Using Commerce Server Help

Article
11/12/2009

The Commerce Server 2002 Help system provides documentation for site developers, system administrators, and business managers.

Commerce Server 2002 Help is installed with Commerce Server in a compiled HTML file (it has a .chm extension). On a regular basis, Microsoft updates this file with new information based on customer feedback and questions, and posts it to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=6724 for download, replacing the previous version installed with the product.

It is recommended that you update your copy of Commerce Server 2002 Help each time a new version is released.

This section contains:

About Commerce Server Help. Describes the structure and contents of Commerce Server 2002 Help.
Commerce Server Tutorials. Lists the tutorials that are provided with Commerce Server.
Using the Help Viewer. Explains how to use the Help Viewer to find the information you need.
Searching for a Help Topic. Explains how to search for exact phrases and how to search for topics using OR, AND, NEAR, and NOT.
Bookmarking a Help Topic. Explains how to bookmark a help topic so you can quickly return to it.
Printing a Help Topic. Explains how to print one or more topics at the same time.
Copying a Help Topic. Explains how to copy a help topic and paste it into another document.
Using Language Filtering. Explains how to use language filtering to view code samples in C++ or Microsoft Visual Basic.
Help Viewer Keyboard Shortcuts. Lists the keyboard shortcuts for using Help Viewer.
Additional Resources. Lists other resources for information besides Commerce Server Help.

About Commerce Server Help

Commerce Server 2002 Help is designed so that users can quickly locate the type of information—workflow, concepts, procedures, or reference—they need to effectively manage, administer, or develop their commerce sites.

Structure of the Help System

Developer Help

Business Desk Help

Structure of the Help System

The table of contents is organized into several books, each one corresponding to a major functional area of the product. The nodes, or chapters, contained in each book correspond to major tasks that you will perform in that area, or explain key concepts or technologies that you will need to understand to complete those tasks.

The following table lists the Commerce Server books and provides a description of each one.

Book	Description	Users
Getting Started	Describes Commerce Server features, tools, and concepts. Explains how to plan your Commerce Server site and provides a link to the installation instructions.	All users of Commerce Server
Developer's Guide	Explains how to set up your development environment, how to program with Commerce Server objects, how to customize pipelines, and how to integrate Commerce Server with other applications.	Site developers
Deploying Your Site	Explains how to use Site Packager to deploy a site that uses SQL Server or Active Directory, and how to make incremental updates to your site. Explains how to secure your site. Provides two detailed examples for installing Commerce Server on a four-computer, clustered configuration and on a three-computer, non-clustered configuration.	System administrators
Administering Commerce Server	Describes Commerce resources, sites, applications, Web servers, and the Administration database, and explains how to manage them. Explains how to manage Profiles, CS Authentication, Direct Mailer, Predictor, and Data Warehouse. Explains how to set up Commerce Server to use BizTalk Server.	System administrators
Working with Business Desk	Explains how to manage your site using Business Desk. Includes a tutorial that contains labs for learning how to manage a business-to-consumer site and a business-to-business site.	Business managers
Extending Commerce Server	Explains how to integrate a custom resource into Commerce Server, how to build new Business Desk modules, and how to build new pipeline components. Explains how to create custom reports, extend the Data Warehouse, integrate with third-party product catalogs, and integrate with Microsoft Passport.	Site developers
Programmer's Reference	Provides extensive reference material about the COM components that serve various functions within Commerce Server.	Site developers
Troubleshooting Commerce Server	Describes symptoms and solutions for problems you may encounter using Commerce Server.	System administrators and site developers
Glossary	Defines common terms used throughout Commerce Server.	All users of Commerce Server

Within each book, you will find nodes that contain the following types of information:

Workflow diagrams. The documentation for each Business Desk category contains a figure illustrating the key tasks performed in that functional area, with links to the task topics that provide step-by-step instructions for completing each one.
Getting Started. Getting Started nodes appear for both Commerce Server and for Business Desk.
Basics topics. These topics describe common tasks and provide navigational information for using Business Desk, Commerce Server Manager, and pipelines.
Concepts. In the Business Desk topics and elsewhere, titles beginning with "About" indicate topics that explain key concepts for successfully using Commerce Server and its components.
Tasks. Task topics provide step-by-step instructions for completing the tasks shown in the workflow.

