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Subject:Re: Some software types do use manuals From:"Contr Karl E. Vogel" <vogelke -at- C-17IGP -dot- WPAFB -dot- AF -dot- MIL> Date:Fri, 1 Apr 1994 17:42:13 -0500
>> On Wed, 30 Mar 1994 15:50:53 GMT,
>> "BOB, ZKO3-4/CUBE 4X49" <pezzini -at- jareth -dot- enet -dot- dec -dot- com> said:
Bob> I'm working on a prototype Online Directory Procedure (road map) that
Bob> contains a menu tree of learning paths and interactive prompts that
Bob> will funnel you to the books and chapters in which your topic interest
Bob> lies.
I had to do something similar on a Unix system when the number of
binders on my desk became unmanageable. Whenever I get a project, I
stick it in a section of the binder with the most room, mainly due to
space constraints. Unfortunately this raises hell with organization,
and with 55 or so binders, it took too long for me to find anything.
I finally solved this by numbering the binders and creating a simple
index that looks like this:
01 NIC Network Management Tools
01 Introduction to TCL (Tool Control Language)
01 Introduction to Expect
01 Man entry for reminder package
01 beav: Binary editor and viewer program
01 C-Kermit
02 IEEE Software Engineering Symposium, 1991
03 Introduction to the C17 MIS
03 Vsh (Msh), the Visual Shell
03 Enscript Font Samples
The binder number comes first, followed by a brief description of a
single tabbed section in the binder. I wrote a small Perl script called
"mkbinder" which uses a KWAL (Keyword At Line) program, and it gives me
something that looks like this:
Binder Index Page 1
Keyword Binder Entry description
---------------------------------------------------------------------
beav 1 beav: Binary editor and viewer program
binary 1 beav: Binary editor and viewer program
c 1 C-Kermit
c17 3 Introduction to the C17 MIS
control 1 Introduction to TCL (Tool Control Language)
editor 1 beav: Binary editor and viewer program
engineering 2 IEEE Software Engineering Symposium, 1991
enscript 3 Enscript Font Samples
entry 1 Man entry for reminder package
expect 1 Introduction to Expect
font 3 Enscript Font Samples
ieee 2 IEEE Software Engineering Symposium, 1991
... ... ...
symposium 2 IEEE Software Engineering Symposium, 1991
tcl 1 Introduction to TCL (Tool Control Language)
tool 1 Introduction to TCL (Tool Control Language)
tools 1 NIC Network Management Tools
viewer 1 beav: Binary editor and viewer program
visual 3 Vsh (Msh), the Visual Shell
vsh 3 Vsh (Msh), the Visual Shell
The input file is just plain ASCII, so I can mess with it using any
editor I like, or scan through it if I'm in too much of a hurry to grab
the printed index output. I realize this isn't anything new, but I
was looking for something I could do quickly, and this took about 2
days tops.
If anyone is interested in a copy of the script, let me know. Does
this mailing list have an archive site that could be used to hold the
programs?
--
Karl Vogel vogelke -at- c-17igp -dot- wpafb -dot- af -dot- mil [134.136.19.253]
Things that never happen in "Star Trek" #3:
Some of the crew visit the holodeck, and it works properly.
