help
queries and displays help pages in the Scilab help browser
This function is obsolete. Please use doc instead.
Syntax
help help(key)
Arguments
- key
character string: The requested help page or pattern.
Description
help opens the last displayed page.
help key searches for the key
in the table of known key ids.
- If the key is known: opens the corresponding page. Exact keys are case-sensitive:
For instance,
help typeandhelp Typeopen two different pages. - Otherwise: calls
apropos(key)that lists all pages including the given case-insensitivekey, and opens the first page listed. The listed pages are ranked according to the frequency of the key occurrences in the page. The list entries are sorted by decreasing rank. In thekey, any space or "|" character is considered as a sub-key separator. Each page including at least one subkey matches the query. For instance,help "linear sparse"will list all pages including any of the "linear" or "sparse" terms. Pages including both terms are at the top of the list.
 | A preferences option can be activated by Scilab's newcomers coming from Octave or
Matlab languages, in the General => Help and demos preferences
pannel:
If the Redirect Matlab terms to closest Scilab equivalent
option is checked, then help queries matching no Scilab reserved
keyword but matching a known Matlab/Octave item are automatically redirected
to the equivalent Scilab feature and page. |
Menus
| Language : | chooses the language of the displayed pages and left summary tree, among main supported ones. The current page is immediately updated for the chosen language. The chosen language is recorded for any forthcoming usage of the browser. The language used for the menus labels of the help browser is not changed. |
|---|---|
| Online : | See this page online: Tries to open the web browser and targets the current page on the https://help.scilab.org web site, for the current Scilab version and the current help language. A working internet connection is required. If the current page is from an external module or is a summary page, the action is impossible and canceled, and a warning messagebox is displayed. |
| Issues : | Tries to open the web browser, and searches on the https://gitlab.com/scilab/scilab/-/issues web site reports of issues declared about the item of the current page. A working internet connection is required. If the current page is from an external module or is a summary page, the action is impossible and canceled, and a warning messagebox is displayed. |
Contextual menu
Other interactive features
The focus is on the displayed page:
| CTRL F : | open a search field (inside the page) at the bottom of the browser. |
|---|---|
| CTRL mouse wheel : | Zoom in/out the page's content. |
| CTRL + : | Zoom in |
| CTRL - : | Zoom out |
| CTRL W : | closes the browser |
close help closes the help browser.
See man for more explanation on how to write new help pages .
Examples
help help type help Type help plot3d help 6.1.1 // lists all pages whose history shows 6.1.1 help "linear sparse"
See also
- apropos — searches keywords in Scilab help
- head_comments — display Scilab function header comments
- Scilab documentation format — on line help XML file description format
History
| Version | Description |
| 6.1.1 |
|
| 2025.0.0 | Tagged obsolete and will be removed in 2026.0.0. |
| Report an issue | ||
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