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GEOVIA Surpac

Getting help

You can use the following resources to help you solve a problem, understand how a function works, or enter data into a form:

  • field help and form help
  • online help
  • tutorials
  • support
  • software request

Field help and form help

When you need to enter information, Surpac will display a form. The boxes on the form where you enter information are known as fields. From within a form you can access the Field help and Form help.

  • By accessing Field help, you can get helpful information about each field.
  • By access Form help, you can get helpful information about the entire form.

Task: Access field help and form help

  1. Click Reset graphics .
  2. Choose File > Open > String/DTM file.
  3. Click the Location field, and right-click to display the shortcut menu.

  4. From the shortcut menu, select Field Help.

    5. A window with help that is specific to the field you selected appears.

  5. Press TAB several times.

    6. The help text changes as you tab to different fields in the form. This happens because the Enable auto help check box is selected.

  6. Clear the Enable auto help check box.
  7. Press TAB several times.

    8. The help text does not change.

  8. Select the Enable auto help check box.
  9. Click the X button in the upper right corner of the help window to close it.
  10. Click and right-click in a field to display the shortcut menu.

  11. From the menu, select Form Help

    12. A window with help about the function Open file is displayed.

  12. Close the form help, and click Cancel on the Open File form.

Online help

Online help contains more detailed information than field help and form help. The online help also has examples and troubleshooting information.

Task: Access online help from a form

  1. Choose Create > Digitise > Properties.
  2. Click the button at the lower left corner of the form.

    3. The online help for the DIGITISER function is displayed.

  3. Close the help window.

Task: Access help from the help menu

  1. In Surpac, from the Help menu, select Table of contents.

  2. In the lower left corner, click the Table of Contents tab.
  3. In the table of contents, expand Modules, then Licence Manager, and click Introduction.

    4. The help for the Licence Manager is displayed.

  4. Close the help window.

Task: Use the index to search for information

You can use the Index to find the information you need.

  1. In Surpac, from the Help menu, select Table of contents.
  2. In the lower left corner, click the Index tab.
  3. In the text box at the top, slowly type each letter of the word Block Model.

    4. After you type each letter, the help system selects the index entry that is the closest match.

  4. Press ENTER.

    5. The help for Block Models is displayed.

  5. Close the help window.

Task: Search the online help

  1. In Surpac, from the Help menu, select Table of contents.
  2. Click the Search tab.
  3. Type the words DTM Maths, and click Search.

    4. This search returns all the help topics that contain both the words “DTM” and “Maths”. The topics that contain the most occurrences of these words are ranked higher in the list.

  4. Click the topic that is ranked 2 in the list, DTM Maths.

    5. You can do a phrase search by enclosing your search in quotation marks.

  5. Type “String Maths”(including the quotation marks) in the Search box, and click Search.

    6. This search returns all the help topics that contain exact phrase “String Maths”.

  6. Click the topic that is ranked 1 in the list, String Maths.
  7. You can see the text “String Maths” is highlighted.

Tutorials

Tutorials are designed to teach you how specific functions work within a practical, task-based environment, by working through exercises using a specific dataset.

Surpac tutorials are available through the tutorials profile. When you install the software from the DVD, the tutorials are installed to the following folder location:

<shared_files>\demo_data\tutorials

where <shared_files> is the folder where the Surpac shared files are installed.

Each directory contains a tutorial in PDF format, as well as a data directory containing the files required to perform the exercises outlined in the tutorial.

Task: Access the tutorials profile

  1. Right-click in the blank area to the right of the main menus.
  2. From the shortcut menu, choose Profiles > tutorials.

    3. A set of menus for the tutorials are displayed.

To view the tutorials or run the macros for the tutorials, you must first click the menu item to change the directory to your chosen tutorial.

You can then either view the tutorial document as a PDF or run the macros that appear in the tutorial.

Internet download

You can also download the complete set of tutorials.

  1. In your web browser, type http://www.GEOVIAsupport.com.
  2. Log in to the GEOVIA support site.
  3. Click Downloads.
  4. Under GEOVIA Surpac, click Surpac Downloads.
  5. Click Tutorials.

Note: You will need login credentials to enter the GEOVIA Support site. Contact your local support office if you do not have this information.

Tip: The information offered on the support site may be more recent than those from the DVD installation.

Support

You can contact the GEOVIA support office by phone or email.

Task: Find support office contact details

  1. Choose Help > Table of Contents.

  2. In the lower left corner, click Table of Contents.

    3. The table of contents is displayed on the left side of the screen.

  3. Expand the Support book, and click Email Support.

    4. The contact details are displayed.

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