Re: UNIX questions

Subject: Re: UNIX questions
From: Sandra Law <sandra -at- qmaster -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 12:05:35 -0600

Becca wrote on Peg Bogema's behalf:

> Here are my questions:
>
> (1) Do you know what a MAN PAGE is? Our client indicated that it was
> somewhat comparable to a page in a help file, but she doesn't know any
more
> about them. I'm curious to know any details you might have.

Manpages in the context in which I use the term refers to a summary of
user commands (Command Line Interface versus the Graphical User
Interface) and their associated options. User commands duplicate (to a
great extent) the functionality of the GUI, but are input from the
command line rather than a field in the GUI.

It is best to put User Commands in a separate section, such as an
Appendix entitled "User Commands". You might provide a list of user
commands at the head of this section with very brief definitions. Then
provide a separate page (or pages) for each User Command, providing
greater detail and listing the options that are to be used with the
command. For example, you could use the following as guide for creating
a page template:

* Header - Command name
* Name
* Synopsis (list options to be used with command)
* Description (more detailed than one in list at beginning of section)
* Options (list and describe options)
* Files (any files associated with the command)
* See Also (any commands that user may also need to access, related or
accessory function)
* Example (provide an example of how the command is used)

> (3) Can one create straight HTML for a UNIX browser?
>
As far as I know HTML is HTML. With these qualifications.

Differences in display depending on platform (generally this refers to
differences in the display area in MAC versus WIN)
Browser specific tags (Netscape versus Explorer) - more and more a
problem as the popular browsers choose not to adhere to W3C standards

I would refer to the W3C to check what the standards are. I originally
created pages when I had a text-only browser (UNIX-based, Lynx) but
found the pages displayed as expected when viewed in Netscape and
Explorer.

My advice is to be conservative, i.e. go with the lowest common
denominator, if you want to ensure that your pages view correctly when
displayed on different platforms, O/S and browsers.

Sandra Law






Previous by Author: Re: Stalking the 'feral' tech writer
Next by Author: Re: Large Document Software Tools Recommendations
Previous by Thread: Re: Fwd: Unix questions
Next by Thread: Re: Fwd: Unix questions


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads