A good example on how not write HTML based help files would be microsofts VB
6 help files. They are completely unusable.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Aaron Ardiri [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Monday, June 28, 1999 10:14 AM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Petition: keep docs in PDF
>
> On Mon, 28 Jun 1999, Christian Vandendorpe wrote:
> > This subject comes back every once in a while. IMHO the best format
> > for online docs is PDF, I'm glad Palm saw the benefits of this and
> > went this way. I wish more companies realized that HTML is NOT a
> > good format for online documentation and would go the PDF road
> > instead. Navigating anything bigger than a few pages in HTML is
> > a nightmare. Always scrolling up and down, and then back up to
> > the index (unless they use frames which is even worse). And try
> > searching or printing in HTML, good luck.
>
> well.. maybe that is your opinion.. however - i am sure a lot
> of other people may not like what you suggest.. (especially myself)
>
> first of all, if i wanted to print the docs out - i would buy
> a book. 3com hurt themselves by having a PDF version.. they
> should make money from the docs - but now everyone can download
> and in two seconds.. get a book..
>
> they are scripts (in unix) - that will print a heirarchy of HTML
> files.. (you just need to find them)
>
> when i want to access the docs, i want ONE page - not the whole
> book.. so i dont mind seeing a small .HTML file.
>
> searching? if you are using linux / unix.. easy.. "grep".. finds
> everything you need..
>
> Java does their documentation perfectly.. whats wrong with 3com
> doing the same? i have a lot of problems with the PDF - it chews
> memory on my machine - it takes ages to load.. and what for? one
> page..
>
> multi format.. thats they key.. i suggested a utility like JavaDoc
> previously.. if the headers are documented enough - you can
> generate the HTML from the code..
>
> PDF, HTML are a definate.. at a minimum.. i prefer HTML over PDF.
> smaller, easier to use (IMHO) and faster to load.
>
> my 2c.
>
> az.
> --
> Aaron Ardiri
> Lecturer http://www.hig.se/~ardiri/
> University-College i G�vle mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> SE 801 76 G�vle SWEDEN
> Tel: +46 26 64 87 38 Fax: +46 26 64 87 88
> Mob: +46 70 352 8192 A/H: +46 26 10 16 11
>
