help menu failure, again.

[jnr]

I'm using Vectorworks Architect. Type in the word "light tool", the name given by NNA to add light off of the visualization tool bar, into search of the help menu, and lo and behold there is everything you wanted to know about SPOTLIGHT and nothing about architectural applications of said tool. Where did you all get this shell for the help menu, because frankly, it stinks.

I had to look it up because I can no longer get the light tool that used to work in previous versions, to work.

[Kevin]

I tried the same thing on the Mac version OS 12.0.1 with Safari. I got 31 hits. They were not all Spotlight specific. Perhaps this is a PC thing.

[Guest]

Make sure you are searching within either All Available Books, or VectorWorks Fundamentals to learn more about the light tool. The light tool is not part of an industry specific series, but rather the Fundamentals package.

[G_Hannigan]

I'm also using VW Arch. When I enter light tool in the search , All Available Books, two groups of results appear. The upper group - VW Fundamentals has "adding a light source" as the second item and describes the light tool's operation.

If you use the Index View, select "L", you will also find the light tool and other light related info.

[jnr]

How on earth is any given user that purchases the software with an industry specific tool supposed to know what is fundamental and what is industry specific? Why o why is one forced to sift thru unrelated trade specific topics in the first place? This is nuts. I've been using this software longer than some people have worked at the company and I fear for the new users who don't know where to look for information. This does not bode well for future growth in sales and should not be taken lightly.

[Guest]

Well, it's a good rule of thumb to stick to "All Available Books" if you are not clear on what part of the product to look at for something specific. It's one of the main reasosn that option is not only available, but the first in the list.

[P Retondo]

But Katie, isn't Fundamentals part of every industry-specific package? If so, wouldn't it make sense for the help utility to automatically include the Fundamentals database when you choose an option like "Architect?" Perhaps that logical expectation is what has jnr a bit upset.

[Guest]

No - the architect book, landmark book, spotlight book, etc. are all written for those speciic items. The fundamentals items are included in the fundamentals book. It's redundant to create books with the same information that the fundamentals book has.

By way of the search engine - there's an "All Available Books" option that does exactly what you are suggesting he's looking for.