Navigation

MIL help topic navigation. You can navigate to a specific topic using the standard tabs in the left pane of the help viewer (Contents, Index, and Search). Note that you can collapse all topics in the Contents by right-clicking anywhere in the Contents, and then selecting Close all. You can also browse through the topics of the MIL help files (according to their order in the table of contents) using the arrow buttons ( / ) on the gray menu bar in each topic. In addition, the Back and Forward buttons at the top of the MIL help window (menu command toolbar) allow you to navigate, in a given session, to and from topics (or locations in topics) you recently viewed. Note that, after collapsing and opening table cells in the MIL Reference, the Back button might not behave as you expect.

Function description navigation. To quickly navigate through a function description in the MIL Reference, use the links in the function map to jump to a specific parameter or values table within that function description. This list of links is accessible by clicking on the Function map button in the gray menu bar or by hovering over the blue Function map icon (see below) at the start of each title in every values table.

Many MIL settings that can be specified can also be inquired. In these cases, an inquire icon () will appear next to the parameter or value to use to specify the setting. In addition, a set icon () will appear next to the value to use to inquire about the setting.

In some cases, a short description of a value is followed by the information icon ( ). If you hover your mouse over this icon, a boxed note will appear indicating where to look for more information on this topic; clicking on the information icon will bring you to this referenced location.

Some values can be, and in some cases, must be combined with other values to further define your settings. For each value that can have a combination value, there is a "+" symbol next to the value. When you hover your mouse over this "+" symbol, a small window appears with one or more links to the table(s) containing the available combination value(s) for that value. It also might display MIL system-specific information for the combination value(s) if it differs from the value with which it can be combined.

Search results navigation. In some instances, you will do a search and the search term is not visible within the topic listed in the search results. In this case, the search term might be in a collapsed table, or in a drop-down list in the gray menu bar or in the topic. For example, if you search for "mcode.cpp", one of the topics that comes up is the McodeAlloc() function. In this topic, "mcode.cpp" can only be found under Examples in the gray menu bar. Another reason a search term might not be visible is because the item is specific to a different scope. For example, if you are searching for the setting M_LIGHTING_BRIGHT_FIELD and you have your MIL systems option set to Matrox Radient eCL, one of the topics that comes up is the MdigInquire() function. If you look through the topic, you won't find the setting because it is hidden; if you change the MIL systems option to Show All, the setting will show up as a setting supported on Matrox Iris GT. If you cannot find what you are searching for, it is a good idea to set the MIL systems option to Show All. Note that, at any time, you can click on the Customize Help button in the blue/red menu bar to return to the Welcome section earlier in this chapter, where you can modify the development environment settings, including MIL system selection. When you click on the Save Settings button, you will immediately be returned to topic you were previously viewing.

The Favorites tab in the left pane allows you to bookmark your favorite topics. To bookmark a topic, click on the Add button, located at the bottom of the pane, while your topic of choice is displayed. To display a topic from the favorites list, double-click on its bookmark.

In the help viewer, the Home menu command returns you to the Welcome section earlier in this chapter. Note that, if you click on the Back menu command immediately after selecting Home, it might not be able to return you to the topic that you were previously viewing.

In the help viewer, the menu command that enables the highlighting of found terms is not very intuitive. When the feature is enabled, the Options: Search Highlight Off menu command is available; whereas when disabled, the Options: Search Highlight On menu command is available.

To search for terms within a page or when found terms are not highlighted (even when highlighting is enabled), press CTRL F to search for the term in the topic.

You can search for phrases by enclosing the phrase in quotation marks ("). You can also precisely define a search using wild card expressions (* and ?), boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR), and nested expressions (using parenthesis). Note that the search will consider a period or dash as characters separating words to search for, unless the string is inside quotation marks. For example, to search for X-coordinate, you would have to put it inside quotation marks for the search to find the string, otherwise the search will yield results for all instances of X or coordinate.

Search with the Match similar words option enabled, and then refine your query and search through previous results by enabling Search previous results. Sort through the resulting list of topics according to their Title, Location, or Rank by clicking on the corresponding column heading.

For MIL system-specific searches, enter "Fully supported on" or "Not supported on", followed by the full name of the MIL system. For example, if you want information relevant to Matrox Radient eCL, you can type in "Fully supported on Matrox Radient eCL". This should bring up all the topics that are relevant to the MIL system.

To search for terms within a page or when found terms are not highlighted (even when highlighting is enabled), use your web browser's search or press CTRL F.

For more advanced searches (for example, searches using wild card expressions, * and ?), use a web browswer or a file manager. When using a web browser, prefix the MIL help web address with the string "site:" followed by (a space and) the string of characters for which to search, inside quotation marks. For example, when doing a MIL system-specific search for topics related to Matrox Radient eCL, enter the following in your search engine: site:http://www.matrox.com/imaging/media/pdf/products/developers_center "fully supported on Matrox Radient eCL". When using a file manager, perform a seach in the local folder containing the MIL help files.