Hi Dave, With regard to your mention of PDF search capability, have you downloaded and tried the IBM Advanced Linguistic Search Plug-in for searching enabled PDFs and across PDF extended shelves with the same (or nearly same) search quality as BookManager?
IBM ALSP is free and can be found at the URL: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24024554&myns=swgother&mynp=OCSSHJ3R&mync=R All (or most) z/VM publication PDF files as of z/VM 5.3 (I think) are indexed and can be search individually or within the corresponding extended shelf. Use Softcopy Reader to search the extended shelf (quick search). With regard to the information center, the biggest contributing factor to the organization of the content is that the z/VM library is organized using a book methodology and not broken down in such a manner that lends well to article based documentation (the information center is article based). I know those who work on the z/VM documentation are continuously improving the organization of the documentation and have the desire to improve the user experience. Just takes time with so few hands. Aside from that, there are newer versions of the Eclipse subsystem -- that drives the heart of the information -- that we continuously evaluate and migrated to. These newer versions improve the functionality and speed. This biggest benefit to producing information centers is that the content can be updated much quicker and more easily. If we can round the infrastructure bend then enables that, we might see the end of the days where to use version X release Y of a product one needs to read the release specific documentation, APAR documentation, and possibly a subsequent release documentation (all because updates are not easily made between releases or as service is release to the service stream). (PERSONAL OPINION) Some exciting functionality I'd like to see in the future involves commenting and user contributed documentation. After all, the users really know the product and what others would look for the most. If you'd like to see a newer implementation of an information center, navigate to the IBM Ration Team Concert information center ( http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/rtc/v2r0m0/index.jsp). You'll notice the organization is much different and the load time is less. Good luck with those pesky kids and have a great weekend! Michael J. Forte z/OS Storage, z/OS Language Environment, and z/OS UNIX System Services ID Software Engineer, System z Information Solutions 58HA IBM Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 2004 Raj Drive, Durham, NC 27703 E-mail: [email protected] Home office: 919-381-4739 Mobile: 845-702-7962 Fax: NA "There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-term risks and costs of comfortable inaction." - John F. Kennedy From: Dave Jones <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Date: 09/03/2010 03:13 PM Subject: Re: BookManager format softcopy Sent by: The IBM z/VM Operating System <[email protected]> sigh.....I guess this was inevitable... I'm a big fan of the .boo format and the z/VM bookshelves because: 1) they are easy to read on a typical laptop computer screen. 2) books load very fast across the Net and display quickly, mainly due, I suspect to their significantly smaller size (e.g., one IBM publication is 1.0 MB in size for the .boo file and 2.18 MB in size for the PDF). 3) the book and shelf search functions are fast and easy to use. My second choice is PDF because they are closest in appearance to a printed document and graphic art, like the railroad track diagrams are reproduced better. However, they are 1.5x to 2.5x larger than equivalent .boo files which means they take longer to download and longer for Adobe Reader to start up and display them. While you can do text searchs both inside PDF documents and across directories of them, the searches are slow and awkward to set up. Of course, they are just the thing if you want to create your own hardcopy document. My least favorite form of on line documentation is the new "Information Center" format: 1) it seems geared to producing documentation in little screen sized chunks, which makes trying to gather sufficient information on how to do complex tasks (e.g., configuring DIRMAINT) tedious at best and downright maddening at worst. I suppose Information Center is aimed for the younger generation, which seems to have the attention span of a gnat 2) It's slow to load and display information, perhaps because it relies so much on javascript, and the search function is awkward. It presents the results of a search in the left hand column, for example, but it doesn't show you what manual the found text comes from. 3) And what's with the left hand column being refreshed all the time.....not only is that very annoying, it contributes to the overall slowness of the application. So, yes, I think this creates a hardship for me......and now y'all will have to excuse me because I need to go yell at the neighborhood kids to get off my lawn....and why aren't the little buggers in school today anyway...? Happy Labor Day, too. DJ On 09/03/2010 11:01 AM, Alan Altmark wrote: > In order to reduce expenses, reduce the amount of time it takes to produce > softcopy documentation, and eliminate dependencies on > soon-to-be-unsupported internal tools (nothing to do with BookManager READ > software), we are thinking about eliminating BOOK (.boo) files from z/VM > softcopy production. > > The z/VM Information Center and PDF files would still be produced. > > Does this create a hardship for anyone? If not, no need to speak up. If > yes, details please. If you prefer to respond offline, feel free. > > Regards, > Alan > > z/VM Development (T - 13 days) > IBM Endicott > -- Dave Jones V/Soft Software www.vsoft-software.com Houston, TX 281.578.7544
