Base Guide

The chapters of the Base Guide that are fairly complete as of right
now are the following that you can find if you search the internet for
them:
Getting Started with Base (ch 8 of the Getting Started Guide), and
Introducing Base (ch 1 of the Base Guide).
    There were perhaps three other chapters as well on a server, but we
are having problems with it right now. I have these three chapters as
written for OpenOffice.org, but I am doing some extensive rewriting of
them for both OOo and LibreOffice.
     These are
Planning/Designing your Database (220K),
Data Input and Removal (2.1M), and
Data Output (900K).
     I'm not sure how much good these would do you. I can email this to
you if that would help.

--Dan

Hi :slight_smile:
The guides usually get uploaded to here first
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications#LibreOffice_Base_Guide
and then uploaded to
http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/documentation/

The 1st link is the most useful one as it also leads to 3rd party documentation.  There is an old page
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Base
but i don't think it has sub-pages or anything really useful that isn't already in any of the guides in the first link.

OpenOffice forums might be worth exploring and/or the Users List but i think the OOo is the main place that has a co-ordinating with each other about Base.  TDF has rejected the idea of having a mailing-list dedicated to Base to gather people together.  So, cross-discipline growth only happens at OOo whereas each person working on Base in LibreOffice is pretty isolated from anyone else working on it. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Hi Dan :slight_smile:
Normally we wouldn't do this but would it be good to upload those incomplete chapters or works-in-progress to the wiki?
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications
Updates could always be uploaded to replace them later? 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Hi :slight_smile:
The guides usually get uploaded to here first
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications#LibreOffice_Base_Guide
and then uploaded to
http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/documentation/

Slight correction: the links in the second URL simply point to the documents stored on the wiki. Adding the links to the website page does sometimes come later than adding the docs to the wiki. And as noted below, the wiki contains other docs as well.

Could also (or instead) put them on the ODFAuthors website.

I have no objection to putting the Base Guide drafts on the wiki, but I suggest not on the same page as the officially published docs -- unless clearly marked as DRAFTs.

I've seen a lot of confusion (and accusations of poor quality) from people who get hold of user guide drafts thinking they are finished documents. They get passed around from one user to another and not everyone realises there might be a more up to date version or where to get it. Of course, some of our "finished" docs are a bit rougher than we'd prefer, but that's a separate problem.

Jean

Then again the drafts can be clearly marked as drafts using a
watermark? Just a thought.
     Then again, chapters 2-4 are written for OOo and need some
modifications before they will be ready for LO "use".
     I going to think about this during the evening and annouce what I
will be doing in the "morning" (by 1400 UTC).

--Dan

Hi :slight_smile:
I think there is a lot less to worry about wrt branding now that it's Apache running OOo and also because LO has already become so widely known.  Now it's just a matter of cosmetics and image, especially if it's "only temporary".  Ok, image is important but it's not everything.

I quite like the way the Brazilian team handle their wiki
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/pt-br/Tradução
It's not been relevant before but i could do the same for the Base table?
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Hi :slight_smile:

Jean Weber wrote

... some of our "finished" docs are a bit rougher than we'd prefer, but
that's a separate problem.

Not really a problem. The important thing is that you guys and gals got
them out there, increased the mind-share and raised the profile of
LibreOffice, neatly scotched potential problems before Oracle could say "Our
version number is higher than yours" and stick their tongue out. Also
jumped the gun on the commonest complaint people have about OpenSource
projects. Errr, i am running out of daft sayings and lost the ability to
warp words around them

Thanks for clearing up about the linking from the official site to the wiki.
It's a smart way of doing it.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Tom,
In some cases, there are actual differences between the two products (LO and OOo), so it's more than just branding and cosmetics. For example, LO includes an extension for Base reports, which makes the default or typical behaviour of the two products different. We've been discussing this, though perhaps it's been on the ODFAuthors list. There may be other differences as well. That is, I'm sure, what Dan is referring to.

Jean

Yes, and I'm thinking that this would be a very good thing to do. Put it in the header or footer, not as a "watermark" as such, much as I did for the "Free eBook Edition" notice on some of the OOo PDFs. That way it's obvious but doesn't interfere with the text, and it's quick and easy to remove when we declare the document "final".

Jean

Here is what I have done: I have made two graphics containing the
word "Draft". I made the larger graphic the background for the Chapter
page which shows Draft 2 cm in height at the bottom of the page.
(Selected position instead of Tiled or Area, and then selected the
bottom center position.) I made the smaller graphic the background for
the OOoFooter adding tab spaces in the footer to increase the number of
lines so that the word Draft appears in the center of all the footers. I
the created a header and modified it in a similar way. So, every page of
the text had the word Draft at the top and bottom.
    To undo all of this takes only a few steps.
1) Remove the background for the title page (OOoFirst Page).
2) Remove the background for the footer style (OOoFooter).
3) Remove the extra tab spaces so that the footer contains only one
line.
4) Remove the header in the OOoPage style.

