Help Index
PC-Pages Help Index

What is PC-Pages?

Introduction.

How to search for an entry.

Form based search.

Viewing information.

The tree browser window

The entry window.

Updating data.

Updating existing entries.

Adding new entries.

Deleting entries.


Introduction
Introduction to PC-Pages

PC-Pages can be viewed as the computerised equivalent of a phone book. It can supply all information necessary for one person to contact another. It is unlike the phone book in a number of important ways:

- It performs all look ups for you

- The information contained is much wider

- It reaches a great deal more people

PC-Pages is an aid to most forms of personal communication. It gives people the ability to work out how to contact others by providing access to a directory of addresses and phone numbers. This frees users from the wasteful and often laborious task of looking up addresses using paper directories, or by determining contacts by word of mouth.

Information retrieved by PC-Pages can be passed into other applications, generally electronic mail or address book applications. This bypasses the need to type in the addresses of people contacted on a regular basis.

In most cases information can be located by simply providing the name of a person, their organisation and country. For people in your own organisation or department it  is often enough to simply type in the name of the person being searched for.

The directory accessed by PC-Pages is a rich information source. Some of the most useful information types contained are:

-Electronic mail addresses

-Postal mail addresses (home, work, etc.)

-Telephone numbers (home, work, mobile, pager, etc.)

-Fax phone numbers

-Telex addresses

-Pictorial information (maps, portraits, etc.)

-Organisational relationships (secretaries, role occupants, etc.)

PC-Pages also provides the ability for users to update information contained within the directory. The task of maintaining data is simplified by allowing people to keep their own details up to date. Similarly directory entries for individuals can be added when new people arrive, or deleted when they leave.


Form Based Search

This allows you to search for a directory entry by entering one or more pieces of descriptive text into a form-like dialog box.

To start a form search:

1.	Select the type of entry that you wish to search for (e.g. "Person") from the Search menu.

2.	Fill in the form dialog. You must always fill in the uppermost edit field (this describes the entry you're searching for), though you may not always have to fill in the remaining fields. Further details are given in the Search defaulting help page.

3.	Click on OK if you wish to start a search as specified, or else click on Cancel if you wish to stop.

If you've clicked on OK a small status window should appear. Wait until the search request completes. If the request takes too long to complete click on Cancel to halt it.

If your search request completes and locates a single directory entry, PC-Pages will attempt to retrieve and show it in an Entry window. If multiple hits are made a Tree window will appear, displaying the matches made.


Search Defaulting

All searches are performed on the basis of an internal defaulting system. This means that it isn't always necessary to fill in the whole of a search form in order to find a desired directory entry. For example, if searching for a person within your own organization it is usually only necessary to fill in that person's name. When searching for an organization within your own country you'll probably find it by simply supplying that organization's name.


Entry Window
The Entry Window

The entry window displays a directory entry as a list of attributes, e.g. "Name", "Job title" or "Address".

Some of the attributes displayed may be "live", this means, that by double clicking on them a further and related action will be performed. Such attributes are usually displayed in highlighted colour. Some examples of live attributes are:

See also

The See also part of an entry points to one, or more, related directory entries. Clicking on this attribute causes the related entry to be retrieved and displayed.

Secretary

The Secretary of the person who's entry is displayed.

Role occupant

Role occupant refers to the person who actually fulfils the role described in the displayed entry. A role might be "Head of Department" or "Systems manager".

Toolbar Buttons

 Paste Mail Address to Mailer

 Save Mail Address to Address Book

 Update This Entry

 Add a New Entry

 Delete This Entry


Paste Mail Address

When an entry has an associated electronic mail address, it is possible to mail to it directly by selecting this operation. This will usually executes a mail interface which will come up ready to send to the specified address, but may vary from system to system.


Save Mail Address to Address Book
Save Mail Address

This button permits personal entry details (nickname, e-mail address and telephone number) to be saved to an address book tool. The exact action taken depends on which electronic mail system you are using.


 Browsing

The browse operation returns a random list of entries found beneath another entry. Entries returned by the browse operation are in some way owned by the entry being looked under, e.g. the people contained in a department.

