Search within an offline help topic using Find¶
Use the Find field to search for text inside any AetherSDR offline help topic, without needing an internet connection.
Before you start¶
- Open any help topic from the Help menu (e.g., Getting Started…, AetherSDR Help…).
Steps¶
- Press Ctrl+F to focus the Find field. The field has the placeholder text "Subject or term".
- Type your search term. The Next and Previous buttons become enabled when the field is non-empty.
- To jump to the next match, press Enter or click Next.
- To jump to the previous match, press Shift+Enter or click Previous.
The search wraps around: when you reach the end of the document, pressing Next continues from the top, and vice versa for Previous. A status message (e.g., "Wrapped to top" or "No matches") appears next to the buttons.
What each control does¶
| Control | Label / Purpose | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Find field | "Find:" with placeholder "Subject or term" | Type your search term. Includes a clear button (X) to reset. |
| Next button | "Next" | Jumps to the next match (wraps from end to top). Disabled when field is empty. |
| Previous button | "Previous" | Jumps to the previous match (wraps from top to end). Disabled when field is empty. |
| Find status | (indicator) | Shows "No matches" (with red border on the field) or "Wrapped to top/bottom". |
Tips¶
- Ctrl+F activates the Find field and selects any existing text, so you can immediately type a new term.
- The find operation is case-sensitive? No — Qt's
find()by default is case-insensitive, matching any occurrence regardless of capitalization. - To clear the search and hide the match highlighting, click the X button in the Find field or delete the text and press Escape.
Troubleshooting¶
- "No matches" appears even though the word is visible — The match might be inside a code block or heading styled differently. Try a broader term. The search looks for substrings, so "noise" will match "noise cancellation".
- The Find field disappears when I close the dialog — Each help topic opens in its own dialog, and the search state is not persisted. Reopen the topic and search again.