Q133236: HOWTO: Configure Books Online to Search Multiple Books
Article: Q133236
Product(s): Microsoft C Compiler
Version(s): WINNT:2.0,2.1,2.2;
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s): kbide kbVC kbVC200 kbVC210 kbVC220 kbGrpDSTools
Last Modified: 30-JUL-2001
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Editions, versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.2
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SUMMARY
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When using Books Online's Search Plus feature that ships with Visual C++ on
Windows 95 and Windows NT version 3.51, WinHlp32.exe creates index files that
take several minutes to generate. The index files created will only search the
text of the selected book. This article describes how to configure Books Online
to search multiple books simultaneously.
MORE INFORMATION
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A contents (.CNT) file is used to specify all the help files you wish to search.
This will create full text search (.FTS) files for each file you wish to include
in your regular searches. Subsequent access to Books Online searches will not
regenerate the .FTS files.
Below is an example (VC20BKS1.CNT) which you can use with Books Online Search
Plus.
:index Book 1, Users Guide = vc20bks1.hlp
:index Book 2, What's New, MFC = vc20bks2.hlp
:index Book 3, C/C++ = vc20bks3.hlp
:index Book 4, Win32 API = vc20bks4.hlp
:index Book 5, OLE 2.0 SDK = vc20bks5.hlp
:index Book 6, ODBC = vc20bks6.hlp
:index Book 7, Extensions (68K Porting) & Miscellaneous = vc20bks7.hlp
:index VC++ Knowledge Base Articles = Win32kb.hlp
To make your .FTS files:
1. Place VC20BKS1.CNT in your \msvc20\help directory.
2. Delete any related .FTS and .GID files. They may be in your \msvc20\help
directory, your <windows>\help directory on Windows 95, or your
<windows> directory on Windows NT. (The .GID files are hidden.)
3. Make sure you have copies of all of the Visual C++ Books Online help files in
your local directory. They are named VC20BKS[1-7].HLP.
4. From Books Online's Contents, select "How to Use Books Online."
5. Click the Search Plus button, which takes you into the Help Wizard.
6. Select the Customize search capabilities option, and then click the Next
button.
7. From the list of books, select the books you wish to keep .FTS files on.
Click the Next button in this and subsequent pages until finished. Note that
depending on subsequent choices, the .FTS files can occupy a great deal of
disk space and take several minutes to generate.
Here are examples of .FTS file sizes and build times for Visual C++ version 2.2:
"Don't include phrase searching" Default Selections
Size (bytes) Size (bytes)
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Book 1 832,512 3,088,384
Book 2 1,816,578 7,212,544
Book 3 1,228,800 4,493,312
Book 4 3,235,328 13,166,080
Book 5 974,336 3,645,952
Book 6 420,864 1,806,848
Book 7 1,349,632 4,228,512
KB Articles 932,352 3,481,600
approx. build time 7 min. 11 min.
NOTE: These files were generated on a P5-90. The sizes may vary depending on your
path and options selected. When building using the "Don't include phrase
searching" option, a VC20BKS1.FTG file will also be generated which is 4,911,104
bytes.
Additional Details
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If you change the contents of the .CNT file, you will have to repeat the steps
and delete the existing .FTS and .GID files.
Using a contents (.CNT) file allows you to add other Help files to your Books
Online full text search. This will not give you additional F1 search
capability.
You can remove the index (.IND) files from the \mscv20\help directory when
running on Windows NT 3.51 and later. These indices are only used by the Help
system included with earlier versions of Windows NT. They are no longer
necessary.
All searches are forward searches. For example, if you select book 3 before you
begin your search, you will not pick up items in book 2. Thus, if you want to
search all books, you must select the "How to Use Books Online" selection in the
Contents window.
For more information the Win32 help system, refer to the Win32 Software
Development Kit (SDK) documentation.
Additional query words: online
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Keywords : kbide kbVC kbVC200 kbVC210 kbVC220 kbGrpDSTools
Technology : kbVCsearch kbAudDeveloper kbVC220 kbVC200 kbVC210 kbVC32bitSearch
Version : WINNT:2.0,2.1,2.2;
Issue type : kbhowto
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