I am a BookManager bigot.
I use Acrobat Reader 7.0 for Redbooks and other non-BookManager documents
from IBM (and others). However, I completely agree with Rob Scott's
comment: "As good as Acrobat Reader is as a 'reader' - it ain't a searcher.
Put in your search and then go and get a coffee, a Danish and smoke a
ciggy...."
I have about 2GB of BookManager documents on my desktops and on my
laptops. These are organized by operating system version (back to OS/390
V1R1 and up to z/OS V1R7), by application (CICS, DB2, WebSphere MQ, etc.),
by hardware, and so forth. As a developer of a performance product, I
don't need all the manuals that exist in any particular area, but only
those that relate to performance in some way (which is why I have only
about 2GB of documents).
When books for a new release of z/os (or an application subsystem) are
available, it takes less than an hour to download all the BookManager
documents that I need from the IBM site to my PC. Then I have what I need
instantly available for future use, organized as I want.
By having all past releases of OS/390, z/OS, CICS, DB2, etc. available,
research is very simple. For example, I can quickly find when something
changed! Question: when did IBM start recommending that 10 or less log
streams be connected to a structure? It is easy for me to look at past
releases, searching for LOGSNUM until I find the change in the Setting up a
Sysplex document. Answer: z/OS V1R3 in Section 9.4.2.3 (before that, IBM
recommended no more than 20 log streams be connected to a structure, but
with z/OS V1R3 IBM changed the recommendation to 10, and explained
why). This provides much more useful information to my users than CPExpert
simply saying "Consider connecting no more than 10 log streams to the xxxxx
structure."
While I have DSL, I find it much more convenient to have the documents
organized in a way that I like (e.g., IBM_PUBS/MANUALS/CICS/CICSV3R1) on my
PCs. Additionally, when I'm out of the office, I can immediately find
information on my laptop, with the information organized in my standard
method. I use FastLynx to keep my desktops and laptops current, so they
all have the same BookManager (and pdf) documents.
Regards,
Don
******
Don Deese, Computer Management Sciences, Inc.
Voice: (703) 922-7027 Fax: (703) 922-7305
http://www.cpexpert.org
******
At 09:19 AM 8/17/2005, you wrote:
I'll skip struggling to find a tool and install bookmanager. A turbo horde
is in order much of the time. Thanks. - Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
Of Hollis, Randall H.
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 9:17 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: 1.5 Manuals, pdf's and bookshelves
I've seen people store manuals in Bookmanager format on their own PC (not
sure if they uploaded them from CD or had magic download) then use PC
Bookmanager to search their own private turbohorde of doc. We have warp web
speed here so I just go to the IBM sites to use their Bookmanager to search
whole shelves or libraries. But, if a browser is slow, it might be better
to get hold of the Bookmanager format for the PC. -----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
Of Paul Hanrahan
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 7:26 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: 1.5 Manuals, pdf's and bookshelves
Hi,
I set up the z/os 1.5 manuals on my pc in a pdf format. I like the search
facility within the pdf format but the bookshelf search for items that span
books is very helpful also. Anyone seen a tool for searching across pdf's ?
Anyone tried writing such a tool ?
Paul Hanrahan
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