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How do i create a help (search) engine?

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    #1

    How do i create a help (search) engine?

    Hello
    I am currently looking for suggestions on how to create a help engine, so it can be used by anyone from our company internally to solve everday problems. Therefore they do not need to bother the technical support unless the problem is far greater.
    Now it does not need to be done in Alpha 5, but thats why i need your suggestions.

    Thanks
    Ilesh
    Tags: None
    #2
    RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

    There are a number of general purpose help authoring tools available from software publishers, including some shareware titles. These permit you to build indexed pages of text which are searchable by your users. These can be 'called' from your alpha five database apps, too.

    Another alternative is to put a button on each form and use it to open other forms which contain text explaining how to use the current form in your database.

    -- tom

    Comment

      #3
      RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

      There is an article in the Alpha Learning Forum "Query on Child Records" by Bill H that includes a download. Take a look at it. If you imagine his articles being your help topics, this might be the start of a help solution completely within Alpha.
      John

      Comment

        #4
        RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

        Hi John,

        You devil. I wrote that and never thought of using it in that fashion. And to think, I was just trying to figure out how to make a little documentation system for an in-house application here.

        Thanks for the idea.
        Bill
        Bill Hanigsberg

        Comment

          #5
          RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

          Bill,
          Another thing you could do in your app is set up a full text search on the memo field that is the help topic text. Then you could take advantage of the excellent interface you already have by topic type, or have the user do a find by form putting any search word they wanted into the memo field. You'll get a large index file, but you should get immediate record retrievals. I would not have tried this with prior unstable indexes, but a5v4.5 indexes seem to behave, and this might give an additional feature with no extra work.
          John

          Comment

            #6
            RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

            I have another variant on the same theme which I made ages ago to hold message board posts. Unlike the clippings application it has two views: "topics by thread" and "threads by topic" and allows you to double-click back and forth.

            (That archive became Doug Chanley's web-based archive which I think is now "the best of the message board" on the alpha site, or perhaps part of it.)

            I'm of two minds here. Users are very familiar with standard help files. On the other hand, it is tempting to do it within alpha.

            Bill
            Bill Hanigsberg

            Comment

              #7
              RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

              Hello
              Can you please tell me how I can find this article("Query on Child Records") ?

              Cheers

              Comment

                #8
                RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

                Go here:

                http://www.learn alpha.com/QueryChildRecords/Query_on_child_records.htm


                If you are not familiar with the articles at www.learn alpha.com I recommend them to you. There's a search (find) option at the bottom of the home page at this location. I found the article in question by searching for 'child records'.

                -- tom

                Comment

                  #9
                  RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

                  thank you

                  Comment

                    #10
                    RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

                    Hi
                    I have spent nearly two days trying to make something out for this help engine, but i am getting no where. I am a fairly new Alpha 5 user, but i just can't seem to get ahead in this problem. Can anyone start me off?
                    I have simple attributes:- PROBLEM_NO, PROBLEM_TYPE(like printer, scanner, pc etc...), PROBLEM(most likely to be a sentance), SOLUTION(memo), SIMILAR_PROB'S + THIER SOLUTIONS, and the DATE.

                    Now from those attributes i have to create a help engine, so when the user enters in the 'problem' and 'problem_type', it should produce all matching 'problem_types'(to the one entered), and produce the 'problems' and their 'solutions' for those matching problem_types. So for example: If you enter
                    PROBLEM = red light on printer does not go off?
                    PROBLEM_TYPE = PRINTER
                    Then it should try to find that problem's solution if not found then it should produce all 'problems' that have occurred with that 'Problem_type', it is printer in this case. So then the user just reads the one that is close to the actual problem.
                    Now this is just the basic, part and once i can get this working then i can make the searching more accurate etc..
                    So i am wondering if anyone out there has had a similar problem and i was wondering if you can help me out? or anyone you can assist me because at the moment i am stuck.
                    Thank you
                    Ilesh

                    Comment

                      #11
                      RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

                      Perhaps one way to get started is to ask the user for the Problem_Type, only.

                      Use that response to display a list of all the possible help text solutions for that particular type of problem. Let the user scan the list and pick the one that's closest.

                      Of course, the initial input of the Problem_Type could be done using a lookup list, too. User picks type of problem off list. The program then builds or retrieves a list of the available solutions, displays them in an ordered list, and then the user picks the one that's closest.

                      -- tom

                      Comment

                        #12
                        RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

                        Tom
                        Thanks for that, I am trying to do something like that, but i might have to put the solutions found in an array and then ask the user to pick the s
                        closest one, which is what you are saying.
                        Thanks i suppose i have to stick at it and then see if i can first get that working and then move on to the more complicated areas, like more accurate searches, key word searches etc...

                        Thanks again Tom

                        Comment

                          #13
                          RE: How do i create a help (search) engine?

                          A simple solution that I use is to create a new table, 'Problems' with essentially two fields Problem(Chr) and Solution(Memo). You can easily add other fields to enable various searches.

                          In fact I use this to archive any tips that I have stolen from this message board.

                          Michael

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