Overview

DOSBook is an online hypertext manual. It is built from the DR-DOS User Guide document files which have been produced using FrameMaker.

Information can be found easily within DOSBook by using the search option, table of contents, or index. You can click on highlighted words or phrases to go to other sections of information or to see short glossary notes as pop-ups.

DOSBook Physical File Structure.

There is also a file with the extension .HOH (help on help) that contains the text explaining how to use DOSBook. This file is not part of the publication file but is read as part of the input to the compiler by means of a switch. You access this information in DOSBook by pressing the hot key <F1>, or by selecting Help for DOSBook from the Help menu.

DOSBook Logical File Structure

• A welcome page and help text

• Chapters of DOSBook

• An index

• A glossary

Highlight one of the sections by using the <Tab> key or your mouse. Press <Enter> or double-click the left mouse button to select the section.

The file WELCOME.TXT contains the text for the welcome screen. This is the first file listed in the publication (.PUB) file.

The .HOH file

The Table of Contents

The table of contents is generated by the compiler and consists of all the paragraphs that are tagged as @Head1, @Head2, @Head3, and @Head3A. The table of contents is accessed by selecting ``Contents'' from the welcome screen. You can access the complete table of contents at any point in DOSBook by pressing <Alt> C, which will leave you in the table of contents at the section you were previously reading.

There are references to produce the links from the table of contents on the welcome page to the relevant text in the database. The references have the following form:

__NEWCONT_nn

where nn is a number from 00 to 10.

Chapters of DOSBook

The text within a text file is structured into paragraphs. There are different types of paragraphs including headings, body text and commands. You must must place a blank line between paragraphs in the text editor.

All paragraphs in the DOSBook text files are marked by tags. A tag is a list of text and format attributes associated with the paragraph. The tags are used to structure the text to form DOSBook.

Paragraphs are grouped together in sections. A section is begun by a paragraph tagged as @Head1, @Head2, @Head3, @Head3A, @Head4, or @Head5 and is ended by the next one of these heading paragraphs, or by the end of the current text file.

The Index

The index provides another way, other than links in the text, of linking different sections of text. Index entries are alphabetically sorted and displayed. You access the index in DOSBook by pressing <Alt> I. You can find the subject you need, and select the word or phrase to be taken to that section.

The index entries appear in the following form when using an ASCII text editor.

<$Iprimary entry>

or

<$Iprimary entry;secondary entry>

The Glossary

Pop-ups are described in more detail in the section ``Pop-ups and Links,'' in Chapter 2.

Pressing <Alt> G in DOSBook displays a list of all the glossary headings. This is a contents for the glossary and allows you to access the information in the glossary directly as well as through the pop-up references.

Each definition in the glossary is preceded by a paragraph that contains the keyword or phrase and is tagged as a @Head3 paragraph. A special tag is used at the beginning of the glossary section to show that all the headings under this are glossary headings. The glossary tag looks like the following:

@GLOSSARY =

Menus

Table 1-1 Window Menu

Option	What it does
Resize Window (Alt F5)	Enlarges or decreases the size of the window. (This menu option is only available when DOSBook is opened from within EDIT.)
Print section	Displays a dialog box that gives you the option to print the currently displayed section of text or the complete chapter to LPT1 or specify a filename. if you specify a filename, the text is saved to that file. Instead of a filename, the text is saved to that file. Instead of a filename, you can specify an output device, such as LPT2.
Exit	Exits DOSBook.

Table 1-2 Search Menu

Option	What it does
Search index	Enables you to search for a topic in the index. You are taken to that entry in the index if a match is found.
Search text	Enables you to search for a word in the text.
Repeat last search F3	Repeats the search you have just completed enabling you to find another topic in the index, or the next occurrence of the word in the text. This option is only available after you have completed a search.

Table 1-3 Help Menu

Option	What it does
Help for DOSBook (F1)	Displays the help text about how to use DOSBook.
Contents (Alt C)	Displays the table of contents.
Glossary (Alt G)	Displays the glossary section.
Index (Alt I)	Displays the index
Backtrack (Alt B)	Backtracks through the previous pages you have viewed. Repeated use of this button enables you to trace back through the screens you have viewed.
Next (Alt N)	Goes to the next page.
Previous (Alt P)	Goes to the page that precedes the current page.
About...	Displays copyright information.