The Difference Between the Index Tab and the Search Tab

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Microsoft Corporation

Updated June 10, 1999

The Index tab contains keywords that you specify. It can contain terms for beginners and advanced users, synonyms for terms, terms that describe topics generally, and terms that describe topics specifically. The index provides users with many different ways to find topics. The more terms you provide, the more likely it is that users will locate the topic they need.

The Search tab lists words that appear only within the help topics. To find a topic, users must specify a word as it appears in the help topic they're trying to find. The Search feature will adjust some word endings. For example, if a user enters "creating" when searching the help files for HTML Help Workshop, topics that begin with "To create" will be found.

By using the Search tab, users can locate every topic that contains a particular word. This can be useful to you as a help author. For example, if the name of one of your program's interface elements changes, you can use the Search tab to locate every occurrence of the term in your help files. After you've found the terms, you can easily update them.

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