[ANN] BvG Docu

[BvG]

I didn't like the way Rev presents it's documentation entries, so I made my own GUI (like Benedict Seidl did before).

There are two parts to it:

1. A library that takes all the xml stuff out of handling the documentation entries, which makes it easy for others to make their own documentation GUI stack.
2. And there's my own GUI stack, interfacing said library.

You need to be aware that the format/structure of the files of the docu changed a bit in some Rev versions, thus the stacks (at this point) only work with Rev versions 2.7.2 or newer.
You can greatly change the way each entry is shown using the layout settings, please adjust them to match your own style and needs. Really, take a look at the settings, there's some nifty stuff there. (Some of the beta testers never touched them, and I was a bit downed by that )
Also of note should be that the stack saves on different occasions (after finishing the installation, every time you close the settings...). So it's not advised (or tested) to run it by using 'go url "http://..."'.

The stacks are located at the bottom of this page:
http://bjoernke.com/runrev/stacks.php
Direct link to my library (only interesting if you want to make your own GUI stack):
http://bjoernke.com/stacks/docslib_by_bvg.rev
Direct link to my GUI stack (includes the library):
http://bjoernke.com/stacks/bvg_docu.rev

Use these stacks at your own risk, and however you want. It'd be very cool if I could host your own docu stack based on my library, or if you would allow me to link to your version. Even if you don't want that, let me know if you use the library, that'll make me glad.
Thanks go to the chatrev fab four and shaosean for their input on earlier versions.

At this point it always seems strange for me to go back to the build in documentation (and I only did it to find bugs in my own stack). This behaviour tells me that I improved the usability for my needs compared to the existing documentation GUI.

have fun
Bjoernke von Gierke


Here end the required readings, below this line: more in depth information.


If you want to start my documentation stack every time revolution starts up, follow these steps (of course you can always just open it the usual way you open Rev stacks):

1. download stack (link above), and save it into the "plugins" folder of your Revolution installation.
2. open the plugin settings of Rev (Development->plugins->plugin settings)
3. choose "BvG Docu" from the dropdown
4. hilite "Open when revolution starts up"
5. hilite "Open as modeless Stack"
6. close the plugin settings
7. restart rev
8. follow the installation instructions of "BvG Docu"
9. "BvG Docu" will now start every time you open Rev, ready to use

How it works:
Rev's docu is stored in stacks, as compressed custom properties. My library takes these, and makes one file per entry (there's ca 1500 of them). These files are then saved to a folder, and can be directly parsed, or accessed by sending the library a command.
The GUI stack I made just adds cream and a cherry on top, especially as I don't want to look at custom property sets or xml files every time I need to know some Rev command.

BvG Docu is better then the build in docu because of these (yay for bulletpoints):

• faster
• uses less screen real estate
• only show specified entries (ie. only properties or only keywords and objects)
• history that works
• more links can be clicked
• separate view for related
• easier to navigate without mouse (at least on Mac OS X)
• much more control about what to show for each entry (don't like the summary? Just leave it out)
• more (but not total) control about font settings (size, fontname, italic)

BvG Docu has these disadvantages to the build in docu:

• no synonym search/filter
• not sortable by version or compatibility
• no reverse sort (always A-Z)
• no glossary
• no link to the pdf
• no videos
• no search stack, and thus no full text search
• fixed place for the topics list, instead of two
• no toolbar/menu integration (however there's miniMe)

Both stacks share these disadvantages:

• same data source (for example the entry for $ is missing in 2.8.0)
• not made by you, so they might not fit your specific needs

[Janschenkel]

Hi Bjoernke,

Thank you for writing this alternative - while some aspects of its look and feel are not my cup of tea, I especially appreciate the separate list field for related items, as well as the working history.

However, when I ran this on Windows XP, the 'miniMe' version crashed Revolution when I minimized it and then restored it by clicking on the taskbar. This was using Rev Enterprise 2.8.0-gm-4 on an up-to-date Windows XP. While I can't check this on other platforms, you might want to look into that - a crash log can be provided.

Best regards,

Jan Schenkel.

[BvG]

Hi Jan

I am very curious about the gripes you have about the look and feel. Could you specify them more detailed, so I could (theoretically (as I don't plan to update the stack in the near future (where was I? (ah yes: so I could...))) think about making adjustments?

I can recreate your crash, and think it has to do with minime being a palette, while having a windowshape. I am not interested in crashlogs, as I cant do anything about them anyway. However you might want to look at bug 4728 which I filed, and see if you can add usefull info to it (especially mention when/if you have tested this on the newest beta).

[bangkok]

I found your BvG Docu stack, while looking for some infos about the documentation.

Great.

i'm wondering though if it would be possible to list all the properties per object type.

From a beginner perspective (I'm ), it would be nice to be able to see all the properties that are linked to fields for instance. To learn.

Anyway. Your stack will at least allow me to do something I was looking for : to print all the commands or constants etc.

Nothing beat the paper to learn, right ?

[bn]

Hi Bangkok,

you can use the built-in Revolution dictionary to see the properties.

This at first was not obvious to me either when I was looking for a way to see all the properties.

In the dictionary type "field" then click on on the 'Type' header to sort the entries and you will find all properties related to fields sorted.

A fine way to find out about the properties of an object is to select an object in a stack (in edit mode) then choose from the development menu -> plug-ins -> smartProperties. Unfortunately the plug-in throws errors in 2.9 but still shows the properties with its values

all the best

bernd

[bangkok]

In the dictionary type "field" then click on on the 'Type' header to sort the entries and you will find all properties related to fields sorted.
bernd

Yes, perfect ! Thanks for the tips.

But still : is it possible to copy the content of the field "keyword" (in order to print it, I think you can only print the "entry" from RunRev print menu) ?

With BvGdocu, it's easy.

[bn]

bankog wrote

But still : is it possible to copy the content of the field "keyword" (in order to print it, I think you can only print the "entry" from RunRev print menu) ?

I dont know how to print all the properties at once, would be nice.
But then, I am looking things up in the documentation all the time anyways. So for me a printout is not that useful.

btw, at the time I did download BvGdocu and I liked it. Just didnt update it because I learned to live with the limitations of the Rev docu.

cheers

Bernd

[BvG]

try this while having the mouse over the list field of the docu:

Code: Select all

revprintfield the id of the mousecontrol

[bn]

revprintfield the id of the mousecontrol

this is great, I didnt know this.

putting

Code: Select all

revprintfield the long id of the mousecontrol

into the message box and move the mouse over the dictionary then hit enter prints the field

Code: Select all

put text of the long id of the mousecontrol

puts the content into the message box

from there one can copy the text and format it with a text editor

thanks BvG

Bernd

[mwieder]

! I didn't know this either ! That's very handy. Thanks.

[billworld]

Awesome! Just discovered this. Much better than the built-in docs. Thanks!

I didn't like the way Rev presents it's documentation entries, so I made my own GUI (like Benedict Seidl did before).