     One more question: where should these draft chapter be placed so
they will be available without having to have sign into ODFAuthor?

--Dan

People do not have to sign into ODFAuthors to *download* docs, IF
those docs have a State of "Externally visible" (probably the folder
hierarchy needs to be "Externally visible" too). They only need to
sign in to upload docs, or to see items with other States.

That said, it might be preferable to put them on the LO wiki, though
I'm not sure what might be the best page to put them on. Some thoughts
follow.

For the Base Guide, it would be easy enough (and, I think, clear
enough) to put them on
http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Documentation/Publications (as Tom
suggested), but change the chapter names in the LibreOffice Base Guide
section to read, for example, "2 Name of Chapter -- DRAFT" (and
include only the ODT?).

The GS with Base chapter is a bit messier, since v3.4 goes into a
second column for that book, and so DRAFT would need to go into that
column... which doesn't fit the layout as well. Minor detail! And I
like the idea of putting some of the other developed, but not
"finished", chapters there as well.

--Jean

Hi :slight_smile:
I like the sound of both ideas for the watermark and/or for the discrete mention in a header.  Either way sounds good to me but there is something sexier about a watermark.

I think the Getting Started guide's chapter on Base should stay as is because at least there is something there even if it's not perfect.  I'm happy with other ideas about that tho especially because i have no idea what is in the newer version.

Mostly i was just interested in getting the material up in the Base Guide because it contains stuff we don't have available elsewhere.

Adding new stuff to the wiki shows people that work is being done and shows that you are getting results.  This is more important with Base because it would be a bit of a morale boost to people working on other aspects of Base, such as the devs. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Hi :slight_smile:
I like the sound of both ideas for the watermark and/or for the discrete mention in a header. Either way sounds good to me but there is something sexier about a watermark.

I think the Getting Started guide's chapter on Base should stay as is because at least there is something there even if it's not perfect. I'm happy with other ideas about that tho especially because i have no idea what is in the newer version.

Mostly i was just interested in getting the material up in the Base Guide because it contains stuff we don't have available elsewhere.

Adding new stuff to the wiki shows people that work is being done and shows that you are getting results. This is more important with Base because it would be a bit of a morale boost to people working on other aspects of Base, such as the devs.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

     The "Getting Started with Base" chapter has already been published,
so it is already listed on the wiki with the Getting Started Guide.
There are changes that need to be made in the Report section, but they
can wait for a little while.
    "Introducing Base" has also been published. It is listed just above
the list of Base chapters as a separate chapter.
     "Planning/Designing your Database" is nearing completion for LO. I
can upload this draft later today.
     Chapters 3 and 4 are only in draft form for OOo. They need some
modifications before being listed on the wiki.
     All of these chapters for OOo are on ODFAuthors in the Base Guide
folders. Time to change their visibility status and their folders'
visibility status.

--Dan

Hello Dan,

     The "Getting Started with Base" chapter has already been published,
so it is already listed on the wiki with the Getting Started Guide.
There are changes that need to be made in the Report section, but they
can wait for a little while.
    "Introducing Base" has also been published. It is listed just above
the list of Base chapters as a separate chapter.
     "Planning/Designing your Database" is nearing completion for LO. I
can upload this draft later today.
     Chapters 3 and 4 are only in draft form for OOo. They need some
modifications before being listed on the wiki.
     All of these chapters for OOo are on ODFAuthors in the Base Guide
folders. Time to change their visibility status and their folders'
visibility status.

There is published "Introducing Base", also planned 3 other chapters. Is
there any structure of the whole planed Base Guide available?

You know I'm writing a Base Guide in German. After the collection of
many ideas I have planned the structure from the first to the last
chapter. Then I was writing down my ideas for some of the chapters.

When I'm reading "chapter 2 is nearly complete" it's too late for help
from other people. Could be we are writing the same in English and in
German at the same time.

Robert

Yes, there is a Base outline that Drew wrote. I have attached it to
this email. Perhaps this might clear things up a little bit. (Since the
list strips attachments, I have also CC'd you so you would receive it.

--Dan

I think yes. Is better little documentation than no documentation at
all.

Regards
Sylvia

Hi :slight_smile:
At the moment there seems to be an almost complete lack of anything about Base and apparently it's a nightmare to even try to start writing for it.

It would be great if you 2 could collaborate but if we end up with 2 very different guides that would not necessarily be a bad thing. It is fantastic that you guys are working on this!
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Hi :slight_smile:
Attachments don't reach the list. You can use Nabble to upload attachments. The attachment in this case should have reached the person that asked for it so it's all ok.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Hello Dan,

     Yes, there is a Base outline that Drew wrote. I have attached it to
this email. Perhaps this might clear things up a little bit. (Since the
list strips attachments, I have also CC'd you so you would receive it.

I have got it with your private mail. Will have a look on it later.

Robert