A5Doc

[Chuck Mitchell]

A5Doc print

is this add-on worth the purchase???

[davej]

RE: A5Doc

Chuck,

Ab-so-lute-ly! For me, it is an invaluable tool when I want to print application documentation. I print all documentation before I deliver an application to a client. When I am wearing my teacher's hat, I have my students print all their documentation for both review and turn-in.

My own opinion is that it is as necessary as the printed manuals.

Dave

[CALocklin]

RE: A5Doc

I'll second Dave's "Ab-so-lute-ly!"

Used properly, this is also a great editing/debugging tool. Once the application is documented, you can use it to search for form names, index names, report names, variable names, etc., etc., so you can be sure to catch and review all instances of anything that you need to change.

For example, if I want to change my Inv_comp_ index, I can run a search on Inv_comp_ to find all instances of that name in scripts, field rules, etc. so I can (a) make sure my changes won't cause a problem somewhere else and (b) make sure I've covered every instance the index is used.

Going hand-in-hand with this is something that I feel many people are still overlooking. Naming is important! Here are a few names I've seen used for reports, scripts, forms, etc. and each one of them is virtually guaranteed to have more false hits than valid hits: Rep, Show, Test, Temp, Company, Date, Name, and there's probably quite a few more.

The secret to running good searches is to use UNIQUE names and the first two secrets to unique names is (1) make each name a combination of two names when ever possible (Cust_Rep is much better than Rep) and (2) don't leave blank spaces in layout names even though A5 allows it.

In many cases, leaving blank spaces in layout names allows them to be confused with other objects and text strings. For example, imagine you are searching for a form named "Customer Form", now think about how many places you have a button to call this form and the button text says "Customer Form" and, by the way, the name of the button also happens to be (you guessed it!) "Customer Form" and some of the text on the forms either says or refers to the "customer form". Now, tell me how many false hits you will get when searching for "Customer Form"? Then think about how many false hits you will get if, instead, you called the form "Customer_Form" with an underscore in it!! This seems to me to be a very simple concept that many users are ignoring.

If you agree with this and want to see more about my naming ideas, go to www.aimsdc.net/tips.htm

Now for a plug: I also have an "A5Doc_Lister" addon that really makes searches faster and easier. Yes, the documenter has it's own built-in search routine but you will find it very time consuming to run searches on 150 different reports and then do it again every time you need to check for something else. The Doc_Lister program can search all of your reports, forms, etc. at one time (150 reports takes about 15 seconds) and saves the results in a text file that the system can find and re-open a few minutes later rather than re-running your search. It's also easier to use because it's opened in a separate window so you won't find yourself closing it accidentally. It's available in a trial version so you can check it out and see if you like it. If you do a lot of development, I think you will find it to be a real time saver as well as making your changes and updates more accurate. You can find out more about it at www.aimsdc.net/Programs.htm.

Cal Locklin
www.aimsdc.net

[davej]

RE: A5Doc

Chuck,

Also, take a look at Cal's AIMS_FORMAT addin. Well worth the nominal cost.

Dave