Re: screen dumps in books

["Brierley, Sean" <Brierley -at- QUODATA -dot- COM>]

>>>
>>>     I don't quite understand why you think that the
>>>     function of screen shots in host documentation
>>>     is different from the function of screen shots
>>>     in Mac documentation -- maybe you want to elaborate
>>>     on that and start a new thread....

I don't.

>>>
>>>     > Programming wants the lines to wrap and align
>>>     > as they do on the user's terminal.
>>>
>>>     Makes sense. A screen shot should look like the
>>>     screen. And to make the WHOLE thing look like
>>>     a screen, you put a (rounded) frame around it.
>>>     This is standard procedure for host documentation.

They don't want a screen shot (I offered). They want the screen retyped
into the book in such a way that lines wrap as shown on the screen.
Besides, why need I reproduce on paper what the user sees on their
terminal under normal circumstances? I am not sure that screen shots are
of much value in helping get the message across. Why cannot I just
provide text that describes prompts and typed responses because the
typed responses is what the user needs to operate the software? To set
these prompts and responses off from regular text, I see no problem
using fixed-width fonts. Why must the lines run out to 132 characters
and wrap exactly as on-screen? I offered to make the book landscape,
which I think would accommodate the requirement pretty well, but that
wasn't wanted.


>>>     I don't see how the 4:3 ratio of the screen is a
>>>     problem: One screen shot uses about two fifth of
>>>     your printable page and leaves you about three
>>>     fifth for instructions.

132 character line width is difficult to retype onto 8.5-inch wide paper
even if I could print to the edge and use 6 point type.

>>>     PS: Is it possible that you're a little bit
>>>     frustrated and feel like a time traveler having
>>>     gone back to the stone age of computing.

Nah.

Thanks for the viewpoint. I suppose we disagree about the use of screen
captures and re-typing text screens into documentation.

Sean
sean -at- quodata -dot- com


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