Using the Help Assistant

The Help Assistant provides field-level descriptions for the actions that you can perform, and the information you can find, on each panel of the SAN File System console.

Because the panel help is embedded into the overall console, you can obtain context-sensitive information without interrupting your current activity. Each time you select a different panel, the information in the Help Assistant changes accordingly.

Each Help Assistant frame contains three possible sections, depending on the type of panel elements being described. The three sections are:
Actions
Provides details about the tasks available from panel drop-down menus.
Fields
Provides details about column headings or other field descriptions for which you can make selections or enter configurable information.
Attributes
Provides details about read-only panel attributes, such as those shown on a tabular "notebook" panel displaying property groupings for a particular SAN File System object.

Within each section, the name of the action, field, or attribute appears with a triangular "twistie" icon (The “twistie” icon representing the action to open the description for the associated item, which resembles a solid triangle, pointing to the right.) next to it. Select the twistie to expand or collapse the item's description. The item names are initially collapsed to facilitate easy scanning of the available terms and to reduce scrolling. You can choose to select only those items for which you would like additional information and prevent having the Help Assistant frame cluttered with details you do not need.

At the bottom of each Help Assistant frame are links to additional SAN File System topics. These links provide information on related concepts or tasks. When you choose a "Related Topics" link, the information for that topic appears within the Help Assistant frame.

You can launch the Help Assistant by selecting the Toggle Help Assistant icon (Icon representing the action to show the Help Assistant frame, which resembles a box containing a lowercase letter “i” with an arrow pointing away from it.) from the right side of the task bar. Because this button performs in a toggle fashion, to hide the Help Assistant, you select the icon once again. You can also close the Help Assistant by selecting the close button for the frame in which it displays.

There are six tool bar controls associated with the Help Assistant:
Table 1. Help Assistant controls
Control Action
The Help Assistant back icon with arrow pointing to the left. Back icon Displays the last topic you viewed in the Help Assistant.
The Help Assistant forward icon with arrow pointing to the right. Forward icon Displays the topic in the Help Assistant that you viewed before clicking the Back icon.
Search field and Go button Perform an information search and bring up the search returns in the Information Center.
The Help Assistant return icon with arrow circling down and to the left. Return Displays panel help in the Help Assistant for the current console panel.
The Help Assistant print icon, which resembles a small printer. Print icon Prints the displayed Help Assistant topic.

You can also view all SAN File System product and help documentation by selecting the question mark icon (Icon representing the action to open the Information Center, which resembles a box containing a question mark.) located above the work content area, next to the Help Assistant icon (Icon representing the action to show the Help Assistant frame, which resembles a box containing a lowercase letter “i” with an arrow pointing away from it.). This action will launch the SAN File System Information Center in a separate window.

Parent topic: SAN File System console panels

Related concepts
Using the SAN File System console

Related reference
Using the Information Center

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IBM TotalStorage SAN File System v2.2