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Subject:FW: On line vs hard copy From:"Glaser, Phil" <P -dot- Glaser -at- DIALOGIC -dot- COM> Date:Sun, 15 Jun 1997 10:12:23 -0400
>
>My apologies if this has been chewed on and regurgitated (which makes it
>kosher if it also splits a hoof), but contientious lurking here for some
>time made me feel that hard copy documentation is going the way of dinosaurs
>to be replaced by online.
>Should this become a thread , I promise to summarize and post. If already
>beaten to death, could someone point me to a proper reference?
>
>[Glaser, Phil]
>I'm all for this becoming a thread. It is a hot issue in my shop right now.
>We try to "single source" everything, which means that we write hard copy
>with a doc-to-help template and it then gets transformed into HLP and PDF,
>the latter of whcih the customer can print. The customer can also order the
>bound hard copy from my company separately. This approach works fairly easily
>because with few exceptions we do not do context sensitive help (we document
>APIs and programmer's guides). I am beginning to feel very strongly, however,
>that the design requirements of hard copy and online help systems are
>different enough that they really ought to be addressed as separate animals.
>As to whether we should or should ot do hard copy, the simple answer is -- go
>out and ask your customers. My guess is that mostof them will tell you they
>prefer hard copy. But every audience is different.
>
>Regards,
>
>Phil Glaser
>
>
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