Topic: Wishlist - PDF Manual

[Al]

Would like to see a good PDF manual written for FilePro.  The earlier versions on floppy had a printed manual that came with the program.
 
Al

[Lauren]

I was thinking of formatting our manual and making it available via cafepress's printing services. That way  users desiring a copy could purchase as many copies as they wanted/needed and have them shipped directly to any address.

Would this suffice for your needs?

[Al]

I'm wondering why it would have to be purchased?   There really isn't any "manual" for what I have now, and it's quite difficult to find answers for questions to problems that I am having trying to put my programs back together.  What is wrong with doing a PDF manual like the old FilePro 4.0 paper manuals for the versions available now. I think that this is why I'm having so much of a problem re-establishing the program to the point that is was before my computer disaster.  (Please note my posts about trying to create a "wide" report for my Panasonic KX-P2624 and processing issues in the help forums as examples.
Thanks
Al

I was thinking of formatting our manual and making it available via cafepress's printing services. That way  users desiring a copy could purchase as many copies as they wanted/needed and have them shipped directly to any address.

Would this suffice for your needs?

[Lauren]

We do have a pdf version of the manual available via ftp, however it is only updated with each new release.
I suppose in my mind the printed copy would be of value because it would be bound, rather than loose paper, and you would not need to use your own printer/ink/paper.

I'll PM you the details for the FTP--if anyone else would like the pdfs  as well, please let me know

[Joe Chasan]

where is this PDF manual?  why isn't it easily found on the fptech.com website??

[Lauren]

We don't publicize it because we would rather have people use the online manual--which is updated on a far more regular basis. Updating the pdf file is much more time consuming and since there are other options, we've only made it available for users who ask for it.

[Joe Chasan]

the help-file style manual is not as useful as you think.  as many have pointed out before, its geared more to having to know what you are looking up before you can find it.
e.g. What does the STRTOK command do, versus how do i find a string of characters.

if it has to be secret, which i do not agree with, please at least email me off-site whatever ftp access info i need to get it.

[Joe Chasan]

I was thinking of formatting our manual and making it available via cafepress's printing services. That way  users desiring a copy could purchase as many copies as they wanted/needed and have them shipped directly to any address.

Would this suffice for your needs?

Lauren, there are many shareware or extremely cheap .hlp to .rtf (rich text format) converters - a first step could be to try one of those then print/save as PDF if you are only maintaining the .hlp versions.

a man page style for unix (for all the command lines only) has been on my wishlist for years - its even easier and less work!

[Joe Chasan]

oh yeah, and one more thing - when vista first came out i informed fp that there is no longer .hlp support in windows.  i quote:
"Ever since Windows 3.1, Microsoft included the Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) with new releases. WinHlp32.exe is used to view 32-bit Help files that have the .hlp file name extension. Starting with the release of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has decided to no longer include in WinHlp32.exe as a component of the Windows operating system. Microsoft made this decision because WinHlp32.exe has not had a major update for many years, and it does not meet Microsoft’s standards for all new Microsoft programs. Microsoft realizes that this may cause some difficulties for customers who want to upgrade to Windows Vista or to Windows Server 2008 but still rely on 32-bit .hlp files. Therefore, Microsoft is making WinHlp32.exe available as a download from the Microsoft Download Center."

if anyone needs this fix, which apparently microsoft no longer thinks is a good way of documenting stuff - see kb  article id #917607, complete text at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917607
with download at: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=82148

[gabs]

where's the PDF manual..?

[Bill Randall]

If you email support@fptech.com they can email you a copy.