Re: Updated Glade manual in /contrib.

[Damon Chaplin <damon karuna uklinux net>]

On Tue, 2004-02-10 at 16:50, Patrick Costello wrote:
> Hi Damon, 
> 
> I have put an updated version of the Glade user manual in the following
> location: 
> 
> cvs/gnome/gnome-docu/gdp/contrib/glade
> 
> I didn't want to put this version back to the mainstream because my
> write-up is significantly different from the original version done by
> Michael Vance. It might be that people prefer the original approach, so
> before I go burning any bridges I thought I had better put this job in a
> neutral corner for inspection first. 
> 
> So two questions: 
> 
> 1. Do you think this manual should replace the current version?

Yes, I think we should replace all the old manuals with this single one.

Though there is some useful info in the FAQ not covered in your doc,
so maybe we should keep parts of that.


> 2. Do you have any review comments? The application version that I have
> access to is 2.0.0. 

Is there an easy way to view the XML file? I dumped it in place of the
old one but my yelp refuses to display some sections.


I like the structure of the manual, and the content in general (though I
haven't read it in detail yet). Here's a few minor comments:


About This Document
 
   There is a strange NaN in the copyright notice. Should it be just
   a single year?:
 
    Copyright © 2000, 2002-NaN Michael Vance
 
 
1. Introduction
 
   Should explain that C code generation is built in, but for other
   languages you may require additional packages to be installed.
   It also supports Ada code generation now.
 
   Note that libglade is preferred over C code generation for large
   apps.
 
 
5.3 Libglade Options
 
  Save Translatable Strings - deprecated. use intltool instead.
 
 
6 Working With Widgets
 
  Needs a section on widget layout with containers versus absolute
  positioning, since most new users have problems with this at first.
  i.e. uses boxes and tables, so windows can change size as necessary to
  handle different size labels in different languages.

  Selection mode - should explain use of the shift key when selecting
  widgets to select parent widgets. It cycles through all parents.
 
  Should also mention right-clicking on a widget brings up context
  menu that allows you to perform actions on a widget and all of its
  parent widgets, including selecting them.
 
 
6.1 To Select Widgets From the Palette Window
 
  Should mention holding the Control key down while selecting a widget
  in the palette. You can then add multiple widgets of that type to the
  interface. You need to click on the arrow or another widget in the
  palette to get back to normal mode.
 
 
6.4 To Paste a Widget
 
  Should mention that if you cut a widget and paste it once, the widget
  and all of its children keep their original names. But if you copy a
  widget, or paste it multiple times, the widgets have new names
  generated for them. (Glade needs to ensure each widget has a unique
  name.)
 
 
7 Finding Out More About Widgets
 
  bad link text - should say GTK+ instead of Glade?
  could link to GTK+ and GNOME API docs.
 
 
8.1 Settings Menu
 
  'Show Widget Tooltips' description isn't clear.
  When turned on, it enables the tooltips you have set in your
  interface. This can be annoying while you are creating the interface,
  so the widget tooltips are normally turned off.


Thanks for doing this Pat. Feel free to ask any questions about Glade.

Damon