Chris BONDE wrote:
Jean Hollis Weber wrote:
Chris Bonde reviewed the PDF of the full Getting Started book.
He sent his comments to me in a series of emails. I have put his
emails into a text file, along with some comments from me on a few of
his questions.
http://oooauthors.org/en/authors/userguide2/gettingstarted/Comments-on-GS-book.txt/file_view
Those responsible for individual chapters in the GS book should check
Chris's notes to see if they need to make any changes. Some comments
cover more than one chapter, so I suppose I (as the book's editor)
will need to deal with them... when I get back at the end of August.
-- Jean
Jean sent the proceeding request about August the fourth.
I was hoping that there would have been some response by now.
As I wish to learn to become a competent reviewer, I would like to
hear some feedback, good, bad, indifferent (ugly?). Without some type
of feedback how do I know if I am OK at reviewing?, Further, how would
I know what I would do as a maintainer of some of the chapters in the
book?
This would also lead to someone doing something about the mentorship
program for those of us who would like to be on one. Or are we just
going to drift?
Chris
Chris,
I'm not a competent reviewer but I'll offer comments on some of your points.
+++++++++
page 31 (45
I am wondering if an explanation of the difference between save and export
might be required in a beginning book?
++++++++++
Some sort of glossary would be a help to explain various terms: Save vs
Export, PDF tagged file, HTML vs XHTML,
objects, OLE, etc.
++++++++
OpenOffice.org has the ability to export files to XHTML. This feature is not
installed by
default. You can either choose this filter on first install or add it later
using the procedure
described above for AportisDoc and PocketWord filters. On the Select
OpenOffice.org
Modules page of the Setup Wizard, click the plus sign next to Optional
Components and
select..
++++++++++
The XHTML seems have been dropped from 1.9.122. Incidentally, the
IssueZilla folk advise that they don't hve the resources to address the
Save as HTML problems. Perhaps that should be withdrawn until volunteers
come forward.
+++++++++
Does "Most will choose the PDF format." mean that most users, or most applications or
most what. I think that you mean something like "You will mostly use the PDF document"
(also PDF format is redundant, ie Portable Document Format format.)
Also I am not sure what "Select the format of submitting forms form within..."
means. I think that there is something wrong with 'submitting forms'.
page 33 (47
++++++++
It may be true that most will choose a proprietary format but shouldn't
the emphasis be on adopted international standards or open source material?
page 36 (50 does long-click need to be defined? I think that this is the
first time that it has been used in this book. If it is defined maybe a (see
page ) is needed. I have never seen the term before using OOo.
Yes, I had never come across the term until reading OO stuff recently.
page 47 (61
Whilst trying to figure out what the "Navigator" is and what it plays with
"objects", I have the impression that it is describe a number of times in the book. I
shall stop working on this review so that I can trace such down to be more satisfied with it. I
find flipping through the pages of a PDF a bit more troublesome that a real book, where I can stick
my fingers in as bookmarks and re-read each area.
The whole thrust is towards the interplay of /click this / and /the result/. That's needed
but it would be good to have some overview of the system. I've alread made comments
along these lines to Dan Carrera with respect to his Styles Chapter. The whole
thing is tactical. A strategic view is needed.
You can also display the Navigator by choosing Edit > Navigator or by
pressing F5. or by use of an icon - I wonder at times if there are not too many
ways to do
a given thing.
+++++++++
Replace with something like this, I stole it from the Help.
OOo Calc is a spreadsheet application that you can use to calculate,
analyze, and manage data. Using the provided mathematical functions
including statistical, banking and scientific functions, you can create
formulae to perform complex calculations with your data. AutoPilots
help you to create the formulae. An extensive 'What if" facility is also
available. You can also import and modify Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
(Is Goal Seeking also available?)
This is a lot better. Isn't there some way of exporting Calc data to a
database?
I haven't explored these.
****Jean's comment: In Australia, we call ( ) brackets, [ ] square brackets,
and { } curly brackets. parenthess?
The Math Draft has number of options:
*Brackets*
/*Operation*/
/*Command*/
/*Display*/
Round Brackets
(a)
Square Brackets
[b]
Double Square Brackets
ldbracket c rdbracket
Single line
lline a rline
Double line
ldline a rdline
Braces
lbrace w rbrace
Angle Brackets
langle d rangle
Operator Brackets
langle a mline b rangle
Group brackets (used for program control)
{a}
Scalable round brackets
(add the word “left before a left bracket and “right” before a right
bracket)
left ( stack{a # b # z} right )
Square brackets scalable
(as above)
left [ stack{ x # y} right ]
Double square brackets scalable
left ldbracket c right rdbracket
Line scalable
left lline a right rline
Double line scalable
left ldline d right rdline
Brace scalable
left lbrace e right rbrace
Angle bracket scalable
left langle f right rangle
Operator brackets scalable
left langle g mline h right rangle
Over brace scalable
{The brace is above} overbrace a
Under brace scalable
{the brace is below}underbrace {f}
*****
+++
Accessing a Mozilla address book.
2) Select Connect to an existing database. Select Mozilla Address Book as the
database
type (Figure 117).
+++
I think that something should be said about what Mozilla is? If I hadnot been on this list
I wouldnot have a clue. Also, fig 117 refers to dBase
Yes and about Thunderbird, the Open Source successor to Mozilla.
pg 189
+++
How can I make a formula bigger? or smaller?
+++
Does this mean longer in length or larger in font size? Have to read the
explanation
I've had some difficulty doing this but that's not a documentation problem
pg 190
+++
Brackets are your friends
+++
pg 191
+++
Brackets with matrices look ugly!
Agreed. Square brackets look ugly when rendered, the horizontal components are
too
thick - not a documetation problem.
Chris, you have done a temendous amount of work here.
Having it all together makes it a bit overwhelming.
I hope that someone will go through your items, chapter
by chapter.
Best wishes,
Colin W.
PS I've added these comments to your web page.