Developer Help

To assist you in finding only the information that is relevant to your programming environment, Commerce Server 2002 Help implements a language-filtering tool. On the title bar in topics contained in the Programmer's Reference, you will find a filter button that provides a language menu. Using this menu, you can choose to view documentation tailored either to Visual C++ or to Visual Basic. After you select a language, that selection remains in effect while viewing subsequent pages.

In addition to Help, see the following for developer information:

Commerce Server Software Development Kit (SDK). Includes code samples and documentation for developing e-commerce solutions with Commerce Server. For example, it explains how to develop code for related sells (up-sells, cross-sells, and inventory sells). The SDK is installed with Commerce Server 2002.

To access the SDK, click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Commerce Server 2002, and then click Software Development Kit.
Commerce Server 2000 Resource Kit. Provides detailed information about how to plan, develop, deploy, scale, and optimize your Commerce Server installation. The Commerce Server 2000 Resource Kit is published by Microsoft Press.

Business Desk Help

The Business Desk Help system is a subset of the Commerce Server 2002 Help system. Business Desk users have access to the help contained in the book, "Working with Business Desk," but they do not have access to the other Commerce Server books from their client computer.

To access help from the Business Desk, click Business Desk Help Icon on the toolbar.

Commerce Server Tutorials

Commerce Server includes the following tutorials:

Using the Help Viewer

The Commerce Server 2002 Help system uses HTML to format and display information. The Help Viewer provides a table of contents, an index, and a full-text search feature so that you can find information easily. Book icons open to reveal sub-books and topics.

To expand the table of contents and view topics within a book, click the expand indicator (+) next to a book title. When you click the collapse indicator (-), the topics are hidden. Using the Help Viewer, you are able to see the table of contents, index, or search results at the same time you are viewing a Help topic.

The Help Viewer also includes a Favorites tab, which you can use to bookmark topics. This enables you to quickly display topics that you refer to often.

To learn more about Commerce Server, you can use the table of contents to browse through the documentation. When you click a topic in the table of contents, information is displayed in the content pane of the Help window.

In the Help Viewer, the following browse and search options are available:

Contents tab
1. To browse the table of contents, click the Contents tab. Double-click the book icons to reveal topic entries and sub-books.
2. Click a table-of-contents entry to display the corresponding topic.
Index tab
1. To see a list of index entries, click the Index tab, and then either type a word or scroll through the list. Topics are often indexed under more than one entry.
2. Double-click an index entry to display the corresponding topic.
Search tab
1. To locate every occurrence of a word or phrase, click the Search tab, type the word or phrase for which you want to search, and then click List Topics. To make your search results more specific, you can combine multiple words or phrases with AND, OR, NEAR, or NOT.
2. Double-click a search results entry to display the corresponding topic.
For more information about searching for a topic, see Searching for a Help Topic.
Favorites tab
1. To bookmark a topic, use the Contents, Index, or Search tabs to locate and then display a topic.
2. Click the Favorites tab, and click Add to save the topic title to the Topics list.
3. Double-click a bookmark in the Topics list to quickly display the topic.

Searching for a Help Topic

To locate every occurrence of a word or phrase, click the Search tab, type the word, and then click List Topics.
To search for a specific phrase, surround the phrase in quotes, for example "the computer and monitor" finds topics that contain the exact phrase the computer and monitor.
To make your search results more specific, you can combine multiple words or phrases with AND, OR, NEAR, or NOT.

For example:
- Searching for computer and monitor finds topics that contain both computer and monitor.
- Searching for computer or monitor finds topics that contain computer or contain monitor.
- Searching for computer near monitor finds topics that contain both computer and monitor in close proximity to each other.
- Searching for computer not monitor finds topics that contain the keyword computer but do not contain the keyword monitor.
Double-click a search results entry to display the corresponding topic.

Bookmarking a Help Topic

Use the Contents, Index, or Search tab to locate and then display the topic you want to bookmark.
Click the Favorites tab, and then click Add.

The Help Viewer adds the topic title to the Topics list. Later, you can return to this list and double-click the bookmark to quickly display the topic.

Notes

You can create a list of frequently visited Help topics.
To remove a bookmark from the Topics list, click the bookmark, and then click Remove.

Printing a Help Topic

Right-click the topic you want to print, and then click Print.
To print a pop-up topic, right-click inside the pop-up window, and then click Print.
To print all topics within a book, on the Contents tab, select the book. On the Help toolbar, click Options, click Print, and then click Print the selected heading and all subtopics.

Notes

If you print a section with multiple topics that contain multiple illustrations, the illustrations will not print.
Printing code samples and large illustrations could result in incomplete printing. If a line of code is very long or an illustration is very large, the right edge of the code or illustration might extend beyond the margin boundary and will not print.

