I've uploaded Chapter 3 of the Base Handbook v. 4.2 to http://www.odfauthors.org/libreoffice/english/base-handbook/drafts_4.2/bh4-2-ch3-tables/view. As with the previous chapter, it needs to be edited for consistency of style and checked carefully against the app for accuracy. Also, it needs English screen captures to replace some of the German ones. These should be done on a Linux (preferable) or Mac installation.
Alan
Tom,
Yes, Hazel has already done the 4.2 translations. The newly translated material is posted on the ODF site, and has been for months. The new material in each chapter is in a separate file (one per chapter). That new material hasn't been integrated into the existing (3.5) English version. That's what I'm doing now. It can be time-consuming on some of the longer chapters because we're updating over 3 version changes (3.5 --> 4.0 --> 4.1 --> 4.2) and sometimes things have shifted around quite a bit.
Also, there are a few passages in the German (usually a sentence or two) that Hazel missed (very easy to do on a project like this.) I'm translating those myself. Also, find some passage where the English translation (both the new stuff and the earlier document) seems to me to be overliteral. I would have a difficult time understanding what was going on if I were a user. So I'm rewriting those and checking them against the app for accuracy and ease of understanding.
Nothing has been done yet with regard to the German 4.3. The plan was and still is to get English 4.2 out first. That's what I'm working on.
Best,
Alan
Hi Alan,
Nothing has been done yet with regard to the German 4.3. The plan was
and still is to get English 4.2 out first. That's what I'm working on.
That would be the best way for now. The dicussed problem with "Getting
Started ..." will be gone in Handbook LO 4.4. So It would be better to
wait for that version. There will be no link to any external book in
Handbook 4.4.
Regards
Robert
Hi 
That is good to hear too.
So for this current version of the handbook Alan can choose between a
short-term patch or refer to a future version of the GS or something. No
choice is likely to be perfect but any choice is likely to be plenty "good
enough". Lets just stand by whichever choice is made.
I find flipping a coin is a good way of making such choices. When the coin
lands you often get a feeling that the coin is wrong, in which case go
against the coin's suggestion. If you know it's right then go with it. If
you are still unsure then either go with it or flip again for "best out of
3", whichever causes less panic. A "best of 3" kinda indicates that the
coin was probably wrong though.
The main thing is avoiding too much work on this 1 issue because it's a
temporary patch to deal with something that has already been fixed for the
next iteration.
Wrt Alan's concerns about;
1. "needs to be edited for consistency of style" = Proof-reading?
and
2. "checked carefully against the app for accuracy" = Reviewing?
So these are normal parts of the established policy. Apparently we don't
always do them, because it's not always necessary, but it's something the
team aims for.
3. screen-shots.
Would i be right in saying that 1 is probably best done by non-experts in
Base and that only 2 needs an expert? A non-expert might help "de-geekify"
so that would give them an advantage? I guess 3 can be done by either but
might be best done by someone who has done screen-shots for other guides or
likes working with images?
Regards from
Tom
Hi
Does the 4.2 need re-translating again?
I thought Hazel had already done the translations? Does anyone know where
she might have put the work she did?
Does anyone here know their way around ODFAuthors well enough that they can
help Alan avoid having to re-do work that has already been done?
Alan, until someone helps you find Hazel's work it might be more useful to
work on something else. Apparently a new chapter was added to the German
4.3 Base Handbook and translating that might be more useful than re-doing
work that has already been done. If the work has not been done or can't be
found then having that chapter would be even more useful to have done.
Many apols and regards from
Tom
Hi
Phew!! Great :)) I dunno why i was getting in such a stew about all
that. Glad to hear you have it all in hand :))
I am going to see if i can find someone from the Users Support mailing list
to lend a hand with any of the next steps such as proof-reading or
reviewing or something. People here have more experience but a little
extra help might make this easier next time.
Many thanks and regards from
Tom
Tom, you cause a lot of chaos and time wasting around here by not paying
attention and then getting into a flap about non existent problems. I know
you think you're trying to help, but in fact you are frequently doing just
the opposite. Please stop.
--Jean
Hi
It sounds like Alan still hasn't had an answer to his concerns. It would
be nice to deal with those. I tried but my attempt still needs to be
confirmed or corrected. No-one else has tried to reassure him that he can
focus on his part of the task without having to worry about side-issues.
Also for the issues i raised no-one else knew whether Alan was just
duplicating work that had already been done or not. This included Hazel
(who had done the original work) and Dan who is also working on
documentation for Base. Alan himself seemed uncertain what was going on
but was eventually able to confirm that he had been using Hazel's initial
translations as one of his starting points.
So if i am guilty of not paying attention then so is everyone else on the
team and THAT sounds more like a failure to communicate rather than just me
being difficult.
The result of me "getting into a flap" has been that everyone on the list
is no longer so uncertain about what really is going on. That has meant we
were able to give suggestions to the new chap person who has expressed
interest in getting involved. Again, he has still not been registered.
I'm sorry that you see such a tiny flurry of emails as being such chaos
instead of seeing the good that resulted from it.
Regards from
Tom