Up-to-date PDF documentation

Hi, Is there anything changed since two years ago (http://www.rebol.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/rebol/ml-display-thread.r?m=rmlFVTC) regarding PDF documentation for REBOL? Is there an up-to-date manual available for REBOL in PDF format? Regards, Behi -- Behrang Saeedzadeh http://www.koderblogz.com http://my.opera.com/behrangsa

Hi Behrang, BS> Is there anything changed since two years ago BS> (http://www.rebol.org/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/rebol/ml-display-thread.r?m=rmlFVTC) BS> regarding PDF documentation for REBOL? Is there an up-to-date manual BS> available for REBOL in PDF format? RT has moved away from PDF to HTML generated from make-doc. The core manual is at http://www.rebol.com/docs/core23/rebolcore.html and there are some other docs with release notes for some of the current View builds. -- Gregg

Hi Gregg, The problem is that I am not very comfortable at reading lengthy documents on screen and usually print out documents and read them on paper. The printed HTML docs usually have ugly layouts, etc. Any ideas for a quality printable manual? Regards, Behi On 4/21/07, Gregg Irwin <gregg-pointillistic.com> wrote:

> Hi Behrang, > BS> Is there anything changed since two years ago > To unsubscribe from the list, just send an email to > lists at rebol.com with unsubscribe as the subject.

Hi Behi, BS> The problem is that I am not very comfortable at reading lengthy BS> documents on screen and usually print out documents and read them on BS> paper. The printed HTML docs usually have ugly layouts, etc. Any ideas BS> for a quality printable manual? Send feedback to RT about it. I don't think they'll want to go back to the old way (I think Carl mentioned once that they used FrameMaker to write the original manual, and it was a lot of effort). I don't know if it would be feasible to use the make-doc source--if RT made it available--along with PDF-maker or another tool, to generate PDF from the source. Now is the time to let RT know what we want for future docs, since there will be a lot of new ones written, and rewritten, for R3. If people want to post thoughts here, on AltMe, or directly to me, I'll collect them in one place for "group feedback" to RT. -- Gregg

What would be good would be a link to a printable version of each page where the link generates the output of choice eg. html, postscript etc. On 4/21/07, Gregg Irwin <gregg-pointillistic.com> wrote:

> Hi Behi, > BS> The problem is that I am not very comfortable at reading lengthy > To unsubscribe from the list, just send an email to > lists at rebol.com with unsubscribe as the subject.

On Friday 20 April 2007 22:28, Graham Chiu wrote:

> What would be good would be a link to a printable version of each page > where the link generates the output of choice eg. html, postscript > > ideas BS> for a quality printable manual? > >

Just convert it PDF. If you do not have a copy of acrobat pro etc. I believe there are free utilities out there... At least in the Linux world. I have converted them to PDF and had them printed out and bound. They comes out nice! Also there are third party manual/tutorials with lots of examples that really help to get to know the language. For example "Rebol Programming For The Absolute Beginner" at http://musiclessonz.com/rebol_tutorial.html Is great if you are new to programming. If you already program than a shorter version: "Rebol Programming Tutorial - A Concise Overview" at http://musiclessonz.com/rebol.html is a great intro to rebol. Both written by Nick Antonaccio.

I have uploaded pdf versions of the absolute beginners tutorial and the concise version too: http://musiclessonz.com/rebol_tutorial.pdf http://musiclessonz.com/rebol.pdf I use cutepdf from http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp . It's free and it works well. Hope that helps :) Quoting Alan Crandall <alanore-comcast.net>:

Hi Nick, The generated PDFs are quite good looking but honestly compared to the old official PDF manuals, they are not as professional looking, which is not surprising considering the fact that the old PDFs are created with FrameMaker. Better than having nothing at hand, though. Cheers, Behi On 4/22/07, Nick Antonaccio <nick1-musiclessonz.com> wrote:

> I have uploaded pdf versions of the absolute beginners tutorial and > the concise version too: > To unsubscribe from the list, just send an email to > lists at rebol.com with unsubscribe as the subject.

hi all, I must say nothing is easier than reading docs in PDF, I too printed a version a while back, but even in electronic form, a well layed out pagesetting is nothing like a never-ending feed of html text... html sucks for long reads (with all the links and multiple documents), and its a hell of complicated thing to try and get downloaded locally without stray links breaking or some images staying behind... Really, still today, for many things, I still use the single file PDF even if its really out of date. i'd prefer if all of the little make doc pages made by RT and friends where compiled into one PDF by chapter (dictionnary, VID, View, Draw, 2.3 Guide, Plugin, Core changes, Encryption, other pro features, SDK, etc). Whatever tool was used for the docs, the fact that its actually created AS a page by page manual within a real pagesetting app means paragraphs and things like that will usually print out better. proper fonts are used (serif and not, where appropriate) also conventions, like chapters starting on the right page, and a real index mean its much more usefull globally. If docs are to be re-created, they should be generated in such a way that a universal, one book guide to all things rebol can be maintained alongside (or out of) a typeset version... even if that means a 100 MB manual or a reduced set of 2 or 3 smaller books (core, view, Professional extensions). at least I can search one place and find all related information. Also, relying on the net is cumbersome at some point. web sites fail, connections drop, pages move, etc... its a never ending "find the doc" game. The actual text of the original 2.3 guide was an immensely good read.. whoever wrote it, its one of the nicer tech books I have read. It only lacks a bit in the more advanced sections, but for groking the basics to intermediates of REBOL... its a must read with so many simple inline examples... Nick's docs are also very good. Maybe RT should try and find a way to reach an agreement with Nick to add them as official docs and maybe unify them under the same "look and feel" and actually include them under the RT site. (but that depends if Nick wants such visibility, obviously). -MAx On 4/22/07, Behrang Saeedzadeh <behrangsa-gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Max, I'd be happy to donate the tutorials in any way that could be useful. My only concern would be the obligation to support them and answer questions from readers down the road. (I do that as much as possible, but my livelihood is music, and that work demands the overwhelming majority of my time). I know too that others in the community are better equipped to handle deep questions about Rebol, and that my tutorials only represent a personal perspective about how average computer users can make productive use of Rebol in daily life. I'm not sure if they should be presented as official technical manuals. If RT has any interest in using the texts, however, I'd be happy to reformat according to their needs... Quoting Maxim Olivier-Adlhoch <moliad-gmail.com>: