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Subject:Re: Online or PDF? Need suggestions... From:Maynard Hogg <maynard -at- GOL -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 25 Feb 1997 10:10:29 +0900
Jane Bergen <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM> wrote:
>Within each of those categories, each
>function is described on a separate page. The function name (for example,
>SetIntegerDouble) appears at the top of the page. It has a table of
>contents and index (to look up individual function names, etc.). No
>graphics but LOTS of tables.
>I don't foresee a lot of need for jumping around (hypertext-style). Mostly,
>the users will want to find one function, or perhaps occasionally they will
>want to browse through the functions in one category.
I have here two manuals (Borland C++ 3.1 and MKS Toolkit 4.1) that
follow the Unix standard of including a "See Also" section with each
function description--a perfect example of where you need hyperlinks.
Another use of hyperlinks is to avoid having to repeat yourself. Since
we can foresee the possibility that people just might not read your
introductory material <g>, you can provide links back to it whenever
you want to use a specific term in the function descriptions. There
isn't all that much to say about integers--people who don't know what
they are shouldn't be using the product <g>--but even so you might
want links to a standard blurb about such issues as signed vs.
unsigned, sizes (16- vs. 32-bit), notational conventions (if you
support bases other than 10), etc.
--
P.S. Pressure from work means that I have to take a vacation from
newsgroups and mailing lists until March 20. Please Cc: a copy of any
follow-up. I should get around to it within a week or so. <g>
===
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