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Using the Online Documentation

Using the Online Documentation

The uDraw(Graph) online documentation is the set of HTML pages you are currently reading. It can be used with any web browser. Consult the manual of your web browser for navigation basics. The latest version of the documentation can be found in the internet on the uDraw(Graph) web site. A local copy for offline reading is in the "docs" directory where uDraw(Graph) is installed. To read it, point your web browser to file main.html.

Using the Help System

For using the help system in uDraw(Graph), you need a web browser installed on your computer. The help system communicates with the browser in order to display particular pages of the online documentation when the user requests help, e.g. by pressing the help button in a dialog window. On UNIX® and LINUX® platforms, the Netscape® Navigator®, Mozilla® or Firefox® browser are preferred in order to reuse an open browser when consecutive calls to the help system are invoked by the user; on Microsoft® Windows® and with other browsers, you will get a new browser window each time you use the online help system.

The help system is available when the following conditions are true:

  • (UNIX® and LINUX® only) You are able to start Mozilla® by typing "mozilla" in a shell. This means that the executable file has its default name and can be found in a directory specified by the environment variable $PATH. Note: if "mozilla" is a shell script at your site, make sure that the script passes the command-line arguments to the Mozilla® executable file (by using $*), otherwise the help system will not work.
  • The HTML pages of the online documentation are located under "docs" in the directory where uDraw(Graph) is installed (this is default).
If these conditions are not true, you can specify both the location of the documentation and the name of the browser in dialog window Options/General Settings... Do not forget to save these settings with menu Options/Save Options. When starting uDraw(Graph) for the first time, the system will try to show the introduction page of the online documentation in the browser. So this way you can easily find out if communication with the browser works by default.

How to get help in uDraw(Graph)

First of all, uDraw(Graph) must be able to communicate with your web browser. Read above for details about this issue. There are three different ways to access the online documentation and help system:

  • You can choose particular topics of the documentation by using the Help menu in uDraw(Graph).
  • You can point your browser to the main page and browse through the documentation.
  • You can get the help page of a uDraw(Graph) dialog window by pressing the help button inside the window.
Note: it may take some time after calling the help system to display the particular page in the browser, so please be patient and do not press a help button more than one time.

Roadmap to the Online Documentation

The entry of the online documentation is the main page. There you can find links to these chapters:

  • General Information
    Everything a starter needs to know about uDraw(Graph): installation, license, introduction and concepts.
  • New Features in uDraw(Graph) 3.1 (and 3.0)
    A list of modifications compared to the previous release V2.1.
  • Backward compatibility
    Starting with uDraw(Graph) 3.1 we had to rename the software. Please read this document to find out, what has changed.
  • User Interface
    This chapter explains how to work with all aspects of the user interface. The help system refers to these pages, so usually there is no need to read the whole chapter. Instead, read the tutorial and use this chapter as a reference in case of questions or problems.
  • Tutorial
    The tutorial is a guided tour through uDraw(Graph) to learn about all features.
  • Resources
    Survey about important uDraw(Graph) resources in the Internet: uDraw(Graph) web site, e-mail address, mailinglist, user forum, defectlists, etc. Do not miss to read it!