Re: Trends in documentation delivery?

[email@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James W Kilgore)]

David,

If memory serves me, at the beginning of each hard copy book there is a section
on standards.  What's bold, italic, etc.

This may not be a "trend" but is a historical standard for IBM's hard copy.

IMHO, searchable HTML is a "trend".  For the control freaks PDF is the mode de
jour.

I'm sure it doesn't really matter, but I lean towards HTML and let it format on
the fly.  Full screen or window, it fits.  I like visiting a site that displays 
a
TOC and I can click at any point and wherever I'm at I can choose back/next/TOC
(maybe search) and read at will.

I've never set up a PDF "book" so I've no cause for comment, but I've set up 
HTML
60 file "pages" and although it is a setup headache it is easier on the user.
AFAIK, it's the ease of use that is the objective of the goal.  If we can get
both ease of setup and ease of use we have reached nirvana! ;-)

James W. Kilgore
email@James-W-Kilgore.com


> >Does anyone know what style guidelines IBM follows for hardcopy
> >documentation?  For example, fonts for keys a user types, information a
> >user types (on a command line or parameter line) and so on.  What is the
> >style usage for bolding, italicizing, quotation marks?  What style is
> >used when referencing a field name or menu option in text?
>

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