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X-Authentication-Warning: slinky.cs.nyu.edu: pechtcha owned process doing -bs
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 22:11:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: Igor Pechtchanski <pechtcha AT cs DOT nyu DOT edu>
Reply-To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: Re: API Reference documentation
In-Reply-To: <20030725015104.GA27805@redhat.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.44.0307242158090.26427-100000@slinky.cs.nyu.edu>
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On Thu, 24 Jul 2003, Christopher Faylor wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 24, 2003 at 09:45:50PM -0400, Igor Pechtchanski wrote:
> >On Thu, 24 Jul 2003, Christopher Faylor wrote:
> >
> >> On Thu, Jul 24, 2003 at 09:07:40PM -0400, Igor Pechtchanski wrote:
> >> >On Fri, 25 Jul 2003, Carlo Florendo wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Hello David,
> >> >>
> >> >> >From: "David Power"
> >> >>
> >> >> > Please could you make the API documentation available
> >> >> > as a downloadable html or pdf file.
> >> >>
> >> >> It is.  The link to the API appears  in the main page of cygwin.com :-)
> >> >>
> >> >> > I don't have permanent access to the web. I download
> >> >> > what I can when I can and use it on a stand alone
> >> >> > workstation.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > It would be very useful to me to have the API
> >> >> > reference at my fingertips for whenever I needed it.
> >> >>
> >> >> Get it from http://cygwin.com/cygwin-api/cygwin-api.html   :-)
> >> >>
> >> >> Best Regards,
> >> >> Carlo
> >> >
> >> >David,
> >> >
> >> >Just to expand on this a little bit, the above is not as mean as it
> >> >sounds.  Try 'wget -r http://cygwin.com/cygwin-api/cygwin-api.html'. ;-)
> >>
> >> Or, just install the cygwin-doc package.
> >
> >D'oh!!!  However, the cygwin-doc package could itself benefit from better
> >documentation. ;-)  There is no mention of cygwin-api in any of the
> >readmes.
>
> What would you expect to find in a cygwin doc package other than
> documentation about cygwin?

Well, I'd expect a README for the cygwin-doc package to list the
documentation available from that package.  Instead, here it is in all of
its terse entirety:
  $ cat /usr/doc/cygwin-doc-1.3/README
  Thu Oct 17 19:29:23  2002
  Joshua Daniel Franklin <joshuadfranklin AT yahoo DOT com>

  The html/ and txt/ directories here contain the cygwin-users-guide.

  See /usr/doc/Cygwin/cygwin-doc-x.x-x.README for more information.
  $

The above is at best misleading, since the txt/ directory does not contain
the User's Guide at all (only the readme and the faq), and the html/
directory also contains the readme, the faq, and cygwin-api.  The README
in /usr/doc/Cygwin only lists the changes made (again, with no mention of
cygwin-api whatsoever).  Just an observation.

> It's also listed in the info dir file, just like all other info
> documentation on cygwin or any other UNIX-like system.  Just typing
> 'info' shows you what cygwin doc info is available.

Hmm, I never tried that.  Thanks for the info. :-)

> And please don't tell me that there needs to be a a README pointing
> people at info...

Maybe not.  But my first reflex has always been 'man foo' instead of 'info
foo' -- call me old-fashioned.  Before you ask, I haven't tried 'man info'
either -- shame on me! :-D
	Igor
-- 
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     |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'		Igor Pechtchanski, Ph.D.
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