Mail Archives: djgpp/1997/08/12/05:19:45
On 11 Aug 1997, Paul Derbyshire wrote:
> Some people have noted how big the FAQ is getting, and
> thus how much harder it is to find info in it or even know where the FAQ
> ends.
The large indices at the end of the FAQ should serve as a vehicle to
look up required information. If these indices somehow don't do the
job, I'd like to know why, so I could think about improving them.
> (I have asked questions here seemingly unrelated to DJGPP, as about
> "cawf", and been told the answer is, amazingly enough, in the FAQ!)
At least for this example, CAWF is also in the Program Index at the
end of the FAQ.
> Thus, perhaps a computer program, an expert system, could be made with the
> FAQ as its database, which responds to hierarchical questions or allows
> direct browsing of the FAQ questions. Imagine this:
Paul, I think that's a wonderful idea! I thought about it for a while
way back, when the FAQ began to grow. The only problem that precluded
me to do something like that was that people usually ask questions in
a variety of forms, and making an AI program that would parse them and
get useful answers seemed like a major project. But if you can make
it happen, I'm sure lots of users would be a lot happier.
> 1. How do I install DJGPP? (What to get, how to set it up)
> 2. What is cawf/groff/Allegro/etc: DJGPP connected utilities and
> add-ons
I doubt if this menu-driven approach is good enough, since menus are
usually too rigid. As a recent example, someone who asks about
`getvect' won't necessarily understand that ``How do I hook an
interrupt'' is the same question.
The best way to see if this approach works is to take a single FAQ
chapter and make a prototype program that will answer such questions.
Then everybody and their dog could play with the prototype and tell
you what they think.
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