You are being paid a lot of money, you have the authority to make the laws that decide the daily activities and well-being of the entire country... and working together is a challenge? This story talks about Obama and the Republicans getting together and talking about how the other is to blame for the nation's issues. It's really stupid that these powerful people can't find a common ground. They are, after all, humans. Don't we all have a baseline in common?
You'd think terrorism would pull us together. Instead, Obama and his party think it is okay to give terrorists a civilian trial, where the accused is allowed access to a lawyer. What does that mean? Basically, it means he can invoke his right to remain silent and not tell the USA anything about other terrorists. It's insane.
I'm sitting in Mount Vernon @ the Lynch Ford dealership, waiting for an oil change on the truck.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Videos as Documentation and Other Information
This link talks about using videos to explain to users how to do things. It is not a new concept - many online Help systems use videos - and I think it has its place.
My one major concern is knowing your audience. I would not want a video of a couple of the procedures I routinely do at work. I like the paper. I jot notes on it, like the password when it changes. Another place is where I unzip a file and keep track of how many files were unzipped because the procedure will add more files. Then I do the math to make sure that the number of files in my new .zip file is equal to the new files I created, plus the previous number of files. Numbers and I do not really get along because my brain - I admit this - does not work that way. I am better at manipulating words and bending them to my will than I am at math. That's the way my brain is.
Work has been extremely busy. There is a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. I did not spend more than a few brief moments working on my number one priority today because my perception was that the 'little' changes I wanted to make would not take long. They took longer and were more involved than what I could have guessed. An example was a programmer talking me through a trainer's question and explaining why his question really didn't make sense and why my initial answer to him was totally wrong. There were other things I have decided I need to do to make my help system more user-friendly and that took some of my day.
Tomorrow, being Friday and all, I'm hoping for a clean slate of nothing but working on a new end-user document (EUD) that can be included on our next cut of the software. I know the cut is coming. The subject of the EUD is new functionality and I'd like to get, at the very least, a draft included on the cut. It is just going to take time to do it.
Megan checked out 4 CDs from the NL Library. One of them was the soundtrack to the Wizard of Oz. Turns out, whoever had it last put in the wrong CD - it was a CD of Christmas songs! I called the library and told whomever I talked to about it so that they wouldn't think it was Megan.
We are playing a song at Mass called "Sing of the Lord's Goodness." Here's an awful version of it (not me on drums!)
If you listen carefully, the rhythm is similar to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five." There used to be a video here but it was removed from youtube.com.
From our Development Manager:
Something that caught my eye in one of my daily industry e-letters, thought it might give you a chuckle to start your day:
* Stop oppressing lazy people, says job center
A British recruitment agent has been barred from posting an ad for a "reliable and hard-working" domestic cleaner, on the grounds that the listing discriminates against lazy and unreliable people. A job center official said that they refused to post the listing for fear of being sued by an unreliable but angry applicant. Telegraph (London) (1/26)
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp
My one major concern is knowing your audience. I would not want a video of a couple of the procedures I routinely do at work. I like the paper. I jot notes on it, like the password when it changes. Another place is where I unzip a file and keep track of how many files were unzipped because the procedure will add more files. Then I do the math to make sure that the number of files in my new .zip file is equal to the new files I created, plus the previous number of files. Numbers and I do not really get along because my brain - I admit this - does not work that way. I am better at manipulating words and bending them to my will than I am at math. That's the way my brain is.
Work has been extremely busy. There is a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. I did not spend more than a few brief moments working on my number one priority today because my perception was that the 'little' changes I wanted to make would not take long. They took longer and were more involved than what I could have guessed. An example was a programmer talking me through a trainer's question and explaining why his question really didn't make sense and why my initial answer to him was totally wrong. There were other things I have decided I need to do to make my help system more user-friendly and that took some of my day.
Tomorrow, being Friday and all, I'm hoping for a clean slate of nothing but working on a new end-user document (EUD) that can be included on our next cut of the software. I know the cut is coming. The subject of the EUD is new functionality and I'd like to get, at the very least, a draft included on the cut. It is just going to take time to do it.
Megan checked out 4 CDs from the NL Library. One of them was the soundtrack to the Wizard of Oz. Turns out, whoever had it last put in the wrong CD - it was a CD of Christmas songs! I called the library and told whomever I talked to about it so that they wouldn't think it was Megan.
