NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/bit/listserv/sasl/4110

Text File | 1992-09-09 | 7.2 KB | 156 lines

Comments: Gated by [e-mail]
Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!paladin.american.edu!auvm!VCUMVS.BITNET!RIKARD
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.sas-l
Date:         Wed, 9 Sep 1992 11:45:07 LCL
Reply-To:     [e-mail]
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <[e-mail]>
From:         [e-mail]
Subject:      More (oh no) book stuff.
Lines: 144

Content: Commentary
Summary: SAS Publications
Release and platform: All
Name:    Pete Rikard
Mail addresses:BITNET Rikard@vcumvs Internet [e-mail]
Real Addresses:Virginia Commonwealth University, Computer Center
               110 S. 7th Street, 4th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219
               Phone [phone]    FAX: [phone]
******************************************************************

As this is not a dead horse and is an appropriate forum for discussing
access to documentation, I'll add my dime's worth here.

Having moved from A manual to my limited subscription that uses more
than 6 feet of bookshelf space, with multiple indexes to the manuals
I await the day of SAS documentation on machine readable formats.

IBM Bookmanager documents are a reasonable starting point.

 Documents are in a binary, all-platforms format. If I get a new
 CICS manual on the install tape, I can download it to my network
 (binary transfer) and use IBM Bookmanager/PC to read it. No translation
 no recompile, no nothing. Bookmanager Read exists for MVS, VM, DOS,
 AS/400, System/36, OS/2 and AIX. The production software is at least
 on MVS, VM, and OS/2 (maybe more by now).

 Manuals come on install tapes and on CD-ROM. The distribution is
 rapidly evolving as customer demands are really being listened
 to.

 As noted, you can make margin notes, personal, workgroup, or completely
 public.

 You can create a "bookshelf" of manuals. Then a search uses the books
 in your bookshelf as source. This means if you have 6 of the 12
 products available and look for "hits" on a subject, you don't
 get references to products that you don't have. Conversely,
 searching the complete set of manuals points out the solution
 to problems that can be had by acquiring some new product.

 Bookmanager produces the best output based upon the capabilities
 of the device you are using. Text only monitors get the text, simple
 graphics capable devices get the text and the simple graphics,
 high end graphics devices get the high end graphics. Color monitors
 get color, monochrome get mono.

 Newest Bookmanager is shipped as part of the CD-ROM, you do not have
 to purchase software to view the documents.

 Bookmanager documents are provided with the software (no cost) and
 can be purchased in sets. Pricing will probably change drastically
 over time. IBM has just announced new policies on manuals. It would
 appear that after Jan 1, 1993 there will be no "free" manuals from
 IBM. (They never were free, you just paid for it through the costs
 in software and hardware).

 There is linking built into Bookmanager documents (by the writer,
 as Phil pointed out, writing is hard work). This means that you
 can follow your own path through a document.

 You can place bookmarks in a document to return to later. This is the
 closest equivalent to having 5 manuals open on your desk at one
 time. I would expect the future directions will put each book in
 a separate window.

 ********************************************************************

 Costs are a big concern in any organization. If users print off
 complete manuals and then throw them away (and they do, they do)
 and they don't pay the complete real costs (they don't, they don't)
 we have a problem.

 If I have a computer lab with 20 machines and 5 copies of some
 manuals then (a) I probably don't have enough copies for everyone
 who needs it (b) I probably don't have all of the manuals that
 I need (c) someone will steal or destroy some manuals that I will
 have to replace. Let's say I purchased the set for 6.06 $124.55,
 in 5 copies, for about $625. I don't get STAT or other product
 procedure guides so let's add say 5 copies of another 3 manuals
 at $20 each, we are up to $925 and the lab has one copy of a
 few other manuals, let's call the whole lot $1,000.

 If the lab is networked (probably sharing printers) then I
 need to have a CD-ROM on the network machine ($400-500 for
 good with controller, $700-800 better). So depending on the
 cost for the CD-ROM documentation, I may be better off than
 I was before. How about a $125 a year for all of SAS for one
 platform, updated twice a year (single user). $375 a year for
 up to 32 users.

 Don't want to have it on CD-ROM?, then copy it to the server
 hard drive. Typical manual from IBM is 1 meg of storage.
 A 200 meg drive costs about $550 and should last for 3-5
 years (mean time to failure is over 8 years constant use).
 Thus I can have 100 manuals in two versions for less than
 I spend now (a lot less).

 This doesn't get rid of paper manuals. I have to have systems
 documentation when the system is down (to help figure out how
 to get it back up). I would like to have the documents as close
 to the users as possible and that may mean the same documents
 on multiple platforms. And face it, some of us can't give up the
 need to read books wherever we are.

 I personally feel that the cost of creating documentation is
 part of the overhead to producing the software. If SI spends
 $15,000,000 a year to write, edit and manage documentation then
 that cost is borne by development/maintenance. The costs for
 printing and shipping the manuals is borne by the purchaser
 of the manual. The implications of this view is that machine
 readable documentation is extremely cheap to the end user and
 paper manuals will get more and more expensive (a book produced
 in 20,000 copies may cost $10 a volume, same book produced
 in 2,000 copies may cost $30 a volume, setup in printing is
 a big cost). A CD-ROM now is cheap to master and produce in
 1,000+ volume (costs may be less than $3 per copy).

 Color is expensive to print, just think of what could be added
 to documentation if reporduction was cheap (CD-ROM).

 Machine readable documentation is accessable over distance. I can
 dial in from home and read the manual on the hard disk of my network
 server, can't read a single book at a distance of more than 3 feet.

 Machine readable documentation is accessable by the handicapped.
 Software can read documents aloud for the blind or blow them up
 to large size for the visually impaired (and do both over a
 distance too).

 Saw a cheap CD-ROM drive for $167 (new) with a SCSI interface
 at a computer show last weekend. It's "slow" 600ms access,
 but a demonstration of the decreasing cost of the hardware.

 I'm ready, are you?

Views noted above are the sole responsibility of Pete Rikard, Inc.
My university will disavow all knowledge of it (and me). Flames
should be directed to me (not the list). Money should be directed
to Florida or Somalia.
******************************************************************
 Pete Rikard                        Bitnet RIKARD@VCUMVS
 VCU Computer Center                Phone [phone]
 110 S. 7th St, 4th Floor           FAX [phone]
 Richmond, VA 23219                 Internet [e-mail]