John Kane wrote:
Hi Jean,
I had almost forgotten that I had written about the Guide. I went back
and had a quick look at it again and I think that my observations hold.
It is at too high a level for a Getting Started. It looks excellent
for someone who wants to start programming a few macros right away but
not for someone who has heard the word Macro that morning.
I think we do need a chapter on macros for real neophites.
We need to cater for two very disparate populations in the macro area.
Those
who have little or no idea of what a macro is, and who may have almost
no idea of what a spread sheet is versus hard core spreadsheet macros
users whose
first question is likely to be something like "MS's VBA function 'foo'
does this: Is there an equivalent in StarBasic?"
In my opinion the Getting Started Guide should cater for the first
population. The current chapter seems to be to be fine for the second
one.
I would suggest that a short getting started chapter should include only
What a macro is
How to record and save one
How to run it
How macros are stored in general. (The current chapter, perhaps with a
couple of minor changes is very good here)
How to import and load an existing macro - pehaps with some mention of
how to add a macro as a tool bar button or Menu item
A very short introduction to what StarBasic is with appropriate links to
the current chapter and other resources.
Perhaps a reference to some of the many existing macros that are
available on the net. Perhaps something like Iannz's FindandReplace
might be a good one.
John, I agree with everything you have said here, and I like your
outline. Now if someone will write it, that would be great. :-)
Cheers, Jean
