1. How to suggest edits to the manual?

I've noticed a number of places (graphics, pseudo-memory) that the Euphoria manual is rather sketchy.

What's the process for suggesting changes to the manual?

- David

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2. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

dcuny said...

I've noticed a number of places (graphics, pseudo-memory) that the Euphoria manual is rather sketchy.

What's the process for suggesting changes to the manual?

- David

I think you just started it.

That said, for those who like something more formal, you can file tickets against the manual IIRC. This might be better as it makes the suggested changes less likely to be forgotten - but _tom is pretty good at picking up changes and getting them updated ASAP anyways.

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3. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

jimcbrown said...

I think you just started it.

Thanks, Jim. Let me be a bit more specific, and say that I want to submit an updated version of Pseudo Memory, with a bit more text to explain what it's about, as well as some examples.

Do I rewrite it using Creole markup, and post that as a ticket? Obviously, it could be a fairly large post.

Or is some other markup language preferred?

Thanks!

- David

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4. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

Ah, I see.

There's markup in the Euphoria code (in this case eumem.e), so I need to make changes to the source.

Thanks!

- David

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5. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

Improving the documentation--official process:

  • Complain (loudly)
  • Allow for response using geological scale time delay
  • Write an outline of some suggested changes
  • Enter a formal ticket (to keep ideas and complaints from getting lost)
  • Write out some suggested copy
  • Add something to the wiki, and refer to it in a forum post
    • This will allow some interactive editing

You can ignore Creole formatting...I will do it for you. If you want to use creole I'm starting to establish a standard. But, best not to waste energy fussing over formatting at this time.

  • Use creole = == === to suggest some heading levels (correspond roughly to html <h1> <h2> <h3> )
    • Headings will be mostly for your own organization, the manual may differ.
  • I'm now using creole bold to define important words followed by a definition.
    • A bmp is "a Microsoft format for pixel based graphics images."
    • These definitions to be extracted and added to an index.
  • Use creole / / / / italics for emphasis.
  • Use creole <eucode> and </eucode> to enclose Euphoria source-code
  • There is no value in using \ \ line breaks. They are only useful in the final edition of the manual.

I have broken (literally) the documentation into smaller files. It will be easier to keep each topic to one small file rather than the monsters that exist now.

  • eudoc collects the small files and makes one master file
  • creole converts this text file into html
  • wkhtmltopdf converts html into a pdf

If someone wants a TeX formatted pdf then they are in charge of that project.


Example bmp

You have not been ignored but:

You know more about the bmp format than I do. Last time I used bmp format was with Windows 3 or 4. Euphoria documentation on bmp dates roughly to that era.

Since Windows 8 and Windows 9 have not been successful I was optimistic that no-one would mention bmp format.

Sorry I did not respond faster...

_tom

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6. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

Thanks for the detailed response!

But... As usual, I'm a bit confused. Isn't the text pulled from the include file source code?

I'll (eventually) get around to writing up the bitmap stuff. That's pretty straight forward. I'll probably also eventually adding some sort of pixel routine as well.

I've got a lot of issues with the writeup Pseudo Memory.

I assumed (based on the name) that it was somehow used to interface to C programs by providing "raw" memory access. All the routine names imply this: ram_space, malloc, free.

The documentation uses the terms RAM, heap and block to describe what the routines do:

  • ram_space: "The (pseudo) RAM heap space"
  • malloc: "Allocate a block of (pseudo) memory"
  • free "Deallocate a block of (pseudo) memory"

Unfortunately, there is no RAM (not even pseudo), heap, or block.

This example certainly looks like it's allocating and freeing RAM, and "do more processing" gives no clue what sort of processing might be going on:

my_spot = malloc(1,0) 
 ram_space[my_spot] = my_data 
     -- . . . do some processing  . . .  
 free(my_spot) 

Really, just about everything here should be renamed.

- David

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7. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

dcuny said...

Isn't the text pulled from the include file source code?

Yes, an include file is documented with the source-code itself. The eudoc program extracts the documentation and combines it with stand-alone files to make that monster final product.

I'll do the grunt work of editing the include file and uploading to the SCM mercurial repository.

That is why creole formatting is optional and a contributor doesn't have to fuss over what they write.

dcuny said...

I'll (eventually) get around to writing up the bitmap stuff. That's pretty straight forward. I'll probably also eventually adding some sort of pixel routine as well.

Much appreciated.

dcuny said...

I've got a lot of issues with the writeup Pseudo Memory.

'Pseudo' is for "internal" use, not 'C' memory for generic interfacing.

Pseudo memory is what makes map.e and stack.e work.

This is clever/tricky stuff that I'm not ready to start documenting...help?

_tom

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8. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

_tom said...

'Pseudo' is for "internal" use, not 'C' memory for generic interfacing.

Sorry, I should have been more clear.

I understand what Pseudo Memory is about, and (more or less) how it works.

What I was trying - apparently not very well - to say was the documentation uses the terms RAM, heap and block, but it shouldn't. There's no RAM access (even pseudo-RAM), there's no heap, and no block. Even calling the global sequence ram_space is misleading.

At a minimum, a rewrite is needed. It's probably much too late for it, but I think renaming these routines (especially ram_space) would be good.

- David

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9. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

I describe peudo memory as "tricky/clever" because I have no simple way of explaining it.

Suggest some alternative language and descriptions. Then we look at it and see if improves things.

_tom

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10. Re: How to suggest edits to the manual?

I'll work on it. I started, but got distracted by all the terms.

But - in addition to fixing the documentation - I really think ram_space should be renamed.

- David

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