Using help

Subjects covered:

• What is help?
• The help menu
• How to use help?
• Reaching contextual help

What is help?

Help is a way of quickly finding information or an explanation concerning an aspect of Pizzicato. Help is available on screen and contains much more than the printed manual. According to the Pizzicato version you have, the printed manual shows a compilation of the most essential pages. Nothing prevents you from printing help pages which are not in the manual or that you find important to have on paper.

The help is organized in various lessons. On Windows, the help pages are viewed automatically by Microsoft help system. It uses components of Microsoft Internet Explorer. On Mac, it is thanks to Microsoft Internet Explorer that you will be able to consult the help. If you do not have Microsoft Internet Explorer or if you want to update it, the Pizzicato installation CD lets you install it.

The help menu

The Help menu of main menu bar lets you reach this page as well as the contents of the instruction manual.

How to use help?

By choosing for example an article of the help menu, Pizzicato displays the corresponding help page. At this time, Pizzicato continues to run. On Windows, the help page is always displayed in front of Pizzicato. On Mac, Microsoft Internet Explorer starts and lets you view the required page. Here are basic explanations on the way in which you can use this help window.

Browsing through help

• The words appearing in colour (mainly in blue, underlined or bold type, depending on your Internet navigator options) form what is called links. By sliding the mouse on a link, the cursor becomes a hand. By clicking on the link, you visualize for example complementary explanations, an additional subject or the definition of a word in the glossary.

Going through the help subjects already displayed

• In the help tool bar, click on Previous Page  or on Mac Previous to display the last help subject you viewed. This lets you go back on your way and return to the last consulted help subject, which is often needed when learning a new subject. The navigator keeps your help history path in memory and lets you run it backwards. This is much easier than with a printed book. This method of navigation through various pages of explanations makes it possible to guide you in using Pizzicato.
• In the help tool bar, click on Next Page  or on Mac Next to display the help page of a series of subjects you already displayed.

Displaying and hiding the tab control of the synopsis, index, research and favourites (Windows only)

• In the help tool bar, click on the Hide button  to hide the synopsis, index, the list of research results or favourites.
• In the help tool bar, click on the Show button  to display the synopsis, index, the list of research results or favourites.

Searching for a help subject (Windows only)

1. In the help window, click on one of the following tab: 
   • To go through subjects by category, click on the Synopsis tab.
   • To display the list of index entries, click on the Index tab, then type a word or make the list scroll.
   • To scan for words or expressions likely to appear in a help subject, click on the Search tab.
   • To find your favorite topics, click on the Favorites tab.
2. Within the left frame of the help window, click on the subject, the index entry or the expression you want to display inside the right frame.

Getting help in a dialog box

• Hit the F1 key. On Mac you can also use the Help key.

Printing a help subject

On Mac, simply select the "Print…" item of the "File" menu of Internet Explorer. On Windows, do the following:

1. Inside the right frame of the help window, click on the subject you want to print.
2. In the help tool bar, click Print.

Notes

• If you print starting from the synopsis tab, you will be asked to select between the current subject, all subjects displayed under the selected book or all subjects of the synopsis.
• To print a contextual subject, right-click in the contextual window, then click on Print the subject.

Resizing the window (on Windows)

• To increase or reduce the width of  the frames, point on the boundary line between the two frames. As soon as the pointer becomes a two-headed arrow, click and hold the left mouse button and drag the boundary line to the right or to the left.
• So that the reduction or the enlargement is applied in a proportional way to the full help window, point on one of its corners. As soon as the pointer becomes a two-headed arrow, click and hold the left mouse button and drag the corner.
• To change the height or the width of the full help window, point on its top, bottom, left or right border. As soon as the pointer becomes a two-headed arrow, click and hold the left mouse button and drag the selected border.

Copying a help subject

One Mac, simply select the text to copy and use the "Copy" item of the "Edit" menu. On Windows:

1. In the right frame of the help window, right-click on the subject you want to copy, then choose Select all. Or simply select the desired area.
2. In the same frame, right-click again and select Copy.

   The subject is copied into the clipboard. The next steps are (Mac & Windows):

3. Open the document in which you want to copy the subject.
4. Click in the document at the place you want that this information to appear.
5. In the Edit menu, select Paste.

Reaching contextual help

Help is also available according to the context in which you are in Pizzicato. To reach the contextual help, set the mouse on the graphic element for which you want help, for example a window, a tool or a dialog box. Then use the F1 key. On Mac, with an extended keyboard, you can also reach it with the Help key.

If help is available for that element, it will appear in the form of a help window. If not, it is the main help index that will be displayed.

Direct yourself towards any subject you want and explore the contents of help until you are accustomed to it.

The concepts learned during these last lessons finally enable you to approach the practical use of Pizzicato. Be certain to understand them fully and do not hesitate to read these lessons again and again. They give you the basic tools to communicate with Pizzicato. Have a good journey!