Name

dxbook − Bookreader

Syntax

dxbook [ options ] [ file ]

Arguments

fileSpecifies a bookshelf file.  If you do not include this argument, Bookreader uses the file specified by the DECW_BOOKSHELF environment variable. If DECW_BOOKSHELF is not defined, Bookreader uses the default bookshelf file, /usr/lib/dxbook/library.decw_bookshelf.

Description

The dxbook command runs Bookreader. Bookreader lets you view online documentation on your workstation screen.

Bookreader has two windows:  the selection window and the topic window.  The selection window lists the bookshelves and books available from Bookreader, and the table of contents or index when a book is open.  The topic window displays the contents of the book you have selected to view. 

A bookshelf is a group of related books.  To view a book that is in a shelf, you must first open the shelf by double-clicking MB1 on the shelf title.  When you open a shelf, a list of the books and bookshelves in that shelf appears in the selection window. 

When you open a book by double-clicking MB1 on the book title, the table of contents for that book appears in the selection window, and the title page for the book appears in the topic window. 

You can move through a book’s contents in the topic window using the scroll bar and the Next Topic, Previous Topic, Go Back, and More buttons. 

In the topic window, a reference in the text to a figure, a table, or an example is a hotspot.  That is, if you position the pointer at the reference and click MB1, the figure, table, or example is displayed in a separate window.  A figure, table, or example may also be displayed by selecting it from the book’s table of contents in the selection window. 

Cross-references to other sections of text are also hotspots.  Clicking on a reference to another section causes the new topic to be displayed in the topic window. 

Hotspots are normally highlighted only when you move the pointer over the reference.  You can cause hotspots to be continuously highlighted by choosing the Hot Spot menu item from the topic window View menu. 

Clicking MB1 on the Index button located at the bottom of the selection window displays the book’s index; clicking MB1 on the Contents button displays the table of contents.  Double-clicking MB1 on an item in the book’s table of contents or index displays the referenced topic in the topic window.  Use the scroll bar in the selection window to move quickly through the book’s table of contents or index. 

Every command button has an equivalent menu item in the Control or View menu of the selection or topic window; therefore, you can also choose a selection or navigation function by selecting the appropriate menu item. 

Options

−bg color Specifies the color of the selection window’s background (color displays only).  The default is white. 

−d dispname Specifies the display screen on which dxbook displays its windows. If the display option is not specified, dxbook uses the display screen specified by the DISPLAY environment variable. The display option has the format hostname:number. Using two colons (::) instead of one (:) causes DECnet to be used for transport.  The default is :0.  For more information, see X(.).

−display dispname This option is the same as the −d option. 

−fg color Specifies the color of Bookreader windows’ foreground (color displays only).  The default is black. 

−geometry Specifies the width, length, and location of the dxbook selection window.  If the geometry argument is not specified, dxbook uses default values.  The geometry option has the format =[width][xlength][x][y], where width and length are specified in pixels.  Note that changing the width or length of the selection window may make the contents of the window difficult to read.  For more information about the screen coordinate system, see X(.).

−rv Reverses the default color values (for example, black becomes white and white becomes black). 

Menus

Many of the items in the Control and View menus of the selection and topic windows have equivalent command buttons, located along the bottom edge of the selection and topic windows.  You can select a function using the menu item or the equivalent command button. 

Selection Window

The Bookreader selection window contains the following menus:

Control
View

Control Menu

The Control menu in the selection window allows you to open and close shelves and books, and exit the Bookreader application.  The Control menu contains the following menu items:

Open ShelfOpens the bookshelf you have selected.  The titles of the books in the bookshelf are displayed in the selection window. 

Open BookOpens the book you have selected.  The title page of the book is displayed in the topic window, and the book’s table of contents is displayed in the selection window. 

Close ShelfCloses the bookshelf currently displayed in the selection window. 

Close BookCloses the book currently displayed in the topic window. 

QuitExits from the Bookreader application and closes all dxbook windows.

View Menu

The View menu in the selection window allows you to select what Bookreader displays in the selection window.  The View menu contains the following menu items:

LibraryDisplays the top-level list of shelves and books that can be viewed online, and closes an open book in the topic window. 

Table of ContentsDisplays the table of contents for the book that is currently open. 

IndexDisplays the index for the book that is currently open. 

