Can anyone tell me how or where I can download the Directory Opus Manual v10.5.4.0? I know that the HELP file (which is really the manual) is updated, but call me old fashion, I would like to have the PDF version as well.
Thank You.
The PDF version is updated much less often. The manual does not change that much between releases so it isn't really worth printing out every new version of it (and PDF is a terrible format for viewing on a computer screen compared to the help file or web version, which both have the same content as the PDF, just more up-to-date).
This simply is not true. You just have to create the right PDF files.
Neither html nor help files have the versatility of PDF when it comes to indexing and searching of local copies.
Unfortunately, the "stuff the customers' requests, we know best" mentality kicked in some time ago and those of us who want PDFs have to whistle in the wind.
Maybe I too am old fashioned. But we are not alone.
It's mainly the (AFAIK) inability to do without annoying and (on a screen) useless page breaks (aside from kludges like specifying a really big page height) and the typical inability to have text which re-flows for different widths (though I gather it is possible to an extent) which makes me feel PDFs are a poor choice for on-screen reading vs HTML and similar formats.
It's a format designed around pieces of paper, not screens. Most people using PDFs over the other versions are using them to print onto sheets of paper.
(Maybe different when the source material was designed and formatted primarily as a printed book, like with e-book novels, of course.)
Leo, I tend to agree with michaelkenward,
Help files are generally dreadful. Minimal attempts to produce some form of form of help. However, the DOpus help is quite good and useful.
Html help is also dreadfully user unfriendly. Likely easy for the producer but I find them hopeless to use. Most contain plenty of info but poor to search and obtain what you want.
Pdf is superior. Properly indexed and produced much easier to search and find what you want quickly. Using something like Foxit you can add you own index items for often used sections.
As I see it for the one producing it - html, for the user - pdf absolutely.
In this instance the PDF document is produced semi-automatically from the HTML help, and the content is identical.
The PDF on the website has been updated for 10.5.4.0 now.
Thank you jon.
Leo,
You seem to be overlooking some important features of PDF documents:
(1) You can read them off-line
(2) If you have full Acrobat, you can comment in various ways like highlighting text, changing the font color of entries in the Bookmark column, adding text notes, etc. It is really quite powerful in that regard. This makes it simple to go back later and locate an item of text that are important to you.
(3) Search engine can find one instance of a search term and highlight it. So you can see the context in which the search term appears.
(4) IMHO It is faster to scroll and read a PDF
I for one always prefer PDFs. To such an extent, in fact, that if I am learning a new program with a big help file, I will convert the CHM file to a PDF using CHM2PDF, Help & a Manual, etc.
Homedoc
- You can read the F1 help offline as well. (I'm wondering if we're even talking about the same things here. The web version of the help is not the only version. The same text is there when you push F1 and it's a local copy, not going to a web server. All three versions -- F1, web and PDF -- are made from the same document and have the same content.)
- True, although few people have the full Acrobat and even fewer want to make notes in the manual. (Not sure how well those notes survive updates to the manual, either, but maybe they do; it's not something I've tried.)
- The same is true of the F1 help.
- The F1 help and web browsers both scroll faster than any PDF viewer I've seen.
...
(2) If you have full Acrobat, you can comment in various ways like highlighting text, changing the font color of entries in the Bookmark column, adding text notes, etc. It is really quite powerful in that regard. This makes it simple to go back later and locate an item of text that are important to you.
...
(The emphasis above is mine.) PDF XChange Editor is free. and can do much of what full Acrobat can do. Do not be misled by the prominent Buy Now button on the page I have linked. If you read the text, you will see it is genuinely free. Tracker Software (the developers) have announced the intention to discontinue their popular PDF XChange Viewer, in favour of PDF XChange Editor.