The browse operation can be performed in a Tree window by double clicking with the left button on an entry name or by selecting that entry and then pressing the RETURN key. You can also browse by clicking on the Browse toolbar icon .

The entries found by a browse operation are displayed in a Tree window.


 Updating Existing Entries

To update or edit the contents of an entry take the following steps:

1.	Select the entry that you wish to add below. This can be selecting it's name in the tree browser window or by bringing it's display window to the front.

2.	Select the Update entry menu item or click on the Update toolbar icon.

3.	Make the necessary changes in the subsequent Edit entry dialog.

Updates on directory entries are only permitted if you have a high enough level of access rights to the entry.


Logging on to the Directory

It is sometimes necessary to log on to the directory service. This means entering your directory distinguished name and password. These details are required for access and security purposes. For example, it may be the case that only you are permitted to modify the contents of your directory entry.

You can login anonymously by not supplying your distinguished name and password. This means that you will only be given access to publicly open directory information.


Directory Entry

A directory entry is a collection of data that represents some real world entity, e.g. a person, organization or department. An entry consists of a set of attributes, each having one or more attribute values. Some examples of attributes are: telephone number, personal name, e-mail address, etc.


Distinguished Name

A distinguished name, or DN, is the machine readable name of a directory entry. One example of a DN is;

 cn=Mr Sid Smith, o=Widget Inc. c=GB

DNs consists of a sequence of type and value pairs, with each pair separated by a  comma. Some of the types that are used in DNs are listed below:

c 	- Country name.

o 	- Organization name.

ou	- Department or organizational unit name.

l	- Locality name.

st	- State or province name.

cn	- Usually a person's name, but is often used more generally.


Edit Entry Dialog
 Edit Entry

This dialog allows you to change the contents of any directory entry, or to create a new one from scratch.

The Edit Entry window is divided into two areas:

- The group selection list.

- The edit form.

The lower part of the window (the edit form) contains a set of data fields which are used to update the values of the directory entry. The entry is additionally divided into a set of logical parts, which are displayed in the edit form as a group. The group can be selected by selecting a group name from the selection list at the top of the window.

Toolbar Buttons

 Save changes made to the current entry


List Window

The List window is used to display a collection of directory entries. Entries listed can be displayed, browsed under or added to the Collect window. To perform one of these actions select an entry from the list box, then click on one of the Show, Browse or Collect buttons as appropriate.


Collect Window

The Collect window is used to build and maintain a list of directory entries. A list of entries built up in this way can be used to print a personal address book. In future versions such collections will be used to build and manage mailing lists, and provide the ability to mail to multiple recipients.

To print an entry collection, choose the Print option from the File menu.

The Collect window, like the List window, allows entries to be browsed under and displayed.


Adding Entries

Entries can be added below others, e.g. person entry might be placed "beneath" a departmental entry. To add an entry below another take the following steps:

1.	Select the entry that you wish to add below. This can be selecting it's name in the tree browser window or by bringing it's display window to the front.

2.	Select the Add new entry menu item or on the Add toolbar icon.

3.	Choose an entry type from the resulting dialog.

4.	Supply a name for the entry, e.g. a person's name, in the subsequent dialog.

5.	Provide the content of the entry using Edit entry dialog.

Toolbar Icons

 Add new entry


Deleting Entries

Entries can be deleted by taking the following steps:

1.	Select the entry that you wish to add below. This can be selecting it's name in the tree browser window or by bringing it's display window to the front.

2.	Click on the Delete button in the resulting Entry window.

3.	Confirm the deletion in the subsequent dialog.


Directory Tree Window

This window displays the contents of the directory as a hierarchical tree of entry names. Entries are selected by clicking on them with the mouse. Once selected a number of operations can be performed on that entry: browse, show, update entry , delete entry  and add new entry.

Toolbar Buttons

 Browse Below Selected Entry

 Read and Display Entry

 Select Next Entry in List

 Select Previous Entry in List

 Paste Mail Address to Mailer

 Save Mail Address to Address Book

 Update This Entry

 Add a New Entry

 Delete This Entry