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.

About this task

The display of the search field in the user interface can be controlled in the preferences. Click Window > Preferences > Help > Search to select or clear the Display the help search widget in a toolbar option.

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 shows 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.

Refining the scope of your search

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

About this task

Products might have this functionality implemented differently. These instructions might vary slightly from product to product.

Procedure

To set the search scope:

  1. Next to the Help Search field, click the Search Scope icon.
  2. Click Select scope. The Search scope window opens.
  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. The details for the new search scope open. The default entries for the product are included already.
  6. To add a new source for the search, click New.
  7. Select one of the following search engine types:
    • Syndicated Feed Search: Any syndicated feed can also be added to your search scope. For example, you can find RSS feeds.
    • 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 as the application server for deploying your product, you might include search results from the WebSphere Application Server information center 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.
  8. Click Finish.
  9. Enter the details for the search type you chose:
    • Syndicated Search:
      1. Enter a name and description.
      2. To open the search results in a new window, select the Show search results in new window option.
      3. Enter the URL for the syndicated search. Example: http://www.ibm.com/able/news/accessibility.rss
      4. For the feed type, select RSS or JSON.
      5. Click Apply.
      6. On subsequent edits of the syndicated feed search, you can provide additional information to refine the results of your search. To add additional search terms to filter the syndicated search, select the Edit option and enter the Additional search terms. For example, if you find that the results include too many products that you do not use, you can enter the names of the products you use in the Additional search terms to filter the results.
    • 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.
  10. Click OK to save the changes.
  11. Perform a search to verify that the results are loading correctly.

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