About the IAM Window
This information system, the Cisco Information Access Manager (IAM), is designed to give you an easily-navigable portal to all documentation for your system, solution, or product. The following sections describe using the IAM:
•Comprehensive Index (in some IAMs)
•Graphics with Hotspots and Popup Text (Image Maps)
•About the Secondary Browser Window
Note Please make sure your browser does not block popup windows for this site. If a popup link fails to open, check your browser settings. Alternatively, press Ctrl when you click the link to override your browser's settings.
The IAM window is laid out so that you can navigate easily between topic areas, drill down to get detailed information, and directly access product and platform documentation, without ever losing your place or having to cope with a complex hierarchy of windows.
Figure 1 shows an example of an IAM window. View descriptions of numbered screen elements in Table 1.
Figure 1 Example of Information Access Manager Window
1 |
Cisco logo. Click to go to Cisco Systems home page, replacing the IAM in the browser (the Back button takes you back to the IAM window). |
6 |
Access-from-anywhere links to Using This System and Revision History. (These may have different titles.) |
2 |
Tabs for global navigation between processes or other major categories. Click a tab to go to the home page for that tab. The table of contents (TOC) changes, showing topics specific to that tab. In the first content pane for a tab, you are shown an overview of what's in the tab and the tasks and concepts covered. |
7 |
Search box: Use to search all of Cisco.com, not specifically this IAM. Search list appears in a new window so you don't lose your place here. |
3 |
TOC for navigation within a tab. The TOC changes when you click a different tab. Some IAMs have an Index link at the bottom of every tab. Click for an index for the entire IAM. Use this if you aren't sure where to find a topic. |
8 |
Download Adobe Acrobat PDF of content of this tab or entire site content
Note |
4 |
Main heading in a TOC, such as "Performing a System Upgrade". If the heading is blue, it is a link that goes to a topic in the content area. If it is black, it is unlinked and simply a title for linked subtopics below. A highlight in the TOC indicates the current topic displayed in the content pane. |
9 |
GIVE US FEEDBACK: Click to go the Feedback form at the bottom of the page. [do not use for alpha feedback, please use the Livelink discussion mailer columbusdocfeedback@elink.cisco.com.] |
5 |
Content pane, where the information resides. Note two kinds of links in the content pane:
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When you see a reference to a topic, you can tell what type of topic it is by its name:
•"Doing" topics, such as "Installing the Cisco CallManager", are task topics, and provide instructions for doing something.
•"Overview" or "About" topics are concepts to help you understand and plan your deployment and carry out tasks knowledgeably.
Some tabs may group topics under headings such as "Planning Concepts" and "Planning Tasks."
If you see an Index link at the bottom of the TOC, you can click it to view a hyperlinked index to all the topics in the IAM. Use this if you aren't sure where to find a topic you are interested in.
Some graphics in the IAM may be image maps. An image map may have hotspots you can run your pointer over to view a popup description or click to open a linked topic in a secondary window.
Cisco systems and solutions encompass a range of products and technologies, and their documentation encompasses information that may reside in several locations:
•Overviews and high-level process and procedure information specific to your solution or system are included directly in the IAM.
•Product and technology overviews, detailed requirements, task details, and other more generic topics are located outside the IAM. These topics have the appearance of standard Cisco documentation with which you may already be familiar. Links to these topics appear with the popup icon
, for example, Installing the Cisco Unified CallManager
. This means that clicking the link opens the topic in a new, secondary browser window offset from the current window, rather than replacing the current topic in the content area of the current window. You can click to view the information when you need it, and then return to your place in the main IAM flow.
When a topic like Installing the Cisco Unified CallManager
opens in a new, secondary browser window, that window stays open until you close it. (Click the Close button or choose File > Close.) If the window is open when you click another 
link, the new topic replaces the current one. You can use the browser Back button if you want to retrace your steps in the secondary window.
•Use tabs to navigate between major process areas.
•Use the left navigation menu to navigate to major topics on a tab.
•In a secondary popup window:
–When you are done with the window, click the Close button to close it. (It does not close automatically.)
–You can go back to a previous topic by right-clicking and choosing Back.
–You can view normal browser toolbars, the address bar, and any other browser items you don't see by using commands on the View menu.
•(In some IAMs) Use the Index (click the link at the bottom of any tab) if you aren't sure where to find a topic you are interested in.
