Chapter 1 Introduction

This chapter introduces the AnswerBook2 documentation server. It includes the following information:

• "AnswerBook2 Administration Overview"

• "AnswerBook2 Administration Features"

• "AnswerBook2 Pieces and Parts"

• "What to Install"

• "Frequently Asked Questions"

For information about using the AnswerBook2 product to view online documentation, see Viewing Online Documentation Using the AnswerBook2 System.

AnswerBook2 Administration Overview

The AnswerBook2 product is Sun's online documentation system. It is a client-server based system in which the client is any HTML 3.2-compliant web browser and the server is an httpd-based web server. You can install AnswerBook2 document collections on a centralized documentation server or on a local server.

AnswerBook2 Administration Features

The AnswerBook2 product includes the following administration features:

• Uses a client-server architecture that allows the documents to be stored in a single location (server) and accessed from the user's desktop (client)

• Provides a command-line interface (CLI) and a browser-based interface (GUI) for performing server administration functions

• Allows you to run an AnswerBook2 server directly from the Solaris 7 Documentation CD

• Can run as a CGI process on various web servers

• Lets you control whether errors are displayed visually to the users with a red "BUG," by turning on or off the AnswerBook2 debugging function

• Includes log files for server access and errors

AnswerBook2 Pieces and Parts

The AnswerBook2 product consists of the following elements:

• A documentation server -- Performs query functions and "serves" documents to the client browser. Includes templates that provide a common "look and feel" for document viewing and printing; and provides both web-browser and command-line administration interfaces that perform database, password authentication, and other administrative functions. For information on installing a documentation server, see "Installing the Server Software". For information about administering a documentation server, see Chapter 3, Administering an AnswerBook2 Server.

• Document collections -- Can be new (SGML) documents or old (Display PostScript^TM) documents. For information about installing document collections onto your server, see "Installing Document Collections onto the Server".

• A client web browser -- To view the documentation, users can use any HTML 3.2-compliant browser. For information about viewing documentation, see Viewing Online Documentation Using the AnswerBook2 System. To enable users to access your documentation server, either you need to register the server with Federated Naming Service (FNS) or the users need to know your server's URL. For information about registering your server with FNS, see "Registering Your Documentation Server".

What to Install

The following table indicates what you need to do or install to provide specific AnswerBook2 functionality.

Table 1-1 When and What to Install

If you want to do this....	Then do this...
View online documentation from a client browser (any platform, any operating environment).	Start an HTML 3.2-compliant web browser and enter the documentation server's URL (for example, http://imaserver:8888/).
Enable your system (machine) to deliver (serve) documentation.	Install the documentation server software from the Solaris 7 Documentation CD. See Chapter 2, Installing Documentation Server Software.
Add documentation from the Solaris 7 Documentation CD or other sources to your documentation server.	The document collection packages included on the Solaris 7 Documentation CD include post-install procedures that add them to the documentation server's database. If you install document collection packages from some other CD or have them pre-installed on the documentation server, use the "add collection" functions to add the document collections to the server's database. For information about installing the document collections, see "Installing Document Collections onto the Server".

Frequently Asked Questions

This section lists some common questions about the AnswerBook2 product along with answers to those questions.

What is AnswerBook2?

The AnswerBook2 product uses a standards-based documentation server to deliver Sun's online documentation through your favorite web browser. The AnswerBook2 interface lets you browse, search, and print a variety of Solaris information, including AnswerBook1 collections and man pages.

How is AnswerBook2 different from AnswerBook?

The previous AnswerBook product (now called AnswerBook1) used Display PostScript^TM to display electronic versions of documents primarily developed for paper delivery. The AnswerBook2 product uses a web browser to display documentation developed for online delivery using SGML and to display existing AnswerBook1 documents.

The following list identifies some key differences between the products:

• Web-browser interface -- You can use any HTML 3.2-compliant browser on any platform to view online documentation with the AnswerBook2 product.

• Source flexibility -- The AnswerBook2 server can deliver AnswerBook1 (Display PostScript) documents or AnswerBook2 (SGML) documents.

• Client-server support -- The AnswerBook2 product allows you to install the server and document collections in a central location and view the documents from other systems. In addition, it includes a "fail-over" mechanism in which the document administrator can define multiple documentation servers so that links between documents always work.

• Cross-platform -- For this release, the AnswerBook2 documentation server must run in the Solaris 7 operating environment (SPARC or Intel). However, AnswerBook2 clients can run on any platform, and future releases might provide server functionality on additional platforms.

• Default search behavior -- The AnswerBook2 product uses AND for its default search behavior rather than OR (the default search behavior in the AnswerBook1 product).

Can I still view my old AnswerBook collections with the AnswerBook2 software?

Yes, unless your old AnswerBook documents were created before the release of the Solaris 2.2 operating environment. To add AnswerBook1 collections to the documentation server's database, the document administrator uses the AnswerBook2 "add collection" function and points to the directory containing the AnswerBook1 ab_cardcatalog file.

Does the AnswerBook2 software provide the same functionality for AnswerBook1 and AnswerBook2 documents?

No. For consistency, the AnswerBook2 interface for AnswerBook1 documents is similar to the AnswerBook1 product interface. The following briefly lists the differences in functionality for AnswerBook1 and AnswerBook2 collections:

• You cannot show or hide all levels of an entire AnswerBook1 table of contents listing; you can only show or hide details for a specific section within the table of contents.

• AnswerBook1 content pages do not include Other Topics sections. To navigate from one page to another, you can use the Next Topic link or return to the Table of Contents and select another section in the book.

• AnswerBook1 content pages display the entire chapter at one time, not smaller sections.

• Search results icons poorly represent the probability of a match for AnswerBook1 information; the icons tend to be either completely filled or completely empty.

• Search terms are not highlighted in AnswerBook1 text.

• Some AnswerBook1 graphics cannot be displayed inline; they are identified by an icon that, when clicked on, brings up a PostScript display of the graphic.

• A Man Pages by Keyword search includes only the AnswerBook2 (SGML-based) man pages on the server, not the AnswerBook1 man pages.

• The AnswerBook1 man pages use the same interface as other AnswerBook1 documents; they do not have a special man page interface.