Date   : Tue, 05 Nov 2002 11:50:43 -0000
From   : "Chris Richardson" <chris@...>
Subject: Re: Which format do you want BBC manuals in? RTF/HTML

Hi

Here are my thoughts on BBC Manual format:

With any format I think there are limitations or problems.

It depends what you are after. I know that some folks want a manual to look
like the original. Whereas others simply want the information presented in a
readable format. I might, for instance, find some manuals really handy in
plain text in my Gameboy Advance. Initially this might sound daft, but you
can get a bookcase full of books into a 256mbit cartridge :-)

Years ago, I did a suvey of favourite word processors and this seemed to
elicit a lot of strong emotions from people. A very touchy subject it turned
out to be. I suspect that this could end up the same.

We need a format that is easily read on any/most machine/s and also easily
converted to other stuff when required.

I thought that rtf was a good format as a lot of folks seem to have used it
in the past. Of course I realise that just because lots of folks use it does
not mean that it is a good format.

There is the question of the format standing the test of time too. These
manuals are going to be with us for quite some time and so they need to be
in a format that is easily converted/imported into a preferred bit of
software.

Word Documents. Some folks (quite a lot come to think of it) use these. I
personally would try to avoid these

PDF seems to be favourite in this discussion so far but that is a format
that I have always avoided as it restricts you to one bit of software.

I think I prefer plain text despite the obvious limitations of no pictures.
A lot of manuals have few pictures in them

HTML works really well and done well can look very good

There are many different formats held on the 8BS website. I don't recall
anyone complaining about any in particular. Most have been downloaded many
times, including scans.

That leaves me unable to decide really as long as I can read it with the
tools I have. Ah, well, preferably not PDF though

Chris