Context‑sensitive help is provided online. This means that the assistance is based on the current task you are attempting to accomplish and the current field you are attempting to complete. Sometimes help is provided on several screens.

You can obtain help by choosing the Help operation from the menu, or you can press the Help key to get help at any time. The Help key is designated in parentheses following the Help operation—if your system displays key assignments on the menu line. The key to which this function is mapped can vary. On a VT100i keyboard, it is usually mapped to the PF2 key by default. On a PC keyboard, it is usually mapped to the F1 key by default. You can also determine your Help key by choosing the Help operation from your menu using another method, and then choosing the Keys operation on the Help submenu.

Help windows for Ingres contain the menu choices shown in the following table:

To move through the Help windows, use the cursor movement keys specific to your keyboard. If available for your terminal type, you can also use the key mapped to the string‑search (FRS Find) operation to search for a specified text string within a Help window. Use the Help Keys operation to determine which key is mapped to the string-search operation.