape OR drive

Browsing

You can also browse through the information. To browse:


  1. Click the "Browse" tab to bring up the browse topic list.
  2. Select a category to browse (Application Help, Online Books, How Do I, Man Pages, or Release Notes). A list of topics available for that category appear in the Results panel.
  3. Click the topic that interests you.