The User's View of the AnswerBook Library

The AnswerBook software enables viewers to access and share AnswerBook titles and swap them in or out of a Library, as they might use books from a shelf. Users can browse, search, bookmark, and print from their AnswerBook Viewer window as if from a single source--their personal Library.

Typically the user starts AnswerBook via the Workspace menu:

Workspace >> Programs >> AnswerBook

When the new AnswerBook Navigator opens, it displays the contents of the user's personal Library.

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Note - The contents of the user's Library varies according to which AnswerBook packages are installed, and, in the case of users sharing AnswerBook titles on a network, which ones have been made accessible by the system administrator. See Chapter 3, "AnswerBook Administration."

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The AnswerBook Library User Interface

Supporting this Library user interface are two administrative files: the user's personal Library file and a card catalog file.

The User's Personal AnswerBook Library File

The personal library file (~/.ab_library) is created the first time the user starts AnswerBook. This file accumulates the AnswerBook titles the user selects from the Modify Library list, as well as the user's bookmarks in those AnswerBook sets.

AnswerBook Card Catalog Files

Card catalog files form a database containing records for one or more AnswerBook titles. Each record describes a particular AnswerBook, including its title, its unique id, and where its component files reside.

:id=SUNWab_x_xx: \ :version=: \ :title=ABC AnswerBook: \ :tocpath=/net/marvin/answerbook1/ABC_x.x_AB/toc: \ :pspath=/net/marvin/answerbook1/ABC_x.x_AB/ps: \ :indexpath=/net/marvin/answerbook1/ABC_x.x_AB/index:\ [and so on]

AnswerBook Software Flow Chart

This diagram illustrates the sequence of events when the answerbook(1) start-up script is invoked.

Example of AnswerBook Configurations on a Network