We are playing a song at Mass called "Sing of the Lord's Goodness." Here's an awful version of it (not me on drums!)
If you listen carefully, the rhythm is similar to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five." There used to be a video here but it was removed from youtube.com.
From our Development Manager:
Something that caught my eye in one of my daily industry e-letters, thought it might give you a chuckle to start your day:
* Stop oppressing lazy people, says job center
A British recruitment agent has been barred from posting an ad for a "reliable and hard-working" domestic cleaner, on the grounds that the listing discriminates against lazy and unreliable people. A job center official said that they refused to post the listing for fear of being sued by an unreliable but angry applicant. Telegraph (London) (1/26)
http://www.smartbrief.com/index.jsp
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Another Tour I won't See
Megadeth is going on tour. It is the 20th anniversary of "Rust in Peace" so they are going to perform it in its entirety. They have Testament and Exodus opening for them. The tour will kick off on March 1 in Spokane, WA, and will run through the end of the month. The dates are as follows, with tickets going on sale this Friday, January 29.
Now... the *closest* they come to me is (gulp) Indianapolis, IN. I think that is pathetic!
3/1 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
3/2 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
3/3 - Medford, OR - Medford Armory
3/6 - Calgary, AB - Big Four (Testament with Special Guests)
3/7 - Edmonton, AB - Shaw Conference Centre (Testament with Special Guests)
3/8 - Saskatoon, SK - Prairieland Exhibition Hall
3/11 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theater
3/12 - Pittsburgh, PA - Palace Theater
3/13 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
3/15 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
3/16 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
3/18 - Scranton, PA - Scranton Cultural Center
3/19 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVa
3/21 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
3/22 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
3/23 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall
3/25 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater
3/26 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Amphitheater
3/27 - Lubbock, TX - The Pavilion
3/28 - El Paso, TX - Club 101
3/30 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater
3/31 - Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Palladium (Testament with Special Guests)
Now... the *closest* they come to me is (gulp) Indianapolis, IN. I think that is pathetic!
3/1 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
3/2 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
3/3 - Medford, OR - Medford Armory
3/6 - Calgary, AB - Big Four (Testament with Special Guests)
3/7 - Edmonton, AB - Shaw Conference Centre (Testament with Special Guests)
3/8 - Saskatoon, SK - Prairieland Exhibition Hall
3/11 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theater
3/12 - Pittsburgh, PA - Palace Theater
3/13 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
3/15 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
3/16 - Baltimore, MD - Rams Head Live
3/18 - Scranton, PA - Scranton Cultural Center
3/19 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVa
3/21 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
3/22 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
3/23 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall
3/25 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater
3/26 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s Amphitheater
3/27 - Lubbock, TX - The Pavilion
3/28 - El Paso, TX - Club 101
3/30 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater
3/31 - Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Palladium (Testament with Special Guests)
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Post #500 Had to be about Metallica...
My original goal was to conclude 2009 with my 500th post to this blog. That didn't happen. So today, I reach that milestone. The purpose of this blog has been to maintain a journal of things I am interested in. I have one follower and that's okay with me. I hope that someday more will care about what I write about.
In the meantime, http://www.metallica.com/page.asp?id=600038 is the new Metallica DVD that I am definitely considering for purchase. I have some Best Buy gift cards and I can think of no better way of spending them than on this DVD. After all, I gave up seeing them on tour over a year ago because I didn't want to go by myself. I should have. I regret it. Now, Metallica is touring Europe and South America. My guess is that the likelihood of them returning to eastern Iowa in 2010 is not very high. In fact, their current tour dates on their website take them into June 2010. I am thinking that they will finish their tour in July 2010 and then take the rest of the year off before starting to work on their next release in early 2011 with a planned release in early 2012. I don't really know if that's what they are going to do or not - I have no insight.
