Documentation Conventions

This is divided into two parts: an instruction manual and a reference section. The instruction manual contains basic information about NetMan Desktop Manager. There are instructions on installing NetMan Desktop Manager and descriptions of the first steps with NetMan. It also provides details on creating Scripts and Collections and making them available to your users. The manual section consists of the first three chapters: "Introduction", "Installation" and "Serving Applications and Hyperlinks". The subsequent chapters make up the reference section, containing information for advanced users, referential help, and details on specific topics. For example, check here for details on managing resources in the NetMan Center, Web Interface configuration or NetMan Actions and their uses.

Only the instruction manual is available in print, as it includes everything you need to know to put your NetMan Desktop Manager system into operation. Once you have installed NetMan Desktop Manager, you can access the comprehensive online help program in NetMan Desktop Manager, which contains both the instruction manual and the reference section. In addition, the web-based help is available at our Internet site and also includes both the manual and reference sections – always in the latest versions.

 

Following the installation of NetMan Desktop Manager you will find a shortcut on your Windows desktop labeled NetMan - The First Steps. This shortcut opens the online help. The chapter entitled "Initial Startup" gives you an overview of the NetMan shortcuts in your Windows environment and explains the first steps with NetMan Desktop Manager either directly or, in some cases, by providing links to the relevant sections of the online help.

 

The documentation has both a table of contents and an index of topics and keywords. The online help also has a full text search function that searches all of the chapters for the terms you specify.

We recommend reading the entire instruction manual section either before or during installation. This section is designed to guide you chronologically through the first steps with your NetMan Desktop Manager software. The reference section, on the other hand, provides referential help in your work with NetMan Desktop Manager which you can also access directly in the software by activating the Help program, or in the electronic version of the manual by using the search function.

In NetMan Desktop Manager 5 we introduce a number of new terms in describing the various software components. In some cases, these are adaptations to the latest terminology used by third party manufacturers such as Microsoft and Citrix. One example of a new term is seen in the case of Remote Desktop Services from Microsoft. Remote Desktop Services have gone through a number of development phases, and almost as many different names. With Windows Server 2003, remote applications run on Terminal Servers. In Windows Server 2008, terminal server technology is implemented as the "Terminal Services Role" and in Windows Server 2008 R2 the term "Remote Desktop Services" is used. NetMan Desktop Manager supports all of these platforms. This documentation uses the latest term, Remote Desktop Services (rather than Terminal Services), and Remote Desktop Session Host (rather than Terminal Server) – or Session Host for short – for a server with the "Remote Desktop Services" role installed.

A number of terms have also been adapted in the NetMan Desktop Manager itself. We find the new terminology more precise and more readily associated with the component they describe. Some of the original components of the program have been so thoroughly redesigned that their old names were no longer descriptive. If you are familiar with an earlier version of NetMan Desktop Manager, the following list will help you find your way through the new terminology:

 

New term in NetMan Desktop Manager 5

 

For better readability, NetMan Desktop Manager is sometimes referred to simply as NetMan.

 

Text conventions

The NetMan Desktop Manager documentation uses the following text conventions to highlight certain content:

 

Note. Designates critical information that must be taken into account.

 

Tip. Designates handy tips and suggestions for working with NetMan.

 

Definition. Designates a definition or an explanation of a specific term or topic.

 

Text formatting conventions

•Control elements

•Title/name

•User input/PC output/Example of code

•Reference

 

Notes on using the browser-based online help

For correct display of the Help texts on the NetMan server itself, the Enhanced Security Configuration for Internet Explorer must be deactivated (if you use the MS Internet Explorer). Furthermore, you should activate private browsing (Firefox: Tools) or have the browser history deleted on exit (Internet Explorer) and then restart the browser; otherwise, the browser history functions can interfere with the routing over the web server to the Help program.