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Re: Re: Text search within a documentation page?

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg90934] Re: [mg90910] Re: Text search within a documentation page?
• From: Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu>
• Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:52:59 -0400 (EDT)
• Organization: Mathematics & Statistics, Univ. of Mass./Amherst
• References: <g670lq$s3a$1@smc.vnet.net> <g69fvk$ii1$1@smc.vnet.net> <g6kc1q$k53$1@smc.vnet.net> <200807290538.BAA18237@smc.vnet.net>
• Reply-to: murray at math.umass.edu

Except that it lacks an index -- and this is no insignificant matter! -- 
doesn't the belatedly added Virtual Book" address many of the needs for 
tutorial (what you call "user") documentation?  Just the sort of thing 
that constituted the beginning of "The Book" before.

AES wrote:
> 
> I don't know what kind of blindness it is within WRI that has led to the 
> current documentation disaster for Mathematica (and that's truly what it 
> is).  The currently available documentation is not particularly bad as 
> _reference_ documentation; but it is very badly done and badly 
> structured as _user_ documentation, and could be made vastly more 
> friendly and helpful with very little work.  Great companies are 
> supposedly made great by paying close attention to their customers.  
> I've yet to see any real recognition of that in Mathematica -- at least 
> not for the kind of customers I'm associated with.

-- 
Murray Eisenberg                     murray at math.umass.edu
Mathematics & Statistics Dept.
Lederle Graduate Research Tower      phone 413 549-1020 (H)
University of Massachusetts                413 545-2859 (W)
710 North Pleasant Street            fax   413 545-1801
Amherst, MA 01003-9305

• References:
  • Re: Text search within a documentation page?
    • From: AES <siegman@stanford.edu>