In the meantime, http://www.metallica.com/page.asp?id=600038 is the new Metallica DVD that I am definitely considering for purchase. I have some Best Buy gift cards and I can think of no better way of spending them than on this DVD. After all, I gave up seeing them on tour over a year ago because I didn't want to go by myself. I should have. I regret it. Now, Metallica is touring Europe and South America. My guess is that the likelihood of them returning to eastern Iowa in 2010 is not very high. In fact, their current tour dates on their website take them into June 2010. I am thinking that they will finish their tour in July 2010 and then take the rest of the year off before starting to work on their next release in early 2011 with a planned release in early 2012. I don't really know if that's what they are going to do or not - I have no insight.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Movies I want to see
I want to see the following movies that will be released in 2010:
Blind Dating
Bounty Hunter
Last Song
Shrek Forever After
Toy Story 3
Blind Dating
Bounty Hunter
Last Song
Shrek Forever After
Toy Story 3
Damn Dog
This is true.
My dog D.D. (my dad named her Damn Dog) was put to sleep 15 years ago. She was a white toy poodle. My brother and I found her one day shortly before my sophomore year of high school, tied her up, and gave her cold hot dogs. She stayed around for the next 9 years.
She slept about 20 hours a day. She had her food prepared for her. She could eat whenever she wanted 24/7/365. Her meals were provided at no cost to her. She visited the doctor, once a year for her checkup, and again during the year if any medical needs arose. For this she paid nothing, and nothing was required of her.
She always sat in the front seat of the car. If she whined, she was given what she wanted, no questions asked. She lived in a nice neighborhood in a house that was much larger than she needed, but she was not required to do any upkeep. If she made a mess, someone else cleaned it up. She liked the living room in which no one was allowed to walk.
She was not punished for her bad choices. She had her choice of luxurious places to sleep. She received these accommodations absolutely free. She was living like a queen, and had absolutely no expenses whatsoever. Others who went out and earned a living every day picked up all of her costs.
I was just thinking about all this, and suddenly it hit me like a brick in the head. Holy Sh*t, my dog was a DEMOCRAT!
My dog D.D. (my dad named her Damn Dog) was put to sleep 15 years ago. She was a white toy poodle. My brother and I found her one day shortly before my sophomore year of high school, tied her up, and gave her cold hot dogs. She stayed around for the next 9 years.
She slept about 20 hours a day. She had her food prepared for her. She could eat whenever she wanted 24/7/365. Her meals were provided at no cost to her. She visited the doctor, once a year for her checkup, and again during the year if any medical needs arose. For this she paid nothing, and nothing was required of her.
She always sat in the front seat of the car. If she whined, she was given what she wanted, no questions asked. She lived in a nice neighborhood in a house that was much larger than she needed, but she was not required to do any upkeep. If she made a mess, someone else cleaned it up. She liked the living room in which no one was allowed to walk.
She was not punished for her bad choices. She had her choice of luxurious places to sleep. She received these accommodations absolutely free. She was living like a queen, and had absolutely no expenses whatsoever. Others who went out and earned a living every day picked up all of her costs.
I was just thinking about all this, and suddenly it hit me like a brick in the head. Holy Sh*t, my dog was a DEMOCRAT!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
My thought on the Terrorist in Detroit
I am tired. I am sick and tired of dumb people. I don't understand why someone wants to hurt innocent people on a plane. I don't get why he thought he'd be a hero for blowing up a plane. I think he's stupid.
Monday, January 4, 2010
WWE in Iowa!
Tonight was a very exciting night for both the WWE and TNA.
On WWE, Brett "The Hit Man" Hart made his return to Monday Night Raw. In November 1997, amid speculation that Hart was leaving for then-Monday night rival WCW, there was a screwjob ending to Hart's match against Shawn Michaels. Per the Internet, there had been legitimate 'heat' or hard feelings between the two leading up to the match. In the end, Hart lost his title and it was his last appearance in the WWE. So, tonight, Hart strutted to the WWE ring and called out Shawn Michaels. Hart told Michaels that he wanted to bury the hatchet and be friends and have closure to what happened 12 years ago. At the end of that segment, Hart and Michaels shook hands and then hugged in the middle of the ring. There was no sideways kick from Michaels and there was no backstabbing. While that was entertaining, *another* Kofi Kingston / Randy Orton match and *another* Big Show/ Jericho v. DX? Seriously? A rival company is going after you and you give the viewers matches that have been done so many times before? Serious? Foolish. I give WWE a C- and that's only because they did manage to not screw up the HBK / Hart reconciliation.
