System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices

Chapter 13. Documentation Library Service

Introduction

The Documentation Library Service allows you to read, search, and print online HTML documents. It provides a library application that appears in your web browser. The application includes links to read installed documents and a search form that you can use to search for text. When you search, a results page displays the results of the search with links to the documents containing the search target words.

Starting with AIX 5.1, you can also download printable versions of books by using the Print Tool button in the documentation library service form.

Two types of forms are provided: a global search form that shows all the volumes installed on a search server, and a specific search form that just searches a specific set of volumes such as the manuals for an application.

The documentation library service allows you to search documents that have been registered with the search service. Registration is done by the system administrator. You cannot search the Internet or any unregistered documents on your search server.

If you write HTML documents at your site, your system administrator can add these documents to the documentation library so that you can read, search, and print the documents.

Using the Documentation Library Service

To use the Library:

To read the documentation installed in your system's default library, do one of the following:
- Type docsearch at the command line.
- Open the CDE Desktop Help subpanel. Click on the documentation search service icon, which looks like binoculars.
  
  Note: If you have a copy of the AIX 4.3 (or later version) CD, you can read it on a PC. Insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive on your PC. If the documentation CD is AIX 4.3.3 or newer, use a web browser to open the CD file called readme.htm that is in the top directory of the CD. If you have a AIX 4.3.0 to AIX 4.3.2 version of the Base Documentation CD, open the usr/share/man/info/en_US/a_doc_lib/aixgen/topnav/topnav.htm file:
To open a library stored on a remote documentation server, in your browser's location bar type the following URL:
```
http://server_name[:port_number]/cgi-bin/ds_form
```
This URL opens the global search form to search the documents stored on the server with the name you specified in server_name.
Note: You only need to type the port_number if the port is not the standard 80.
For example, if you want to search the registered documents on a search server named hinson and it uses port 80, type:
```
http://hinson/cgi-bin/ds_form
```
Once the search form for a server appears in your browser, you can create a bookmark that takes you back to the server. Your system administrator can also create a web page that contains links to all the different documentation servers in an organization.
The documentation is also available for reading and searching at the Internet site www.ibm.com/servers/aix/library. Note that while this site contains the base operating system manuals, it might not contain other documentation installed on your local documentation server.
Specific search forms are usually launched from search links inside HTML documents. They typically appear on the pages of applications manuals or help files. For example, a "search" link is on each page in the library. Clicking on one of these search links launches a specific search form that allows you to search just the library volumes.
Select the volumes you want to search. Click on the checkbox next to each volume name displayed. By default, all volumes are searched unless you specify otherwise.

After the library application opens, you can click on the Help link in the upper right corner for instructions on how to use the library.

How to Change the Documentation Library Service Language

By default, when you open the CDE Desktop icons for the operating system Documentation Search Service or the Base Library, the documents that are displayed appear in the same language as your CDE Desktop.

However, you might need to see the documentation in a language that is different than your desktop language. For example, your desktop runs in your native language but the manuals may only be available in English. You can change your documentation language so that documents appear in a different language than that used in your desktop.

Notes:

These techniques do not affect the language used if you are opening a document or search form from an HTML link inside another document. These techniques only affect the language used for the Documentation Search Service or the Base Library desktop icons.
Make sure there is documentation installed for the language you want to use.

You can change your documentation language by running the following command:

/usr/bin/chdoclang locale

Where locale is replaced by the locale name that is the new language for viewing and searching documentation. Locale names can be found in the Locale Naming Conventions inAIX 5L Version 5.1 System Management Concepts: Operating System and Devices.

Notes:
You must log out and then log back in to see the language change take effect.
If you are using the CDE Desktop, you must also edit your Desktop file $HOME/.dtprofile so that your documentation language setting in your $HOME/.profile file will be read during CDE login. To do this, complete the following steps:
Open your .dtprofile file in the dtpad editor by typing the following command:
dtpad $HOME/.dtprofile
Find the line that contains the text:
DTSOURCEPROFILE=true
If there are any comment (#) characters at the start of that line, delete just the # characters, not the entire line. If there are no comment characters, close the editor.
Save your changed .dtprofile file.
Log out and log back in.

For example, if you want to change your documentation language to Spanish (es_ES), type the following command:

/usr/bin/chdoclang es_ES

Log out and log back in to your desktop.

After you change your documentation language, you can delete the language setting so that documentation will again appear in the same language as your desktop. To delete your language setting, type the following command:

/usr/bin/chdoclang -d

Log out and log back in to your desktop.