Getting Help and Assistance

RDC Onsite has many ways for you to get help and assistance while you are working in the application. You can:

• Use the online HTML-based help system
• Use the customized help provided by your sponsor for information on the CRFs and data entry fields specific to your study
• Display tips about icons, buttons, and other controls
• View release and configuration information for your version of RDC Onsite
• Contact your Help Desk

For more information, see:

• Using the Online Help System
  
• Viewing CRF and Field Help Customized by Your Sponsor
  
• Getting Tips about Tools
  
• Viewing Release and Configuration Information about RDC Onsite
  
• Contacting Your Help Desk
  

Using the Online Help System

RDC Onsite provides complete documentation in an HTML-based help system. The online help includes all the information in the user guide. To locate information in the help system, you can browse from topic to topic, select topics from the table of contents or index, or search for specific words or phrases.

To open the online help system:

1. Click the Help link in the page header. The Help window displays the topic relevant to the current page. The icons on the toolbar let you:

   • Open the Navigation pane
   • Display the previous topic
   • Display the next topic
   • Print the current topic

   Note that the Help window does not display the Navigation pane initially.

2. Click the Show Navigation icon to open the Navigation pane at the left side of the window. The Navigation pane and the toolbar now include tabs and icons that let you:

   • View and select help topics from the table of contents
   • View and select help topics from the index, if available
   • Search for a specific word or phrase in the online help
   • Add the current topic to your list of favorites
   • Show the location of the current topic in the table of contents

To resize the Navigation pane, drag the vertical border.

Tip:

To avoid cluttering your desktop with extra browser windows, close online help windows as soon as you finish reading the topic.

For more information, see:

• Navigating from Help Topic to Topic
  
• Searching for Topics in the Online Help
  
• Using Links to Navigate within the Online Help
  

Navigating from Help Topic to Topic

The following table summarizes the tools that you can use to navigate within the online help.

Toolbar Icon	Description
	Displays the next topic. To revisit previously viewed topics, right-click in the Help window and then select Back or Forward from the menu.
	Displays the previous topic. To revisit previously viewed topics, right-click in the Help window and then select Back or Forward from the menu.
	Opens the Navigation pane on the left side of the Help window. The Navigation pane and toolbar now include additional tabs and icons that let you view and select help topics from the table of contents or index, search for a specific word or phrase in the online help, add a topic to your list of favorites, and show the location of the current topic in the table of contents.
	Displays the table of contents. To expand (or collapse) the list of topics, click a book icon. To display a topic in the Help window, click the link for that topic.
	Displays the index for the online help.
	Displays the Search field so you can find help topics that match one or more words.
	Lets you add the current topic to your list of favorite help topics. These favorite topics are available once you open the online help. In addition, you can right-click in the Help window and then select Add to Favorites to add the current help page to your list of favorite Web pages. You can then open the page from the Favorites menu in Microsoft Internet Explorer.
	Synchronizes the topic displayed in the Help window with its location in the table of contents.
	Prints the current topic. Alternatively, you can right-click in the Help window and then select Print from the menu.

Searching for Topics in the Online Help

You can enter search criteria to find all the topics that contain the specified words. When specifying search words, note that:

• The help topic must contain all the words you entered to result in a match. For example, if you enter Casebooks Page, the search finds all topics that have the word Casebooks AND the word Page in the title or body content.
• The search is not case-sensitive. For example, if you enter onsite, the search finds any topic that has onsite, Onsite, ONSITE, or OnSite.
• The search does not match other forms of the words you entered. For example, the word navigate does not match navigates, navigating, or navigator. Conversely, the word navigates does not match navigate.

To find help topics based on search words:

1. Click the Help link in the page header.
2. Click the Show Navigation icon to open the Navigation pane.
3. Click Search.
4. Enter one or more search words in the box.
5. Click Go. The Navigation pane lists and ranks the topics, if any, that match your search criteria. Topics with a title that matches all your search words are at the top of the list.
6. Click a title to display that topic in the Help window.

Using Links to Navigate within the Online Help

In addition to the navigation tools in the Help window, you can click the following underlined links to move from topic to topic:

• Click cross-reference links to display referenced topics
• Click the links at the end of a topic to view related subtopics

Viewing CRF and Field Help Customized by Your Sponsor

The CRFs used in a clinical trial vary from study to study. The information requested on each form may be unique to your study. In addition, you may need help with the type of information required in a field in the CRF.

When setting up RDC Onsite, your sponsor has the option to provide help information specific to the CRF as well as to each field in the CRF.

For more information on viewing help for the CRF currently displayed in the Data Entry window, see Entering and Updating Patient Data.

Getting Tips about Tools

RDC Onsite has many tools—icons, buttons, and arrows—that you select when using the application.

To identify a tool, position the pointer over the tool, and then pause. A tool tip displays the name or function of the tool. In addition, the tool tip includes the corresponding keyboard shortcut, if one is available. For example:

To get more information about the tool, search the online help.

Viewing Release and Configuration Information about RDC Onsite

To view product specific information about RDC Onsite, click the About RDC link in the page footer. RDC Onsite displays information such as:

• The version number
• The application server configuration (release number and date applied)
• The database configuration (package, release number, and date applied)

Contacting Your Help Desk

When configuring the RDC Onsite application, your sponsor can include a custom link for contacting your Help Desk. When you click the link, RDC Onsite opens a custom Web page created by your sponsor. The page displays contact information, such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses, for your Help Desk.

The default name for the link is Contact Us. However, your sponsor can change the name of the link during the setup process. The link, if available, appears with the other global links in the page header and footer.