[boost] Re: Serialization Menu

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-07-16 12:41:33

"Jonathan Turkanis" <technews_at_[hidden]> writes:

> "David Abrahams" <dave_at_[hidden]> wrote in message
> news:ubrih5tb5.fsf_at_boost-consulting.com...
>> >
>> > I guess this is a matter of taste. Some existing libraries have a
>> > navigation panel on the left (maybe PP is the only one), so this
>> > issue isn't really related to scripting.
>>
>> No, but frames present a different problem: it can be hard to link
>> to individual pages in the doc.
>>
>> Ultimately the ideal thing would be that the browser "thinks" it's
>> visiting an address that causes the index and content pages to come
>> up exactly as they're being viewed, but I've never seen a
>> frames-based interface that works that way.
>
> Could you explain what you mean by 'come up exactly as they're being
> viewed'? I think I understand, but I'm not sure.

I mean, you're looking at the documentation, so you copy what's in
your browser's "address" field and paste it into an email message.
The recipient of the email visits that URL and sees exactly what
you're seeing (modulo scrollbar position, formatting differences,
etc.)

> It's possible to have a library's homepage parse the portion of its
> url following '?' and load a particular page into the index frame and
> another into the content frame. This would allow, e.g., links into the
> reference documentation of Boost.PP. I'm not sure this is what you're
> talking about, though.

I think it is, as long as when we move between content pages in the
documentation the address field in the browser can be appropriately
updated.

>> >> At all events, I'd prefer constistent look of all Boost library
>> >> docs (and the ability to print them), to every author introducing
>> >> something they like.
>> >
>> > I agree completely.
>>
>> But can we agree on a look/feel that works?  Several library authors
>> seem convinced that the "usual conventions" are broken and won't be
>> satisfied unless they can stamp their own notions of usability on
>> their docs.
>
> Maybe not. But at least some of the current variation seems unrelated
> to usability (for instance, the font size for preformatted text.)
> Maybe a more comprehensive boost.css and some more templates would
> help.

I hope so.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
http://www.boost-consulting.com