Over on TNA, Hulk Hogan made his long-awaited debut on the show, which went head-to-head with WWE. He came to the ring and announced that he was going to change the business. His former NWO cronies, from the WCW days, came to the ring and Hogan stuck to his role of being a face, or good guy. He told his cronies that this was a different time and that he was going to help make TNA the best company in the business. At the end, the WCW cronies (Hall, Nash, and Syxx) attacked Mick Foley immediately before the show went off the air. The last shot of the camera was weak, a close-up of Hogan acting as if he didn't know what to do about his former NWO-mates. Prior to that was an excellent AJ Styles / Kurt Angle matchup with a lot of mutual respect. A guy dressed in all black came out and attacked Styles and Angle fought him off and threw him out of the ring. Previous to that, Sting was shown in the rafters observing the action in the ring. I give TNA tonight a B+. The Styles / Angle match has been done before but it was actually entertaining, moreso than anything on WWE. I don't know where they are going with Hogan's persona but it does have my interest. I will tune in next week.
On WWE, Brett "The Hit Man" Hart made his return to Monday Night Raw. In November 1997, amid speculation that Hart was leaving for then-Monday night rival WCW, there was a screwjob ending to Hart's match against Shawn Michaels. Per the Internet, there had been legitimate 'heat' or hard feelings between the two leading up to the match. In the end, Hart lost his title and it was his last appearance in the WWE. So, tonight, Hart strutted to the WWE ring and called out Shawn Michaels. Hart told Michaels that he wanted to bury the hatchet and be friends and have closure to what happened 12 years ago. At the end of that segment, Hart and Michaels shook hands and then hugged in the middle of the ring. There was no sideways kick from Michaels and there was no backstabbing. While that was entertaining, *another* Kofi Kingston / Randy Orton match and *another* Big Show/ Jericho v. DX? Seriously? A rival company is going after you and you give the viewers matches that have been done so many times before? Serious? Foolish. I give WWE a C- and that's only because they did manage to not screw up the HBK / Hart reconciliation.
Over on TNA, Hulk Hogan made his long-awaited debut on the show, which went head-to-head with WWE. He came to the ring and announced that he was going to change the business. His former NWO cronies, from the WCW days, came to the ring and Hogan stuck to his role of being a face, or good guy. He told his cronies that this was a different time and that he was going to help make TNA the best company in the business. At the end, the WCW cronies (Hall, Nash, and Syxx) attacked Mick Foley immediately before the show went off the air. The last shot of the camera was weak, a close-up of Hogan acting as if he didn't know what to do about his former NWO-mates. Prior to that was an excellent AJ Styles / Kurt Angle matchup with a lot of mutual respect. A guy dressed in all black came out and attacked Styles and Angle fought him off and threw him out of the ring. Previous to that, Sting
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Bigwig & A Single Thought
It's 8:21. Alex has basketball practice from 10-11 @ the NL Rec Center. How to prep? Listen to Bigwig and lose myself...
Friday, January 1, 2010
Catching up a Titch
If life had gone the way I wanted, I would have seen Metallica play this setlist in Las Vegas on 12/5/2009 for my 40th birthday. Unfortunately, the show sold out and I did not have a ticket. It worked out okay because I was in the hospital on 12/4.
This is what I would have seen:
Metallica is playing in Europe with Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth - the Big Four on the same stage for the first time ever. If that tour makes it to the USA and comes *anywhere* close to me, I'm there!
Total Running Time: 2:09:22
This is what I would have seen:
- That Was Just Your Life
- The End of the Line
- Ride The Lightning
- The Memory Remains
- Fade to Black
- Broken, Beat & Scarred
- Cyanide
- Sad But True
- One
- All Nightmare Long
- Kirk Solo #1
- The Day That Never Comes
- Master Of Puppets
- Fight Fire With Fire
- Kirk Solo #2
- Nothing Else Matters
- Enter Sandman
- Encore Jam
- Die Die My Darling
- Whiplash
- Seek and Destroy
Metallica is playing in Europe with Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth - the Big Four on the same stage for the first time ever. If that tour makes it to the USA and comes *anywhere* close to me, I'm there!
Total Running Time: 2:09:22
Health Care Redux & Cleaning out my Inbox...
More Health Care Stuff...
I thought Laren's post below was very insightful...
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex.com@lists.techwr-l.com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex.com@lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf Of Lauren
Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 2:23 PM
To: techwr-l@lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Re: Bad Salary Omens
On 12/28/2009 8:56 AM, Pro TechWriter wrote:
> Good GRIEF. There are admin. assistant jobs that pay more than this. What
> are they thinking?
