Microsoft KB Archive/242971

= How To Use the Developer Support Microsoft Knowledge Base =

Article ID: 242971

Article Last Modified on 9/21/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Visual Studio 97 Service Pack 3

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This article was previously published under Q242971



SUMMARY
The Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) contains a wealth of information for all Microsoft products and technologies. This article is designed to assist users of Microsoft Developer products and technologies with using the Knowledge Base to find the information and technical answers the users seek.

NOTE: This article only applies to Developer products and technologies. The information and standards described in this article may not apply to other families of Microsoft products.



What Exactly is the Knowledge Base?
The Microsoft Knowledge Base, often referred to as "the KB," is a database full of technical articles related to Microsoft products and technologies. These articles range from "How To" articles that describe how to accomplish a specific task, to "Bug" articles that document known bugs in Microsoft products. A full description of the different types of articles in the Knowledge Base can be found later in this article under the section "What Types of Articles Can I find in the KB?"

Where is the Knowledge Base Located?
The Microsoft Knowledge Base is available to customers in several locations. Listed below are just a couple of the locations on the Internet where the KB can be found:

http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=kbinfo

http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1?FR=0&SD=MSDN&LN=EN-US.

Developers might also be familiar with the Knowledge Base on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) CD. The KB is accessible on the MSDN Library CDs as well as on the MSDN Web site:

http://search.microsoft.com/us/dev/default.asp

Who Uses the KB?
The KB is used by Microsoft Support professionals and Microsoft customers of all types, from novice to expert. The KB is a valuable resource for users of any Microsoft product or technology.

What Types of Articles Can I Find in the KB?
The table below describes the different types of Microsoft KB articles. This table applies to articles written for Microsoft Developer products and technologies:

How Do I Search the Knowledge Base?
You search the KB just as you would search any other Internet search engine. Enter the keywords or phrases that you are seeking and select the Search button. You can narrow your search by using some of the predefined search criteria. When you visit the KB on the Web, there is a link for "Search Help." This page contains useful searching tips, such as logical operators that can be used when searching. Below are some additional items to assist you in searching the KB.


 * Use Wildcards - the asterisk (*) can be used as a wildcard character. For example, if you wanted to search for all articles that started with the word "Key," you would search for "key*."
 * Keywords - in addition to searching for certain words within a KB article or title, developer support has a special set of keywords you can also use to refine your search. The keyword scheme is described later in this article under the section "Understanding the Developer Support Keyword Scheme."
 * Search by ID - Each KB article has an ID number. The ID numbers all begin with the letter Q, such as Q157883. If you know the Q number of the article you are seeking, you can search for the article by ID number. Also, if you know the Q number, you can go directly to the KB article without searching. Each KB article has the following URL:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/QXXX/X/XX.asp.

Simply replace the X's in the above URL with the proper numbers.
 * Select the correct Product or Technology - On the initial search screen, you are prompted to select the Microsoft Product that your search is about. This list not only contains products, but technologies as well. For example you might be using Visual C++ to program Collaborative Data Objects (CDO). Collaborative Data Objects can be selected from the list to refine your query. Other key developer support technologies include Active Server Pages (ASP), ActiveX Data Objects (ASO), Internet Server API (ISAPI), OLE Programming, Transaction Server (MTS), and Web Classes. Be sure to scroll through the entire list to help refine your queries.

Understanding the Developer Support Keyword Scheme
Each Developer Support KB article contains special keywords to help identify them. These keywords are listed at the bottom of each article in a section marked "keywords." Each Developer Support product and technology has a special keyword. The list of keywords is too extensive to list here in this article. However, understanding the keyword scheme can be very useful in finding the articles you seek.

The Developer Support keywords are constructed as follows:

kb[versioning information][ServicePack #][bug|fix|qfe|faq]

Keywords can be used to narrow your search significantly. For example, if you are searching for a Visual Basic article, but you want to find only those articles that apply to Visual Basic version 5.00. you would search for the following: "kbVBp500*." Be sure to use the wildcard character (an asterisk (*)) when searching.

Below is a list of some common Developer Support keywords. The best way to use keywords is to make note of the product or technology keywords you find in articles you view most often:

Also note that each type of article (as described above in the section "What Types of Articles Can I Find in the KB?") has its own issue type keyword, such as kbHowTo for HowTo articles and kbPRB for Perceived Problem articles.

