A Maple help database is a file with an .hdb extension. An .hdb file stores a collection of files that represent help pages in the Maple online help system. It contains the information required to index, navigate, and search the help system. Several .hdb files providing help pages and manuals are included in the Maple software.

Read-only Help Databases

The shipped Maple .hdb files, which are located in the \lib directory of your Maple installation, are read-only files. This means that you cannot add to, remove from, or edit this collection of help pages.

Writable Help Databases

Although you cannot modify the shipped .hdb files, you can convert user-created text files and Maple worksheet files to help files, which can be integrated into the Maple online help system. User-created help files must be added to a writable .hdb file you specify. Because these help databases are writable, the help files in them can be edited or removed. These help files can also be added to the Maple browser by referencing topic names. For more information, see Overview of Creating Help Pages in Maple.

Directory Search Order

Help pages are located by searching directories in the order listed in the libname variable. By default, only the \lib directory is assigned to the libname variable. That is, initially only the \lib directory is searched for help databases.

 To view user-created help pages:

Add the uniquely named user-created .hdb file to the \lib directory, or

Update the value of the libname variable (using the libname command) to include the name of the directory containing the user-created .hdb file. Check the contents of the \lib directory to make sure you use a unique name for your database.

For more information, see View a Help File as a Help Page.

File Search Order

In a directory, the .hdb files are searched in the priority order of the corresponding repository files, that is, files with .mla extensions. To specify the priority of a repository (and hence, help database), use the march command.

The .hdb files that do not have corresponding repositories are searched last. The search order is alphabetical.

Note: To ensure that an .hdb file without a corresponding repository is searched first, you must place the .hdb file in a new directory and list the new directory first in the libname variable.