Subject: Reading the docs (was Menu manager/switch problem)

[livfoss at blueyonder.co.uk]

On Wed, 12 Mar 2003 21:46:18 -0500, Ken Norris <pixelbird at interisland.net> wrote:

**********
> Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 15:00:06 -0800
> Subject: Re: Menu manager/switch problem
> From: Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com>
>
> I remember how hard it was for me to learn SuperCard when I came from a
> background in HyperCard, and years later how hard Ken, Christopher Watson,
> and myself worked to deliver one of the most comprehensive sets of docs for
> an authoring tool ever at the time, only to find how hard it was even after
> we delivered them for folks to readily find everything they needed.  With
> complex systems like authoring tools, experience is the best teacher.
----------snip
> If you plant a seed today and pour ten thousand gallons of water
> on it, you still won't have a tree tommorrow.
----------
Very well put.
----------snip 
> In nearly evry case, I'll stake my reputation on the assertion that the
> topic is covered in Jeanne's docs.
----------snip
You've put it very well, Richard. The snipped parts in this post are worth
reading in yours, and I'd encourage anyone new to Rev to read it. I
apologized to Jeanne...I'm aware of her thoroughness, too. I think I was
just too long at the machine trying to "pour ten thousand gallons of water"
on the seed.

I find online docs difficult to deal with because they cover up the work,
and I end up trying to toggle the docs off and on, back and forth, which is
time consuming. I have never had to do that so intensively before because
there was always extensive printed manuals available for HC, and I could
just leave them open to the page while I read and worked the scripts.

I do have my old PB onboard which I maybe able to use for docs reading, but
it's too slow and doesn't seem to have enough memory to run the docs.

Another alternate way would be to have a dual monitor output where I can
move the docs windows onto another monitor.

Is anyone else doing things that way?

Hi Ken

I'm going through exactly the same process as you, and like you I am an admirer of the existing docs and I appreciate the wise words of Richard - but nevertheless I'm frustrated that I miss things all the time. One difficulty about having apparently comprehensive online docs is that you're tempted to look up things only when you need them, rather than reading round the subject. I think I've said before that when I learned SuperCard (seems like a lot of years ago now), I read the whole of the printed documentation twice. Of course I didn't retain it in detail, but it put a great deal of stuff in the back of my mind to feed subsequent thoughts like "yes, I know I read about a way to do that, and maybe I can recall a scrap of vocabulary or syntax that can help me retrieve it". I have still not done this with Rev (it would be a daunting task, starting with the load on my current printer, since my very old 20-page-a-minute laser has finally bit the dust); but it might well be worth it.

Graham

Graham Samuel / The Living Fossil Co. / UK & France