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(idlwave)Online Help

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Online Help
===========

   For IDL system routines, RSI provides extensive documentation.
IDLWAVE can access an ASCII version of this documentation very quickly
and accurately.  This is _much_ faster than using the IDL online help
application, also because usually IDLWAVE gets you to the right place in
the docs directly, without additional browsing and scrolling.  For this
online help to work, you need an ASCII version of the IDL documentation
which is not part of the standard IDLWAVE distribution.  The required
files can be downloaded from the maintainers webpage
(http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~dominik/Tools/idlwave).  As the text is
extracted from PDF files, the formatting of the help text is good for
normal text, but graphics and multiline equations will not be well
represented.  See also Note: Documentation Scan.

   For routines which are not documented in the IDL manual (for example
your own routines), the source code is used as help text.  If the
requested information can be found in a (more or less) standard DocLib
file header, IDLWAVE shows the header.  Otherwise the routine definition
statement (`pro'/`function') is shown.

   In any IDL program, press `M-?' (`idlwave-context-help') or click
with `S-Mouse-3' to access context sensitive online help.  The
following locations are recognized as context:

Routine name       The name of a routine (function, procedure, method).
Keyword Parameter  Keyword parameter of a routine.
System Variable    System variable like `!DPI'.
IDL Statement      Like `PRO', `REPEAT', or `COMPILE_OPT'.
Class name         Class name in `OBJ_NEW' call.
Executive Command  Executive command like `.RUN'.  Mostly useful in the
                   shell.
Default            The routine that would be selected for routine info
                   display.

   Note that the `OBJ_NEW' function is special in that the help
displayed depends on the cursor position: If the cursor is on the
`OBJ_NEW', this function is described.  If it is on the class name
inside the quotes, the documentation for the class is pulled up.  If the
cursor is _after_ the class name, anywhere in the argument list, the
documentation for the corresponding `Init' method and its keywords is
targeted.

Apart from source buffers, there are two more places from which online
help can be accessed.

   * Online help for routines and keywords can be accessed through the
     Routine Info display.  Click with `Mouse-3' on an item to see the
     corresponding help (Note: Routine Info).

   * When using completion and Emacs pops up a window with possible
     completions, clicking with `Mouse-3' on a completion item invokes
     help on that item (Note: Completion).

In both cases, a blue face indicates that the item is documented in the
IDL manual.

   The help window is normally displayed in a separate frame.  The
following commands can be used to navigate inside the help system.

`<SPACE>'   Scroll forward one page.
`<RET>'     Scroll forward one line.
`<DEL>'     Scroll back one page.
`n, p'      Browse to the next or previous topic (in physical sequence).
`b, f'      Move back and forward through the help topic history.
`c'         Clear the history.
`Mouse-2'   Follow a link.  Active links are displayed in a different
            font.  Items under See Also are active, and classes have
            links to their methods and back.
`o'         Open a topic.  The topic can be selected with completion.
`*'         Load the whole help file into Emacs, for global text
            searches.
`q'         Kill the help window.


When the help text is a source file, the following commands are also
available.
`h'         Jump to DocLib Header of the routine whose source is
            displayed as help.
`H'         Jump to the first DocLib Header in the file.
`.' (Dot)   Jump back and forth between the routine definition (the
            `pro'/`function' statement) and the description of the help
            item in the DocLib header.
`F'         Fontify the buffer like source code.  See the variable
            `idlwave-help-fontify-source-code'.

 - User Option: idlwave-help-directory
     The directory where idlw-help.txt and idlw-help.el are stored.

 - User Option: idlwave-help-use-dedicated-frame (`t')
     Non-nil means, use a separate frame for Online Help if possible.

 - User Option: idlwave-help-frame-parameters
     The frame parameters for the special Online Help frame.

 - User Option: idlwave-max-popup-menu-items (`20')
     Maximum number of items per pane in pop-up menus.

 - User Option: idlwave-extra-help-function
     Function to call for help if the normal help fails.

 - User Option: idlwave-help-fontify-source-code (`nil')
     Non-nil means, fontify source code displayed as help.

 - User Option: idlwave-help-source-try-header (`t')
     Non-nil means, try to find help in routine header when displaying
     source file.

 - User Option: idlwave-help-link-face
     The face for links to IDLWAVE online help.

 - User Option: idlwave-help-activate-links-agressively (`t')
     Non-`nil' means, make all possible links in help window active.