Searching help content from the product user interface

In Eclipse-based products, you can search the help contents and other predefined sites from the user interface.

Procedure

In the Search Help field, enter a search term and press Enter.
Search Help field

Results

The Help view opens to the Search tab and displays the results of your search. The results are grouped by the source of the result. The Local Help results include results for each help connection that is specified in Window > Preferences > Help > Content.

Adding other search result types

You can add and remove information centers and websites to your search scope so that the search results include links from those sources.

Procedure

  1. Next to the Help Search field, click the Search Scope icon.
  2. Click Default. The Select Search Scope Sets window opens where you can edit the default search scope or you can create another search scope.
  3. Click New to create a search scope.
  4. In the Scope Set Name field, enter a name for the search scope.
  5. Click OK.
  6. Select the search scope that you created.
  7. Click Edit. The default entries for the product are included already.
  8. Click New.
  9. Select one of the following search engine types:
    • Local Help: Can contain the help content for any remote connection you set as connection preferences in Window > Preferences > Help > Content. You probably do not need multiple instances of the Local Help in your search scope. This option is available so that you can add it back in after you remove it.
    • Information Center: Connects to a public information center and loads the remote help content into your search results. For example, if you are using IBM® WebSphere® Application Server with your product, you might want to have search results from the WebSphere Application Server information center display in your results along with your product results.
    • Web Search: Any search engine or online application with a search engine can also be added to your search scope. For example, you can include the results from a Google search in your results.
  10. Click Finish.
  11. Enter the details for the search type you chose:
    • Local Help:
      1. Enter a name and description.
      2. Select Search only the following topics.
      3. Select the help content sections to include in your search.
      4. Click Apply.
    • Information Center:
      1. Enter a name and description.
      2. In the URL field, enter the URL and remove /index.jsp. For the WebSphere Application Server example, the URL http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v8r0/index.jsp is entered as http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v8r0.
      3. Click Apply.
    • Web Search:
      1. Enter a name and description.
      2. In the URL template field, enter the URL that displays in the browser when you perform a search in that web application and replace your search term with {expression}. Example for a Google search: http://www.google.com/search?as_q={expression}
      3. Click Apply.
  12. Click OK to save the changes.
  13. Perform another search to verify that the results are loading correctly.

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