>
They're thinking that writing is an easy job and anyone can do it.
Also, those jobs are offering double the minimum wage for many states.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm
Here's a funny. Currently unemployed Californians are now eligible for 99 weeks of nemployment. Unemployment insurance (UI) pays a maximum of $450 per week and a $25 stimulus payment from the federal government for $475 per week. This amounts to ~$11.88 per hour for a forty-hour work week, but the CA-EDD requires that people accept jobs that pay $11.25 or more per hour at forty hours per week. So the jobs you discussed pay more than UI. Now, would you rather have a job that does not pay well or stay home and look for a better job while earning just under the same amount as working? If the low paying job is offered to an unemployed person in California receiving UI benefits, then that person *must* accept the job.
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/New_Federal_Unemployment_Insurance_Extensions.htm
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/Federal-State_Extended_Duration_Benefits.htm
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/$25_Stimulus_Payments.htm
Oh right, CA EDD twitters, http://twitter.com/CA_EDD.
Lauren
A great TWing link
http://www.ivanwalsh.com/2009/11/technical-writing-news-nov-27th/#more-3810
A great business article link:
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/11/how-to-talk-about-what-you-mos.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HarvardBusiness.org%29
The Myth of Single Sourcing Documentation
I thought Laren's post below was very insightful...
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex.com@lists.techwr-l.com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+phanson=quintrex.com@lists.techwr-l.com] On Behalf Of Lauren
Sent: Monday, December 28, 2009 2:23 PM
To: techwr-l@lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Re: Bad Salary Omens
On 12/28/2009 8:56 AM, Pro TechWriter wrote:
> Good GRIEF. There are admin. assistant jobs that pay more than this. What
> are they thinking?
>
They're thinking that writing is an easy job and anyone can do it.
Also, those jobs are offering double the minimum wage for many states.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm
Here's a funny. Currently unemployed Californians are now eligible for 99 weeks of nemployment. Unemployment insurance (UI) pays a maximum of $450 per week and a $25 stimulus payment from the federal government for $475 per week. This amounts to ~$11.88 per hour for a forty-hour work week, but the CA-EDD requires that people accept jobs that pay $11.25 or more per hour at forty hours per week. So the jobs you discussed pay more than UI. Now, would you rather have a job that does not pay well or stay home and look for a better job while earning just under the same amount as working? If the low paying job is offered to an unemployed person in California receiving UI benefits, then that person *must* accept the job.
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/New_Federal_Unemployment_Insurance_Extensions.htm
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/Federal-State_Extended_Duration_Benefits.htm
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/$25_Stimulus_Payments.htm
Oh right, CA EDD twitters, http://twitter.com/CA_EDD.
Lauren
A great TWing link
http://www.ivanwalsh.com/2009/11/technical-writing-news-nov-27th/#more-3810
A great business article link:
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/11/how-to-talk-about-what-you-mos.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HarvardBusiness.org%29
The Myth of Single Sourcing Documentation
FAR Saves the Day!
I thought, "What a way to end the year!"
Came into work yesterday, the last day of 2009. I downed a couple of Pepsis, opened Dreamweaver, created a new file, wrote some content, closed the DW file. Opened up RoboHelp HTML 7. File ==> Import File ==> [selected the file] and completed the process of importing the .HTM into my large-ish project. Set up the Table of Contents (TOC) entry for the new file. I like browse sequences so I went into Tools ==> Browse Sequence Editor, click "Auto-create using TOC", RH does its magic, click Ok, and Wham! RH bombs out.
Tried the same process multiple times. Same answer. Insanity began to creep in, so I decided to try something else.
I left RoboHelp closed. I thought, "Hey, I have FAR on this PC and it has a TOC editor." I opened FAR, went to open the .hhc file. I noticed there was a ~*.hhc file in the directory. I deleted it, since it was a temp file, and opened the .hhc in FAR. FAR did not bomb. I viewed the .hcc file in Notepad. It looked okay.
Encouraged by this chain of events, I closed the .hhc file in Notepad and returned to RoboHelp. I re-opened the project in RH HTML 7. I returned to the scene of the crimeBrowse Sequence Editor ==> Auto-create using TOC ==> [RH did its magic] ==> Ok.
