RE: [boost] printing documentation on A4

From: Paul A. Bristow (boost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2002-10-21 14:30:25

James Curran/MVP wrote:
> One thing you should do when using MSWord to produce HTML, is, instead
> of using "File/Save As Web Page...", choose "File/Save As....", then in the
> dialog, chose "Web Page, Filtered" as the document type.

See below for more information on this option.

And David Abrahams wrote

<MS Word doesn't really create what most of us would think of as HTML.
<What it creates is more like an HTML shell with vendor-specific extensions
<which are also recognized by IE6, and all font sizes and dimensions of the
<document are hardcoded.

<The upshot is that most of the things you expect from
<an HTML document don't work. In particular, the document will not
<respond correctly to browser window resizing or to changing your
<preferred fonts/sizes.

I am sure you are right, but I am not alone in facing this problem,
and in producing extensive documentation files (but need to avoid causing
trouble displaying and/or printing).

Agreed we want to keep it simple, but want to have basic text font, some
headings, and some monospaced C++ code sections font, and simple tables.

I hope we should be able to issue some guidance about margins for tables (and
diagrams) to reduce the risk of trouble, recommended tools - if not Word then
what?,
and also on how to do it painlessly if possible.

I had used Word 2000 but it does not to have the option of document type "Web
Page, Filtered" but in Word 2002 aka XP is it available and I have done this for
the attached file.  Does this now look OK?  Does it print OK on US Letter?

Thank you.

Paul

This Micrsoft Help text may be useful information for anyone using Word
to prepare documentation for Boost.

Word 2002 XP - Help About using filtered HTML

When you save Web pages or send e-mail messages
in HTML format with Microsoft Word,
additional tags are added so that you can continue to use the
full functionality of Word to edit your content.

To reduce the size of Web pages and e-mail messages in HTML format,
you can save them in filtered HTML so that the tags used by
Microsoft Office programs are removed.

This feature is only recommended for experienced Web authors,
who are concerned with the tags that appear in their HTML files.

If you reopen a Web page in Word that you saved in filtered HTML,
your text and general appearance are preserved,
but you may not be able to use certain Word features in the usual way
to edit your files. For example, the appearance of bulleted or
numbered lists is preserved; however, some of the Word functionality
associated with lists will not be preserved.

When possible, you should only save a Web page in filtered HTML
when you are finished editing the page in Word.
However, if the underlying HTML of your Web pages is not important to you,
you should save your files as a standard Web page.

If you will need to edit the file later, you can maintain two files:
one in Word format and one in filtered HTML format.
You can edit the content in the Word document,
save it in Word format for future editing,
and then save a copy in filtered HTML format.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: boost-bounces_at_[hidden]
> [mailto:boost-bounces_at_[hidden]]On Behalf Of James Curran/MVP
> Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 7:35 PM
> To: boost_at_[hidden]
> Subject: [boost] Re: Re: printing documentation on A4
>
>
>     One thing you should do when using MSWord to produce HTML, is, instead
> of using "File/Save As Web Page...", choose "File/Save As....", then in the
> dialog, chose "Web Page, Filtered" as the document type.  This produced a
> file much closer to conventional HTML.  Note, you'll probably want to save
> the file first in MSWord's native format, because much of the proprietary
> HTML that's being filtered out, is intended for "round-tripping" the file.
>
>
> "Paul A. Bristow" <boost_at_[hidden]> wrote in message
> news:AHEJIHEOOOBMJPAGPLIPMEAEDGAA.boost_at_hetp.u-net.com...
> > This is a very concise summary of the problem of different paper sizes and
> a
> > link to it would be useful addition in the guide to documentation.
> >
> > But I am not sure it really tells us HOW to achieve the desired result.
> >
> > I am sure I am not the only one using MS Word to create and edit html
> files.
> > My document prints OK using IE6 on A4 paper - but how do I ensure it is OK
> on US
> > letter?  (Apart from waiting for the transatlantic squeals :-)
> >
> > A tedious method using IE6 appears to be to set the paper type to A4, and
> print
> > preview every page. This revealed that even my own document's table
> would't
> > print on my own paper size!  :-((
> >
> > and then to change the paper size to US letter and repeat (more of the
> table
> > showed, but not quite all!)
> >
> > I then followed the advice in ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2346.txt page
> 2 and
> > used the suggested minimal margins for A4 portrait left & right 20 mm, top
> &
> > bottom 33 mm (landscape left and right 33 mm, top & bottom 15 mm).
> >
> > The suggested margins for US letter portrait are left 21, right 26, top &
> bottom
> > 15 mm, landscape left & right 15 mm, top and bottom 21 mm.
> >
> > Also I changed the Word Table properties, table, size, preferred width 90
> % in
> > percent (not pixels).
> >
> > Print preview of some long lines of code were still cut off before their
> end
> > without any warning except that they wrap in the Word version - but are OK
> on
> > IE6 screen display.
> >
> > After tediously reading all through the document twice, this seems to make
> the
> > table print preview OK in both A4 and US letter.
> >
> > But the proof of the pudding is in the printing.
> >
> > There must be a better way of doing this :-(
> >
> > Paul
> >
> > PS I'll repeat my kind offer to change spelling to color and center etc if
> the
> > US changes to A4 paper ;-)
> >
> > Paul A Bristow, Prizet Farmhouse, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 8AB  UK
> > [phone]   Mobile [phone]
> > Mobile mailto:pabristow_at_[hidden]
> > mailto:pbristow_at_[hidden]
> >
> >
> > >  * Peter Gerell
> > >  * Xelerated
> > >  * Olof Palmes gata 29
> > >  * SE-111 22 Stockholm
> > >  * SWEDEN
> > >  *
> > >  * http://www.xelerated.com
> > >  * mailto:peter.gerell_at_[hidden]
> >
> > > pointed us to
> >
> > > This information is primarily provided for creators of pdf/ps
> > > documents but contain some useful information for HTML as well.
> > >
> > > ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2346.txt
> > >
> >
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