On Thursday 25 May 2006 08:30 pm, David Neeley wrote: [clip] > That said, I have held on several professional mail lists for tech > writers that the LyX approach seems far better suited for > documentation than other solutions. Entirely too much time is spent by > tech writers fiddling with layout, and version upgrades are > complicated by various style and format overrides in the documents.
Amen, Brother! > > At present, I believe that there is increasing interest in XML > authoring solutions, with a document production sequence that permits > these files to be printed properly--although "printed" these days > increasingly does not include printing. Delivery in Acrobat format is > extremely popular and is rapidly replacing printed manual production. [clip] > For example, I could easily see a separate software environment in > which samples of each of the layouts included with LyX could be called > up, with content including instructions on the various particulars of > that format. As it stands, learning the various uses of the included > layout files is chaotic at best, so seeing such sample files onscreen > would be a great help. That would also be a great help in determining > what layout files to use as the basis for any modifications desired. That would require a person conversant in every document class, plus a very good programmer. Couldn't an html document do a better job, possibly data driven. One lookup is "what you want to do", another is document class, maybe another is command/environment. It could also include all the packages you can add into your document. For instance, it would be wonderful to know that if you want your table of contents to be clickable links in a PDF, you need the hyperref package. Different people could document different packages. If someone can't find a package to do what they need, THEN they use the LaTeX tweaking program to change or create the command/environment. > > In such a situation, popup "tool tips" could easily enough show the > laTeX or LyX code required for the given feature (to list just one > example). That would also be extremely helpful in learning the most > commonly used commands. I know how to do that in HTML, using CSS, I think. Steve Litt Author: * Universal Troubleshooting Process courseware * Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful Technologist * Manager's Guide to Technical Troubleshooting * Twenty Eight Tales of Troubleshooting * Rapid Learning: Secret Weapon of the Successful Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore http://www.troubleshooters.com/utp/tcourses.htm