Fixed! RH didn't bomb!
What I learned is that if you are having issues with browse sequences in RH HTML 7, make sure there isn't a ~*.hhc file in the directory. That could be causing your issue. I do know that if I wouldn't have tried to open the .hhc file directly in FAR, I never would have discovered the ~*.hhc file and I would have cursed, even though that'd be okay because I'm giving up cursing in 2010 and I still had over 12 hours to "foul and filth, filth and foul, filth", to quote Bill Cosby.
I also reached a milestone of sorts. I have long used span class = programname for all of my HTML text that I wanted to be bold. If it was a menu option, a program name, a navigation path, a field name, file names, anything I wanted to be bold, I used span class = programname. I decided that if I ever wanted to really *really* use the power of CSS and styling, I should have a separate span class for each thing I would want to be bold. I created a bunch of new styles. Right now, they are defined identically. I have a span class for menu options, for a program name, navigation path, field names, file names; all these things that I would have blindly used span class = programname for, now have a specific span class tag.
This shows all the references to programname in my files. As you can see, I am just under 30,000 changes left.
This screenshot shows the Top Ten files that have the most changes:
I am using regular expressions to make my life easier, but it is still a lot of work. The end result is that I will have better CSS and better HTML in my work files.
My personal goal is to be done with this project by Friday, January 29, 2010. I do not want it to drag out much past that because the next release of our software should be finalized prior to the end of February and I know there are going to be a lot of time-consuming projects between now and then.
Updated on 3/6/2010: Nope, did not make my 1/29/10 self-imposed deadline. This has taken a lower priority number and has settled in the back of my mind...
Came into work yesterday, the last day of 2009. I downed a couple of Pepsis, opened Dreamweaver, created a new file, wrote some content, closed the DW file. Opened up RoboHelp HTML 7. File ==> Import File ==> [selected the file] and completed the process of importing the .HTM into my large-ish project. Set up the Table of Contents (TOC) entry for the new file. I like browse sequences so I went into Tools ==> Browse Sequence Editor, click "Auto-create using TOC", RH does its magic, click Ok, and Wham! RH bombs out.
Tried the same process multiple times. Same answer. Insanity began to creep in, so I decided to try something else.
I left RoboHelp closed. I thought, "Hey, I have FAR on this PC and it has a TOC editor." I opened FAR, went to open the .hhc file. I noticed there was a ~*.hhc file in the directory. I deleted it, since it was a temp file, and opened the .hhc in FAR. FAR did not bomb. I viewed the .hcc file in Notepad. It looked okay.
Encouraged by this chain of events, I closed the .hhc file in Notepad and returned to RoboHelp. I re-opened the project in RH HTML 7. I returned to the scene of the crime
Fixed! RH didn't bomb!
What I learned is that if you are having issues with browse sequences in RH HTML 7, make sure there isn't a ~*.hhc file in the directory. That could be causing your issue. I do know that if I wouldn't have tried to open the .hhc file directly in FAR, I never would have discovered the ~*.hhc file and I would have cursed, even though that'd be okay because I'm giving up cursing in 2010 and I still had over 12 hours to "foul and filth, filth and foul, filth", to quote Bill Cosby.
I also reached a milestone of sorts. I have long used span class = programname for all of my HTML text that I wanted to be bold. If it was a menu option, a program name, a navigation path, a field name, file names, anything I wanted to be bold, I used span class = programname. I decided that if I ever wanted to really *really* use the power of CSS and styling, I should have a separate span class for each thing I would want to be bold. I created a bunch of new styles. Right now, they are defined identically. I have a span class for menu options, for a program name, navigation path, field names, file names; all these things that I would have blindly used span class = programname for, now have a specific span class tag.
This shows all the references to programname in my files. As you can see, I am just under 30,000 changes left.
This screenshot shows the Top Ten files that have the most changes:
I am using regular expressions to make my life easier, but it is still a lot of work. The end result is that I will have better CSS and better HTML in my work files.
My personal goal is to be done with this project by Friday, January 29, 2010. I do not want it to drag out much past that because the next release of our software should be finalized prior to the end of February and I know there are going to be a lot of time-consuming projects between now and then.
Updated on 3/6/2010: Nope, did not make my 1/29/10 self-imposed deadline. This has taken a lower priority number and has settled in the back of my mind...
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