help hsearch dialog: hsearch
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Title
[R] hsearch -- Search help files
Syntax
hsearch word(s)
hsearch word(s), build
hsearch, build
Description
hsearch word(s) searches the help files for word(s) and presents a
clickable list in the Viewer.
hsearch word(s), build does the same thing but builds a new index first.
hsearch, build rebuilds the index but performs no search.
Option
build forces the index that hsearch uses to be built or rebuilt.
The index is automatically built the first time you use hsearch, and
it is automatically rebuilt if you have recently installed an
ado-file update by using update; see [R] update. Thus the build
option is rarely specified.
You should specify build if you have recently installed user-written
ado-files by using net install (see [R] net) or ssc (see [R] ssc), or
if you have recently updated any of your own help files.
Remarks
Remarks are presented under the following headings:
Using hsearch
Alternatives to hsearch
Recommendations
How hsearch works
Using hsearch
You use hsearch to find help for commands and features installed on your
computer. If you wanted to find commands related to Mills' ratio, you
would type
. hsearch Mills' ratio
You could just as well type
. hsearch Mill's ratio
or type any of
. hsearch Mills ratio
. hsearch mills ratio
or even
. hsearch ratio mills
because word order, capitalization, and punctuation do not matter.
Alternatives to hsearch
Alternatives to hsearch are search and findit:
. search mills ratio
. findit mills ratio
search, like hsearch, searches commands already installed on your
computer. search searches the keywords; hsearch searches the help files
themselves. Hence, hsearch usually finds everything that search finds
and more. The fewer things that search finds should be more relevant.
findit searches keywords just as search does, but findit searches the web
as well as your computer and so may find commands that you might wish to
install.
Recommendations
o In general, hsearch is better than search. hsearch finds more and
better organizes the list of what it finds.
o When you know that Stata can do what you are looking for but you
cannot remember the command name or when you know that you
installed a relevant user-written package, use hsearch.
o When you are unsure whether Stata can do a certain task, use
hsearch first and then use findit.
How hsearch works
hsearch searches the .sthlp files.
Finding all those files and then looking through them would take a long
time if hsearch did that every time you used it. Instead, hsearch builds
an index of the .sthlp files and then searches that.
That file is called sthlpindex.idx and is stored in your PERSONAL
directory.
Every so often, hsearch automatically rebuilds the index so that it
accurately reflects what is installed on your computer. You can force
hsearch to rebuild the index at any time by typing
. hsearch, build
Also see
Manual: [R] hsearch
Help: [R] search
