software documentation system?

William Park opengeometry at yahoo.ca
Wed Jul 18 17:18:27 EDT 2001


On Wed, Jul 18, 2001 at 08:54:00PM +0000, Will Ware wrote:
> Graham Guttocks (graham_guttocks at yahoo.co.nz) wrote:
> > A Python application of mine is now large enough that I need to get
> > more serious about writing a real manual for it.  I'm looking for a
> > documentation system that uses a single source file to produce both
> > online information and printed output. (PS, HTML, etc.) Any
> > recommendations?  I work in a UNIX environment and would prefer an
> > opensource alternative.  So far I've found GNU texinfo and also
> > SGMLtools which is written in Python, but am open to other
> > suggestions.
> 
> It's my understanding the standard Python documents are generated from
> LaTeX source. Certainly with LaTeX, you could easily generate both
> printed and on-line documentation from a single source file. 

I concur.  But, it really depends on what kind of info you're putting in
the manual.

If it's like Unix manpage, with usage syntax and options, then HTML
might be better suited.  You can print convert it to PS using Netscape.
On the other hand, if you're describing data structure, tutorial, and
other background info, then LaTeX (eventually PS) might be better.

-- 
William Park, Open Geometry Consulting, <opengeometry at yahoo.ca>
8 CPUs cluster, (Slackware) Linux, Python, LaTeX, Vim, Mutt, Sc.




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