> I'm open for suggestions. Obviously, you're not. In fact you're become a bit of a troll. Personally, I'm not going to wast any more collective bandwidth on this issue. The little bit of information in your PDF file would be better served as a tooltip for each button.
Larry On 10/17/07, Sunburned Surveyor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Paul, > > Your points are well taken. > > I took a pretty close look at JavaHelp. If you are a fan of HTML help > it is the way to go. I decided against using Java help because I > wanted a way to cleanly separate text from images. If I was to use a > help documentation system that didn't use PDF, I would create a simple > GUI that could display simple text and images in a logically separated > way. > > I suppose you could use HTML if you didn't care about layout for > printing, and you could put all images in separate HTML pages... > > I might be open to that idea. In this case I would be open to using > Java Help. The only thing I don't like about this approach is that > HTML really stinks for printing. So if we wanted good "printable" use > documentation we would end up using a word processor or program like > Scribus anyways. > > An alternative would be something that could produce HTML and PDF from > plain text. I think DocBook does this, but every time I think about > using it I shy away because of the learning curve. > > I'd like us to continue this dicussion. If we can figure out a > compromise that works for most of us I'll scrap the PDF help idea. > > So, does anyone have a FOSS solution that we could use to > automatically produce PDF and HTML PDF documentation from the same > plain text source? > > We could throw the HTML into JavaHelp and make the PDF available for > download to those that want a copy of the docs they can print. > > I'm open for suggestions. > > The Sunburned Surveyor > > On 10/17/07, Paul Austin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Landon, > > > > On the P.S.S. Documentation that is larger because of quality > > descriptions and illustrations is a good think. Larger because of file > > format size is not so good. > > > > Another thing is responsiveness, on my Linux box it takes forever to > > launch a PDF viewer, an embedded swing HTML viewer however is really > > fast. The other thing we should look at is the Java Help system to see > > if it meets out needs without inventing things ourselves. > > > > Paul > > > > > > Sunburned Surveyor wrote: > > > Paul brings up a good point. > > > > > > The only thing I don't like about HTML is that your options for > > > controlling layout are limited. I think it also presents some > > > challeneges in the separation of text and images, which I think is > > > important for translation. Printing HTML docs can be tricky too. > > > > > > I've done work on a simple help viewer. It basically does what Larry > > > talks about, but also includes support for images. I could use it > > > instead. But that would take a week or two of work...I'll have to chew > > > on it. > > > > > > You could probably look at the issue this way: > > > > > > Disadvantages of PDF help documentation: > > > - Size of files. > > > - External Viewer Needed > > > > > > Advantages of PDF help documentation: > > > - Exact control over document layout. > > > - Easy hard copy printing. > > > - Access to documentation from outside the application. > > > - Common document format. > > > > > > I think for something like a Plug-In I would include the PDF files in > > > the download. For something like a user or developer manual I would > > > package the PDF as a separate download. > > > > > > I guess I'm just a fan of PDF. :] It must be the graphic artist in me. > > > Still, this discussion is good, as I hadn't considered the size issue. > > > > > > If someone is willing to develop an alternative help system that will > > > be supported in OpenJUMP, I will strive to make my plug-in help docs > > > conform. > > > > > > Thanks. > > > > > > The Sunburned Surveyor > > > > > > P.S. - Larry: On my Linux system the PDF viewer is FOSS. > > > P.S.S. - Paul: In my perspective PDF documentation that is larger than > > > the actual code is a sign of a well documented program, which most > > > FOSS is not. I think there are several popular FOSS programs where the > > > help docs are larger than the code base. > > > > > > > > > On 10/17/07, Paul Austin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >> And if you need to have some pretty formatting or images use HTML. > > >> > > >> On another perspective on the issue. HTML is a fairly low overhead way > > >> to encode text. PDF files on the other hand have a lot of overhead. > > >> > > >> If we look at this one page PDF it takes up 164KB where as a HTML > > >> document with image would probably be 5kb. > > >> > > >> If we have 1000 functions in OpenJUMP with 1 page of help the PDF files > > >> would be around a 164MB download as opposed to about 2MB with HTML (my > > >> math is correct the image 3KB is shared across all the pages in the HTML > > >> with only 2KB of text that differs). > > >> > > >> Just another way to think about it. Your help files should not be bigger > > >> in size than the code! > > >> > > >> Paul > > >> > > >> > > >> Larry Becker wrote: > > >> > > >>> PDF is just a non-standard way to do help. All you have is some > > >>> text. You should just pop up a window with a text component and > > >>> display it. Don't make me open another (non-free) application to view > > >>> your help. > > >>> > > >>> Larry > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > >> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. > > >> Still grepping through log files to find problems? Stop. > > >> Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser. > > >> Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >> http://get.splunk.com/ > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> Jump-pilot-devel mailing list > > >> Jump-pilot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > > >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jump-pilot-devel > > >> > > >> > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. > > > Still grepping through log files to find problems? Stop. > > > Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser. > > > Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >> http://get.splunk.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Jump-pilot-devel mailing list > > > Jump-pilot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jump-pilot-devel > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. > > Still grepping through log files to find problems? Stop. > > Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser. > > Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >> http://get.splunk.com/ > > _______________________________________________ > > Jump-pilot-devel mailing list > > Jump-pilot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jump-pilot-devel > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. > Still grepping through log files to find problems? Stop. > Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser. > Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >> http://get.splunk.com/ > _______________________________________________ > Jump-pilot-devel mailing list > Jump-pilot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jump-pilot-devel > -- http://amusingprogrammer.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. Still grepping through log files to find problems? Stop. Now Search log events and configuration files using AJAX and a browser. Download your FREE copy of Splunk now >> http://get.splunk.com/ _______________________________________________ Jump-pilot-devel mailing list Jump-pilot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jump-pilot-devel
