DevCon Catalog Browser Updates Hints

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DevCon Catalog and Browser Updates

The DevCon for AIX catalog now has the same look and feel of the DevCon for OS/2 catalog, providing consistent functions to make it easier for you to use both catalogs. These common functions include Install, Try, Display Readme, and the like AIX tools can now be installed directly from the catalog, and links to URL references in the catalog are activated as well (if you have Web access and a Web browser).

Within the DevCon for OS/2 framework, we have replaced the Smalltalk-based document browser with a faster, easy-to-use interface to help you find the subjects you need in our library of online documentation. Read some hints on how to get the most from your searches in the sidebar article on the next page.

We have also expanded our desktop presence to make it easier for you to communicate with the DevCon team. You can contact our support team via the Internet, CompuServe, or from our home page. Please complete the Feedback form on the CD or on our home page to send us your suggestions.

Tips for Using the NEW DevCon Browser

WOW!!! Take a look at the new browser on Volume 11, and keep these handy tips in mind as you brush up on all the hot documentation on disc 2. Just click on The DevCon Browser icon in the main folder and start reading!

Search Operator Tips

  1. If you don't put an operator between keywords, an AND will be implied, so that the search specification a b c is equivalent to a and b and c.
  2. For faster search results, avoid using non-alphanumeric characters whenever possible. For instance, instead of searching for WM_DRAWITEM, search for WM and DRAWITEM or simply WM DRAWITEM. Searches containing non-alphanumeric characters work, but they take longer.
  3. The * and ? wildcards help you generalize your search, but the search is slower.

Search Performance Tips

  1. The Browser offers two ways to search INF files, distinguished by the Global scope check box. When you select the Global scope check box, the search expression is applied to the entire file rather than to the individual pages in the file. When Global scope is not checked, the file is searched page by page, which takes longer but provides more detailed results.
  2. If you have installed the documentation for the Developer s Toolkit for OS/2 Warp, you probably have an entry in your BOOKSHELF environment variable for the toolkit books. You can add these books to your search list by selecting the TOOLKIT\BOOK*.INF entry from the Bookshelf pull-down list of the Files Selection Dialog. Searching files on your hard disk is much faster than searching on a CD!

More than Just Books

You will also notice that you can use the new browser to search more than just the books we provide. You can search source code too! Nearly a million lines of the sample code contained on the CDs are represented in a series of INF files named SOURCEXX.INF, where XX currently ranges from 01-24. This new browser allows you to quickly find examples using a particular API so you can reuse the sample or build on it.

Are there any features you would like to see added to the DevCon Browser? Let us know! Contact us at devcon@vnet.ibm.com.

Reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation, © International Business Machines Corporation

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