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Subject:Re: chapter-based numbering From:"Virginia L. Krenn" <asdxvlk -at- OKWAY -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU> Date:Thu, 16 Mar 1995 12:13:27 -0600
Arlen has expressed my sentiments exactly and saved me the trouble of
writing them which I'd been planning to do; but hadn't gotten around
to.
IBM manages to avoid the problem described in the original message. For
example if an extra page needs to be inserted between pages 2 and 3, it
would be identified as 2.1 and so on for however many extra pages there
are. This worked fine for me.
I hope that those who are using the method described in the original post
will give some consideration to the user's point of view.
Virginia Krenn
asdxvlk.okway.okstate.edu
______________________________ Reply Separator ______________________
Subject: chapter-based numbering
Author: "Arlen P. Walker" <Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- jci -dot- com> at SMTP
Date: 3/14/95 9:19 AM
Yes, we use them to make things easier when there are changes
to the manuals. We also start numbering over again on the
first page of each chapter. (That is, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, new chapter:
2-1, 2-2, 2-3...)
This way, if there is a change to chapter 1 that affects the
number of pages in that chapter, chapter 2 does not also need to
be reprinted.
Can I say that I *hate* that practice, as a user? I know all the production
advantages of it. But truth is, it makes it much more difficult to find things
in the manual. For example, can you tell me how far page 2-3 is from page 5-2?
Even if chapter 5 is the next to last chapter in the book (which I might not
know the first few times I search the book) when I look at the last page and see
it's 6-4, it *still* doesn't give me a clue where 5-2 is.
When I open the manual to look up something, it never opens to the page I'm
looking for (what can I say? I guess I'm just cursed) so I have to scan forward
or backward until I find it. When the pages are sequentially numbered, if I find
page 110 when I need page 296, I know about how far ahead I need to jump. If I
find page 2-3 when I need page 5-2, I haven't the foggiest notion. Who knows?
Perhaps chapters 3 and 4 are short. Maybe they're 200 pages long each. So I have
to riffle through page by page until I find the page I'm looking for, getting
angrier and angrier by the second.
Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 24
