Help

This information system, the Cisco Information Access Manager (IAM), is designed to give you an easily navigable framework for accessing all documentation for your system, solution, or product. The following sections describe using the IAM:

About the IAM Window

Types of Topics

Comprehensive Index (in Some IAMs)

Graphics with Hotspots and Popup Text (Image Maps)

Where Information Is Located

About the Secondary Browser Window

Tips on Using the IAM


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About the IAM Window

The IAM window is laid out so that you can easily navigate between topics, 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 for a fictitious solution. View descriptions of numbered window elements in Table 2.

Figure 1 Example of Information Access Manager Window

Table 2 Key to Window Illustration

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 Help and History. (These links may have different labels, and in some cases may be used for different topics, such as a glossary.)

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 is on 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 that you do not lose your place within the IAM.

3

TOC for navigation within a tab. The TOC changes when you click a different tab, or when you click a link that goes to a topic on a different tab.

Some IAMs have an Index link at the bottom of every TOC. Click for an index of the entire IAM. Use this if you are not sure where to find a topic.

8

Download an Adobe Acrobat PDF of the content of the current tab or the content of the entire site.

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 pane. If it is black, it is unlinked and simply a title for linked subtopics below.

A highlighted heading in the TOC indicates the current topic displayed in the content pane.

9

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5

Content pane, where the information resides.

Note two kinds of links in the content pane:

A link to another topic in the content pane looks like an ordinary link. Clicking the link switches the contents of the pane.

A link to a secondary topic is appended with a popup icon . Clicking the link opens a new browser window, offset from the current window. If the other window is already open, the topic replaces the current contents.

   

Types of Topics

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 Unified CallManager," are task topics, and provide instructions for doing something.

"Overview" or "About" topics are concept topics 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."

Comprehensive Index (in Some IAMs)

If you see an Index link at the bottom of a TOC, you can click it to view a hyperlinked index to all the topics in the IAM. Use this index if you are not sure where to find a topic that you are interested in.

If a topic appears only once in the site, the index displays the entry as a clickable link. If a topic appears more than once, the entry is followed by clickable numbers linked to successive occurrences, similar to a series of page numbers in a printed index. For example,

Visio diagrams, 1, 2

Click 1 to go to the first occurrence, click 2 to go to the second. You can use the browser Back button to return to your place in the index.

Graphics with Hotspots and Popup Text (Image Maps)

Some graphics in the IAM may be image maps. An image map may have hotspots that you can run your pointer over to view a popup description or that you can click to open a linked topic in a secondary window.

Where Information Is Located

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 a popup icon appended, 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 pane. You can click the link to view the information when you need it, and then return to your place in the main IAM flow.

Links with this symbol () are available only to people with a Cisco login, such as Cisco partners or registered Cisco.com users with a Cisco service contract Opens new window. After clicking the link, log in when prompted. A secondary browser window opens. Keep the secondary window open in order to open other links without having to log in again.

About the Secondary Browser Window

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.

Tips on Using the IAM

Use tabs to navigate between major process areas.

Use the TOC at the left of the IAM window 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 that you do not see by using commands on the View menu.

(In some IAMs) Use the Index (click the link at the bottom of any TOC) if you are not sure where to find a topic that you are interested in.