How to use the Online Documentation
The Reality documentation can be viewed in a web browser (see Release Information for details of supported browsers).
Be aware that browsers can change over time as to what they allow access to, in terms of local/remote drives and/or websites, so browser settings may need to be checked. If a particular browser prevents access to features of the Online Documentation, such as the "Comment on this topic" feature, please try another browser.
Notes:
- It is recommended that you install the documentation on a Web Server, though it can also be installed on a file server (accessed via a mapped networked drive) or on individual PCs. In all cases, the file system must support long file names. You can also view the documentation directly from the Reality Installation CD (refer to the Reality on Windows, Installation Guide for details).
- If you are viewing the Online Documentation with Microsoft Internet Explorer from a local or network drive, or from a CD (that is, other than from a web server) then links to PDF documents may not work. This is a feature of Internet Explorer which is not shared by other contemporary browsers. Most of the PDF files are located in the \content\acrobat subfolder of the Online Documentation, with the exception of the Installation Guides which are located in the \content\iguide subfolder.
- Some PDF documents may appear in a separate browser window. To view these topics you may need to configure your browser's popup blocker feature to allow popups from the location where you have installed the Reality documentation.
The navigation features of the online documentation are displayed in the left side bar. They include:
- An expanding Contents list, with links to the text.
- A keyword Index, with links to the text.
- A full text Search feature.
- A Glossary of common terms.
- The ability to save Bookmarks of your favourite topics and searches.
You view Contents, Index, Search, Glossary or Bookmarks tabs by clicking the buttons in the left side bar. You can hide or show the side bar entirely by clicking the 
Hide/Show side bar button in the toolbar.
Contents
The documentation is divided into "books" and "topics" selected from the Contents tab. When you click a book, it expands automatically to show any sub-entries (which may be books, topics or headings within topics).
- To view a topic or heading, click the corresponding contents entry.
- To read a book or topic name that is too long to fit in the side bar, hover your mouse pointer over the name.
- To close (collapse) a book, click it again.
The position of the current topic within the contents list is shown in "breadcrumb" links at the top of the topic.
Index
To display a topic, click the required entry in the Index tab. The associated topic is displayed in the right-hand pane of the browser window. If the entry you have selected has more than one associated topic, a list of topics is displayed, from which you can select.
You can quickly jump to a particular part of the index by typing the first few letters of a keyword in the box above the list. Alternatively, use the scroll bar to browse the list.
Search
Use the Search tab to search for topics containing specific words. The search results consist of a list of links to topics that contain the word or words you specified. The list is ranked, primarily according to the number of times each search word appears in the topics and whether they appear in headings or within the body of the topics. When you open a topic, the search words are automatically highlighted.
All searches are case-insensitive, but results that match the case of the search words are ranked higher than those that do not.
All searches automatically include stem searching. So a search for Edit would also find Editing and Editor. However, exact matches are ranked higher than stem matches.
To search for an exact phrase, enclose it in double quotes. For example, type: "executables directory" to find topics that include that phrase. Note that in this case the search words are not highlighted when you open the topics.
For more complex searches, you can use boolean AND, OR and NOT operations, and group expressions with parentheses. The following table gives some examples.
| Example | Description |
|---|---|
|
MultiValue database MultiValue OR database MultiValue | database |
Finds topics that contain either "MultiValue" or "database". This is the default search mode. |
|
MultiValue AND database MultiValue + database MultiValue & database |
Finds topics that contain both "MultiValue" and "database". |
|
"MultiValue database" |
Finds topics that contain the phrase "MultiValue database". |
|
NOT Microsoft ! Microsoft |
Finds topics that do not contain "Microsoft". |
|
MultiValue AND database (NOT Microsoft) |
Finds topics that contain both "MultiValue" and "database", but not "Microsoft". |
Glossary
The Glossary tab lists common terms and gives a brief explanation of each. There is also a separate Glossary topic that may, in some cases, provide more detailed information.
Bookmarks
You can store your favourite topics and searches so that you can quickly recall them from the Bookmarks tab. To add a topic to your bookmarks, click the 
Bookmark the current topic button in the toolbar while that topic is displayed. To add a search to your bookmarks, click the button on the Search tab itself.
To delete a favourite topic or search, tick its check box on the Bookmarks tab, then click the adjacent 
button.
Caution
The Bookmarks feature uses cookies to store a user's favourite topics and searches. The use of cookies can affect the privacy of users, depending on the hosted global location and/or public or private networks used for your Reality documentation. For example, within the European Union, you should refer to The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011, regarding the use of cookies and website user privacy.
Browse Sequences
In some cases, a group of related topics is arranged in a suggested order, or "browse sequence". A topic that is part of a browse sequence will include some buttons at the beginning and end of the topic, that link to the next and previous topics in the sequence. For example:
PDF Files
Some topics in the Reality documentation are in PDF format (for example, the Release Information and those in the Other Documents section) and these will open in a separate browser window or tab (depending on your browser and browser settings).
Note: Where PDFs are displayed in a separate browser window, you must first configure your browser's popup blocker feature to allow popups from the location where you have installed the Reality documentation.
Printing the Documentation
Your web browser will provide a way to print the currently displayed topic or PDF file. Make sure that you click somewhere in the topic so that you print the correct text. You can also print just part of a topic by selecting the text required and selecting "Selection" as the page or print range.
If you don't know where to start
Start with the Index. When you find what you want, one or more links will take you to the appropriate part of the documentation.
Alternatively, use the Search feature, browse using the Contents, or use the Document Directory. The latter topic lists the sections that make up the documentation and gives overviews of their contents.
If you can't find what you are looking for
Tell us! Every topic in this documentation includes a link that allows you send us your comments. Say what you were looking for and what you tried. We can help you both immediately and by improving the next version of the documentation. You can download the latest version from the NPS Reality website.