Methods for accessing help

There are three methods for accessing help content: remote help, local help, and intranet help. Some products use remote help to connect to the web and access help content directly from an information center on ibm.com website by default. Other products have local help where all of the help content is included with the help by default. Alternatively, you can connect to an information center that your system administrator hosts on an intranet server. You can change to any of the three options at any time.
You can use the following methods to access help content:
  • Remote help: You access or download help content from the ibm.com website; for example, the Rational DOORS information center. The help content is not installed on your computer.
  • Local help: You download help content from the web and install it on your local computer.
  • Intranet help: You access help on an intranet server that hosts help content that was downloaded from the web.
You use these locations to download, update, and configure the help:
  • The local help updater: When you use local or intranet help, you use this utility to download the initial content or to update content from the web.
  • The help updater site: This ibm.com site hosts the information center for your product. You can access this site with a browser or from the product help system. This site is also the source for the local help updater.
  • The help download site: The website http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/rationalsdp/documentation/updatesites/ contains compressed files of the help content for your product. These compressed files can populate either local or intranet help. The file name has this format: prod_coden.n_updateSite.zip, where prod_code is the product code and n.n is the version number.
  • Enable automatic updates: When Enable automatic updates is selected, the preference tells the help system to automatically update content that is installed locally when the help is started. To set this preference:
    1. In the Rational DOORS client, click Help > Contents and Index.
    2. In the Rational DOORS help window, click File > Preferences.
    3. Expand the Help section in the left pane and clickLocal Help Updater.
    4. In the right pane, click Enable automatic updates.
    You can also set this preference using the Automatic Updates check box on the local help updater page.
    Note: If you have downloaded help from other information centers, those sites are added to the favorite sites list and all sites on the favorite sites list are checked for updates when the help is started.

Remote help

You can access help content from the web by using remote help. This method has the smallest installation and ensures that you have the most current information. This access method is selected by default during installation.

If you select this option, the help is provided in the product information center on an ibm.com website. You can access the web-based help for the product only when you are connected to the Internet. When you are disconnected, you have access to a limited number of help topics that are installed with the product. For more information, see the "Help contents" topic under Reference in the information center.

Note: You must have an Internet connection to use remote help.
To use remote help:
  1. Install and open the product.
  2. Click Help > Contents and Index. The content is always the latest available information.

Local help

To access help on your local computer, you must first download the help content to your computer. After you download the information center content, the content is available when you are disconnected from the Internet. You can update the content when changes are available.

Important: If you select this method, you may need to use the Internet to connect to an update site from which you choose the help content and features to download. For some products, the help is not downloaded automatically when you install the product. If you open the help and only see a few (three to six) top-level entries, you will need to download the help yourself.
To use local help:
  1. Install and open the product.
  2. Download and install the help content by following the instructions in one of these topics: Changing the location of help content or Downloading and installing help content on a machine without an Internet connection.
  3. To update the help, connect to the Internet. If your computer is connected to the Internet, the help content is updated automatically when you start the product. To update without an Internet connection, follow these instructions again: Downloading and installing help content on a machine without an Internet connection.

Intranet help (Enterprise solution)

Your company might be able to host help content on an internal intranet server. This method requires your system administrator set up a link to an intranet server behind your firewall on which the help is installed. If you select this option, you must specify the link to the intranet server.

To use intranet help, the administrator must perform these tasks:
  1. The system administrator needs to set up the intranet help server. See Setting up an intranet server for help content.
  2. Download content to the server. See Downloading and installing help content on a machine without an Internet connection.
  3. Provide this information to users:
    • Name (product name help)
    • Host
    • Path
    • Port
  4. Download updates to the help on a regular schedule.
To use intranet help, users must complete these steps:
  1. Install and start the product.
  2. Change the method for accessing help. See Changing the location of help content.
  3. To update the help, the intranet server must connect to the Internet. If the intranet server is connected to the Internet, the content is updated automatically when the help starts.

Regardless of whether you access web-based help, download and use help locally, or connect to an intranet server to access help, you click Help > Contents and Index to open help topics and find solutions.


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