Help on Help - H2

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RAD Studio Help

The RAD Studio H2 Help is the help that is delivered with the product and responds to the Help button or F1 from the IDE. The help includes conceptual overviews, procedural how-to's, and reference information, allowing you to navigate from general to more specific information as needed.

• There are two panes in the Microsoft Document Explorer viewer (DExplore), and each pane has two functions:
  • Contents and Index on the left-hand side
  • Search and viewing on the right-hand side

These panes are persistent and make it easier to locate and filter information.

• By default, no filter is set, allowing you to view all of the installed Help. However, to narrow the focus when searching the Help or using the Index, use the Filtered by: drop-down list on the Contents and Index panes. The recommended filter is RAD Studio.
• You can access the panes by clicking the Search, Index, and Contents buttons on the Standard Toolbar.

Tip: You can use the viewer buttons to understand the context of the topic you are viewing. To find the context of a topic inside the viewing pane, click the Sync Contents button on the toolbar of the DExplore window. The Contents pane is then synchronized with the topic so that you can see the related topics nearby in the help organization. For more information, see "Getting the Best Results with RAD Studio Help" at http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/37562.

Conceptual Overviews

Overview topics provide information about product architecture, components, and tools that simplify development. If you are new to a particular area of development, such as modeling or ADO.NET, see the overview topic at the beginning of each section in the online Help.

At the end of most of the overviews, you will find links to related, more detailed information. Icons are used to indicate that a link leads to the partner Help or to a web site. The icons are explained later in this topic.

Procedures (How-To)

The how-to procedures provide step-by-step instructions. For development tasks that include several subtasks, there are core procedures, which include the subtasks required to accomplish a larger task. If you are beginning a development project and want to know what steps are involved, see the core procedure for the area you are working on. In addition to the core procedures, there are several single-task procedures.

All the procedures are listed near their related overview topics in the Contents pane of the Help window. Additionally, most of the conceptual overviews provide links to the pertinent procedures.

Reference Topics

The reference topics provide detailed information on subjects such as API elements, the Delphi language, the C++ language, and compiler directives and messages.

Reference topics are located under specific top-level sections in the Contents pane of the Help window, such as Delphi Reference and C++ Reference. Additionally, most API references are underlined and link directly to the appropriate reference topic.

Context-Sensitive F1 Help

Context-sensitive Help is available throughout the IDE by selecting an item and pressing F1:

• In the Code Editor, select and highlight the entire element, such as a namespace, keyword, or method.
• On a form in the Design tab, select the component.
• In the Messages window, select a message.
• Within IDE windows, such as the Project Manager or Model View, click within the window.

Note: Pressing F1 on an element that is part of the VCL displays the RAD Studio Help. Pressing F1 on an element that is part of the Microsoft Windows Platform SDK framework displays the Microsoft Windows Platform SDK Help.

Microsoft SDK Help

RAD Studio is distributed with the Microsoft Platform SDK, which includes extensive online Help. Where appropriate, the RAD Studio Help provides links to the SDK online Help. Alternatively, you can access the SDK Help directly from the Contents pane of this Help system.

Improving Your Access to the Help

You can set options in the help viewer (DExplore.exe) that streamline your search so that you find only RAD Studio help (not the MS SDK help). See "Getting the Best Results with RAD Studio Help" at http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/37562.

Refining the Search and Index in the Help

You can choose specific help volumes (such as MSDN Online) to be used in Search and Index functions in the online help. For information about using the help viewer to your advantage, see the full EDN article, "Getting the Best Results with RAD Studio Online Help" at http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/37562.

Docwiki Has the Most Up-to-Date Content

We generate the RAD Studio help from a docwiki, located http://docwiki.embarcadero.com. You will always find the most recent and up-to-date help by visiting the docwiki. All RAD Studio users are invited to participate in the docwiki. You can create your own user account by clicking Log in \ Create account on any page in the docwiki.

There are actually three separate wikis:

• Subject-matter topics: http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/RADStudio/en/Main_Page
• Libraries reference (VCL-FMX-RTL reference): http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/Libraries/en/Main_Page
• Code examples and product samples: http://docwiki.embarcadero.com/CodeExamples/en/Main_Page

Developer Support Services and Web Site

Embarcadero offers a variety of support options to meet the needs of its diverse developer community. To find out about support, refer to http://www.embarcadero.com/support. From the web site, you can access many newsgroups where developers exchange information, tips, and techniques. The site also includes a list of books, technical documents, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Additionally, you can access the Embarcadero Developer Network at http://edn.embarcadero.com/.

Using the IDE for Delphi and C++Builder Tutorial

The Getting Started with Delphi and C++Builder book, an overview of the RAD Studio development environment and a tutorial in creating applications in the IDE, has been updated. It is now part of the on-line documentation at Tutorial: Using the IDE for Delphi and C++Builder.

This tutorial contains an illustrated tour of the IDE, and explicit step-by-step instructions for creating your first RAD Studio application.

The book is also available for free download as a PDF at docs.embarcadero.com or for purchase as a hardcopy book from http://docs.embarcadero.com/products/rad_studio/.

Typographic Conventions Used in the Help

The following typographic conventions are used throughout the RAD Studio online Help.

Typographic conventions:

Convention	Used to indicate
Monospace type	Source code and text that you must type.
Boldface	Reserved language keywords or compiler options, references to dialog boxes and tools.
Italics	RAD Studio Identifiers such as variables or type names. Italicized text is also used for book titles and to emphasize new terms.
KEYCAPS	Keyboard keys; for example, the CTRL or ENTER keys.
	A link to Web resources.
	An external link to Microsoft SDK documentation.
	An external link to documentation provided by Embarcadero partners.