README for xdocviewer 2.0.1 --------------------------- CHANGES since xdocviewer 1.0 ---------------------------- xdocviewer 2.0.1 adds support for the Solaris 2.0 and 2.1 AnswerBook releases, It has been tested against the "minimal" (i.e., completely on-disk) configuration of AnswerBook for Solaris 2.0 and AnswerBook for Solaris 2.1. xdocviewer 2.0.1 does NOT support the AnswerBook release that comes with Solaris 2.2 (and future versions)!!! Sun drastically changed the format of the AnswerBook in the Solaris 2.2 version. I have neither the time nor the inclination to figure out what the h*ll they did (I also have no steady access to a Solaris 2.x machine, anyway). xdocviewer is a Perl language script that allows one to display Sun's AnswerBook documentation on machines that only run plain X11 servers, such as X terminals. It makes these basic assumptions: - You need AnswerBook installed somewhere, and the "bookinfo" file installed (default is /etc/bookinfo). If you don't have a bookinfo file, you can create one by running the "answerbook_demo" script on the AnswerBook CD-ROM and then make an appropriate substitution of "../" to something else (like "/cdrom/" or "/usr/AnswerBook/SysSoft_1.3", for example). Then install the "bookinfo" file somewhere, like /etc/bookinfo, or somewhere else (and then set your BOOKINFO env. variable appropriately). - You need the XView libraries - libxview.so.3.x, libxview.sa.3.x, and libolgx.so.3.x and libolgx.sa.3.x - installed somewhere, either in a standard place (/usr/lib, /usr/local/lib, or in your X11 installation directory's lib directory) or somewhere else with the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable set as appropriate to point to them. - You need a GhostScript previewer. The supported ones are ghostview 1.3 and gspreview 2.1. Both of these support the "-page" option which allows you to bring up a document at a specific page, rather than at page 1. It is presumed that later versions of each (ghostview 1.4.1 and gspreview 2.2, for example) will probably work as well. - You need Perl (-: This script was written using Perl 4.0.19. It should work fine under Perl 4.0.35 or 4.0.36, as far as I know. Previous versions of this README have led to confusion on how to use this Perl script. What you need to do is this: Take the "xdocviewer" script, make it executable and change the first line to point to wherever your "perl" executable lives. Then, move it to your destination directory; e.g. "/usr/local/bin". Change the name of the script to "docviewer"; e.g. "/usr/local/bin/docviewer". This is very important; both the "answerbook" script as well as the "Navigator" program expect to fire up a document viewer program by the name of "docviewer". IF YOU TRY TO RUN THIS SCRIPT DIRECTLY, OR KEEP IT'S NAME "xdocviewer", IT WILL FAIL. Just as the OpenWindows NeWS-based "docviewer" program expects to be fired up from another program with appropriate arguments, so does this Perl script! You then need to modify your "answerbook" shell script - as stated in the comments in the Perl script - to make sure that the Perl script is executed as "docviewer" ahead of the NeWS-based "docviewer". Ordinarily, the default "answerbook" tries to put the directory $ABHOME/bin (which normally contains the NeWS-based "docviewer") ahead of the rest of your $PATH, and thus the script will not get run. Also, the default "answerbook" tries to use a NeWS program ("psh") to determine what version of the OpenWindows server is running; it only needs this information to determine which version of the Navigator program to use (which depends on the XView libraries). If you know, for example, that you have the OpenWindows 3.x XView libraries, you can comment out the "psh" invocation in the script and simply hard-code the version variable to be "3". You might consider renaming the thus-modified "answerbook" script to be something else, like "xanswerbook" - especially in case other people use "answerbook" directly under OpenWindows on a Sun, in which case they might not like having a GhostScript previewer pop up on their screen (-: Renaming the changed "answerbook" would avoid these problems. Once you have made these changes, you should be able to run the "answerbook" script without difficulties. If you have problems, bug reports or questions, send e-mail to the author: earle@isolar.Tujunga.CA.US (Internet) a.k.a. isolar!earle@elroy.JPL.NASA.GOV (UUCP) Enjoy, - Greg Earle P.S. I am no longer working for Sun Microsystems, so please do not send e-mail to my previous address, "earle@Sun.COM" or "earle@poseur.JPL.NASA.GOV". Thanks.