**User's Manual Help -- JVS programs: CIGAL, fScan, VSync**

====General guidelines for reading JVS software documentation====
The on-line user's manual consists of many short topic pages, organized into different chapters.  

Topic pages that describe specific commands will generally be divided in the following sections:
  * Synopsis - A one line summary of what the command does
  * Usage - A short description of the command syntax and type of arguments it expects
  * Description - A detailed description of different options and what the command does in each case
  * See also - Links to related pages

===Usage section===
**Special meaning argument words**\\
In the Usage section, some arguments must be typed in exactly as they appear, whereas other arguments are names or values that you supply depending on your particular application. In most cases, all arguments are user-supplied values.  For argument words with special meaning (that need to be entered as shown), the Usage line will show those words in a different case (usually all lower case). The Description section of the manual page should clarify which arguments are such special meaning words.

**Optional arguments and default values**\\
For most commands, only a few or no arguments are actually required; missing arguments will generally be assigned reasonable default values (sometimes dependent on other arguments specified).  The Description section should indicate which arguments are required.
In many cases square brackets ([]) will be used to indicate optional arguments. Arguments in Usage that are surrounded by square brackets (e.g. [flag]) are optional; they can simply be omitted. Most other arguments can be omitted if there are no arguments specified after them in the command, or replaced by a '-' placeholder if there are.

===Location of on-line documentation===
The on-line manual is stored in Wiki format (DokuWiki) and the master copy is kept on the JVS section of the BIAC web-site (http://fourier.biac.duke.edu/wiki/doku.php/jvs). These Wiki pages can be accessed via a web browser or directly from within the program (fScan or CIGAL). If your computer does not have Web access, CIGAL or fScan will use a local copy of the on-line manual (distributed as part of the software package) for on-line help. If you use your local help pages you should periodically download updates from the master Wiki web site using [[jvs:vsync|VSync]]. 

See Also:\\
[[jvs:cigal|CIGAL]],
[[jvs:fscan|fScan]],
[[jvs:vsync|VSync]]