The OS/2 operating system's online documentation includes two Workplace Shell user objects that correspond to a single Workplace Shell software class object. The "Master Help Index" user object and the "Glossary" user object are instances of the "Mindex" object class. With the Master Help Index and the Glossary, users can access online help panels which include the global attribute in their index tagging (for more information, see Customizing Master Help Index and Glossary Objects). Note that this object class only works with online help (.HLP files), not online information (.INF files).

The Mindex class is a member of the WPAbstract class, which is, in turn, a member of the root WPObject class. All of the WPObject classes are easily accessed and instantiated through the "WP Class List", provided as one of the PM Development Tools in the IBM Developer's Toolkit for OS/2. For additional information about manipulating Mindex class user objects in the Workplace Shell (such as copying and shadowing) see Customizing Master Help Index and Glossary Objects.

There are three task scenarios involving Mindex class objects of particular interest to a programmer:

• Adding index entries to the Master Help Index user object at installation time.

• Adding index entries to the Glossary user object at installation time.

• Instantiating a new Mindex class object with an application. For example, creating a product-specific master index user object during the installation of your application.

These tasks can be done with minimal programming effort.