Copying a Help Topic

In the topic pane of the Help Viewer, right-click inside the topic you want to copy, and then click Select All.
Inside the topic, right-click again, and then click Copy.
Open the document to which you want to copy the topic.
Click the place in your document where you want the information to appear.
On the Edit menu, click Paste.

Notes

If you want to copy only part of a topic, select the part you want to copy, right-click the selection, and then click Copy.
Step numbers are not copied to the Clipboard.

Using Language Filtering

To assist you in finding only the information that is relevant to your programming environment, Commerce Server Help implements a language-filtering tool. On the title bar in topics contained in the Programmer's Reference, you will find a filter button that provides a language menu. Using this menu, you can choose to view documentation tailored either to Visual C++, Visual Basic, C#, or Visual Basic .NET depending on the page content. After you select a language, that selection remains in effect while viewing subsequent pages.

To view the language-filtering options, click the filter button on the title bar, and then click one of the following options:

C++
Visual Basic
C#
Visual Basic .NET

Help Viewer Keyboard Shortcuts

If your mouse is unavailable or if you prefer using your keyboard, you can use the following keyboard commands to navigate within the Help Viewer.

Help Viewer keyboard shortcuts

Press	To
ALT+SPACEBAR	Display the system menu.
SHIFT+F10	Display the Help Viewer shortcut menu. Note Use this shortcut when the focus is in the topic pane.
ALT+TAB	Switch between the Help Viewer and other open windows.
ALT+O	Display the Options menu.
ALT+O, and then press T	Hide or show the navigation pane.
CTRL+TAB	Switch to the next tab in the navigation pane.
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB	Switch to the previous tab in the navigation pane.
UP ARROW	Move up one topic in the table of contents, index, or search results list.
DOWN ARROW	Move down one topic in the table of contents, index, or search results list.
PAGE UP	Move up one page in the table of contents, index, or search results list.
PAGE DOWN	Move down one page in the table of contents, index, or search results list.
F6	Switch focus between the navigation pane and the topic pane.
ALT+O, and then press R	Refresh the topic that appears in the topic pane.
UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW	Scroll through a topic.
CTRL+HOME	Move to the beginning of a topic.
CTRL+END	Move to the end of a topic.
CTRL+A	Highlight all text in the topic pane.
ALT+O, and then press P	Print a topic.
ALT+O, and then press B	Move back to the previously viewed topic.
ALT+O, and then press F	Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic.
ALT+F4	Close the Help Viewer.

Contents tab keyboard shortcuts

Press	To
ALT+C	Display the Contents tab.
RIGHT ARROW	Open a book.
LEFT ARROW	Close a book.
BACKSPACE	Return to the previous open book.
UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW	Select a topic.
ENTER	Display the selected topic.

Index tab keyboard shortcuts

Press	To
ALT+N	Display the Index tab.
UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW	Select a keyword in the list.
ALT+D or ENTER	Display the associated topic.

Search tab keyboard shortcuts

Press	To
ALT+S	Display the Search tab.
ALT+L	Start a search.
ALT+D or ENTER	Display the selected topic.

Favorites tab keyboard shortcuts

Press	To
ALT+I	Display the Favorites tab.
ALT+A	Add a topic to the Topics list.
ALT+P	Select a topic in the Topics list. Note Use this shortcut when the focus is in the topic pane and you want to move to the Topics list.
ALT+R	Remove a topic from the Topics list.
ALT+D	Display a topic from the Topics list.

Additional Resources

In addition to the Commerce Server 2002 Help system, you can find information from the following sources:

Software Development Kit (SDK), located in the Program Files\Microsoft Commerce Server\SDK folder.
Commerce Server Resource Kit, available as a printed book from Microsoft Press.
Commerce Server Web Site.

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Using Commerce Server Help

About Commerce Server Help

Structure of the Help System

Developer Help

Business Desk Help

Commerce Server Tutorials

Using the Help Viewer

See Also

Searching for a Help Topic

See Also

Bookmarking a Help Topic

See Also

Printing a Help Topic

See Also

Copying a Help Topic

See Also

Using Language Filtering

See Also

Help Viewer Keyboard Shortcuts

Help Viewer keyboard shortcuts

Contents tab keyboard shortcuts

Index tab keyboard shortcuts

Search tab keyboard shortcuts

Favorites tab keyboard shortcuts

See Also

Additional Resources

Additional resources