TablesDisplays a list of the tables in the book that is currently open. 

FiguresDisplays a list of the figures in the book that is currently open. 

ExamplesDisplays a list of the examples in the book that is currently open. 

TopicDisplays the selected topic in the topic window. 

Topic Window

The Bookreader topic window contains the following menus:

Control
View

Control Menu

The Control menu in the topic window allows you to control the topic window.  The Control menu contains the following menu item:

Close TopicCloses the topic window. 

View Menu

The View menu in the topic window allows you to select what Bookreader displays in the topic window.  The View menu contains the following menu items:

Previous TopicDisplays the previous topic in the book. 

Next TopicDisplays the next topic in the book. 

Go BackDisplays the topic you were viewing just prior to the current topic. 

MoreDisplays the next window of text in the current topic.  If the end of the current topic is visible in the topic window, the next topic is opened. 

Hot SpotsEnables and disables highlighting of hotspots, which are references to figures, tables, examples, footnotes, or other sections of text.  By default, hotspots are not highlighted. 

ExtensionsEnables and disables highlighting of programming language extensions.  By default, extensions to programming languages are highlighted in the topic window. 

X Defaults

The dxbook application reads the .Xdefaults file during startup and uses the appropriate resource specification to customize the appearance or characteristics of its displayed dxbook window. The format for a resource specification in the .Xdefaults file is:

[name*]resource:  value

nameSpecifies the application name or the name string that restricts the resource assignment to that application or to a component of an application.  If this argument is not specified, the resource assignment is globally available to all X applications. 

resourceSpecifies the resource. 

valueSpecifies the value that is to be assigned to the resource. 

For more information, see X(.).

Because each toolkit-based application can consist of a combination of widgets (for example, push buttons and a scroll bar), you can form the name string by adding widget class and name identifiers to the string.  For further information about adding class and name identifiers, see X(.).

For dxbook, the application class identifier is DXBookreader. 

For dxbook, the application name identifier is dxbook. 

The resources available for dxbook are:

backgroundSpecifies the selection window background color.  The default is white. 

foregroundSpecifies the selection and topic window foreground color.  The default is black. 

initialStateSpecifies whether Bookreader starts up with the selection window displayed, or starts up as an icon.  Setting the initial state to 3 causes Bookreader to start up as an icon. 

Examples

To change the foreground color of the Bookreader windows, add the following entry to your .Xdefaults file:

dxbook*foreground:  yellow

To cause Bookreader to start up as an icon, add this entry to your .Xdefaults file:

DXBookreader.initialState: 3

Specifying Libraries

When you first run Bookreader, the list of bookshelves and books that appears in the selection window is the top-level library.  A special file called the bookshelf file contains an entry for each bookshelf and book that appears in the top-level library.  You can specify the bookshelf file explicitly, using the file argument on the command line.  If the file argument is not included, or does not contain an explicit pathname specification, Bookreader uses the environment variables DECW_BOOK and DECW_BOOKSHELF to locate the bookshelf file.

DECW_BOOKSpecifies the search path for book and bookshelf files.  Separate multiple pathnames with spaces.  If DECW_BOOK is not set and no explicit pathname is specified on the command line, Bookreader looks for book and bookshelf files in /usr/lib/dxbook.

DECW_BOOKSHELF
Specifies the bookshelf file.  If DECW_BOOKSHELF is not set and the file argument is not included on the command line, Bookreader looks for a bookshelf file named library.decw_bookshelf.

If DECW_BOOKSHELF is not set, but DECW_BOOK is, Bookreader looks for bookshelf files named library.decw_bookshelf using the search path specified by DECW_BOOK.

The environment variables allow you to have Bookreader recognize additional books or bookshelf files.  You can store bookshelf files and their associated book files in different directories, and set the environment variable DECW_BOOK to specify all the pathnames. For example, you have the default bookshelf and books in /usr/lib/dxbook, and another bookshelf with its books in /usr/local/lib/localbooks. You set DECW_BOOK to specify both pathnames:

setenv DECW_BOOK "/usr/lib/dxbook /usr/local/lib/localbooks"

and all titles appear in the selection window when you run Bookreader. 

Files

/usr/bin/dxbook Bookreader binary

/usr/lib/dxbook/library.decw_bookshelf Default bookshelf

See Also

Using Bookreader Available online in the default bookshelf