Use Microsoft Books Online for SQL Server
Microsoft Books Online covers the concepts and procedures required to use SQL Server. Microsoft also includes reference material that documents the languages and programming interfaces for storing, retrieving, reporting, and modifying data by using SQL Server.
Note that if your environment is configured to run only IPv6, Microsoft Help Viewer 1.1, the Help Viewer for SQL Server will crash. This issue applies to all environments running with only IPV6 enabled. IPV4 and IPV4 with IPV6 enabled environments are not impacted.
In an IPV6-only environment, you will be presented with the following error message:
HelpLibAgent.exe has stopped working.
To avoid this issue, enable IPv4, or use the following steps to add a registry entry and create an ACL to enable the Help Viewer for IPv6:
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Create a registry key with the name “IPv6” and a value of “1 (DWORD(32 bit))” under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Help\v1.0.
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Set the security ACL’s for the port for IPv6, executing the following from an admin CMD window:
netsh http add urlacl url=http://[::1]:47873/help/ sddl=D:(A;;GX;;;WD).
To download PowerShell scripts that do this configuration for you, download the configuration scripts from the Microsoft Download Center.
Note the following important changes to the Help experience in this SQL Server release.
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Books Online documentation does not ship on SQL Server installation media. To view Books Online for SQL Server, either configure the Help viewer to display content from the MSDN Library, or select local Help and then download Help collections to a local computer.
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The new content viewer for Microsoft Books Online, Help Viewer 1.1, along with Help management tools, is installed when you select Books Online in SQL Server Setup. The final dialog in SQL Server Setup provides instructions about configuring the Help viewer, and the first time you launch Books Online you will see a dialog that will assist you to configure the Help viewer.
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If the computer is connected to the Internet, use the Help Library Manager to download SQL Server help collections for this release of SQL Server. If the computer is not connected to the Internet because it is behind a firewall or proxy, you must download the Books Online content from the Download Center, copy it to the computer running SQL Server, and then install the help collections using Help Library Manager.
Microsoft Help Viewer 1.1, the viewer for Microsoft Books Online, includes many features designed to make it easier and faster to find information in the documentation set.
You can access Microsoft Books Online in the following ways:
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From the Start menu - Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server, point to Help & Community, and then click Books Online.
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From SQL Server Management Studio - On the Help menu, click Help .
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From SQL Server SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) - On the Help menu, click Help.
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From F1 or Help buttons in the user interface - For context-sensitive information, press F1 on your keyboard, or click Help in the user interface dialog box.
You can find information in the following ways:
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Navigating the table of contents.
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Searching on words and phrases in local and online Help topics.
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Pressing F1 while viewing a user interface element to display a topic about it.
SQL Server and Help Viewer 1.1 include features to help users find information. The following table briefly describes the features in Microsoft Books Online and Help Viewer 1.1.
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Feature |
Description |
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Contents |
Groups topics logically by technology, component, and task, as appropriate, for easy browsing.
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Index |
Allows you to search for SQL Server topics alphabetically by keyword or task.
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Search |
A search engine that performs keyword searches of topics. |
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Favorites |
Allows you to mark topics as favorites for easy retrieval. |
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In Microsoft Help Viewer 1.1, you can specify whether you want to view local sources or online sources in your Help experience. Use Help Library Manager to toggle between local and online settings.
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Local. The local versions of topics from Books Online will appear when you select Local in Help Library Manager.
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Online. The online versions of topics from Books Online will appear when you select Online in Help Library Manager.
For information about Microsoft Help Viewer 1.1, see Microsoft Help System 1.1 Documentation.
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