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Date: Sun 15-Jul-1991 14:28:33 From: beaucham@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (James Beauchamp) Subject: NextStep_Concepts According to the README that comes with the NextStep Concepts that one obtains from a pub site, the ten chapters involved are "based on" Release 1.0, even though they are labled 2.0 when you print them out. In particular, Chapter 8 (Interface Builder) describes windows which look different from the current 2.0 versions. IB is organized different than the description, and the reader is left to straighten this out. Supposedly, the differences are detailed in the separate document Intro.rtf, but this does not illustrate the new window layouts. Does this pub site NextStep_Concepts file exactly correspond to a volume of the NeXT Technical Documentation 2.0? Has anyone heard whether an updated version of NextStep_Concepts will be available soon? Jim Beauchamp
Date: Sun 15-Jul-1991 15:37:32 From: rgc@wam.umd.edu (Ross Garrett Cutler) Subject: Re: NextStep_Concepts In article <1991Jul15.142833.3919@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> J-Beauchamp@uiuc.edu writes: >According to the README that comes with the NextStep Concepts that one obtains >from a pub site, the ten chapters involved are "based on" Release 1.0, even [...] >Has anyone heard whether an updated version of NextStep_Concepts will be >available soon? I talked to a person in tech. writing at NeXT sometime in March, and they said that updated versions of Concepts will appear on the archives sometime during the summer. Probably just before 3.0 comes out :-). This is something NeXT really has to improve on; at least Sun and DEC has up-to-date documentation!
Date: Sun 15-Jul-1991 16:17:09 From: ronf@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU (Ron Frederick) Subject: Re: NextStep_Concepts rgc@wam.umd.edu (Ross Garrett Cutler) writes: >I talked to a person in tech. writing at NeXT sometime in March, and they >said that updated versions of Concepts will appear on the archives sometime >during the summer. Probably just before 3.0 comes out :-). This is something >NeXT really has to improve on; at least Sun and DEC has up-to-date >documentation! >-- >Ross Cutler >University of Maryland, College Park >Internet: rgc@wam.umd.edu Minor point -- NeXT has up to date documentation, in printed form, which is about all you can say for Sun or DEC. Neither of them even ATTEMPT to offer the same documentation online. When I received my extended 2.1 release, all of the tech docs except for a few of the Concepts chapters were already installed. For now, I have to live with the 1.0 Concepts chapters, but I'm still a fair amount better off than I would be with any other vendor...
Date: Sun 15-Jul-1991 18:01:30 From: roy@prism.gatech.EDU (Roy Mongiovi) Subject: Re: NextStep_Concepts In article <ronf.679594629@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU>, ronf@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU (Ron Frederick) writes: > Minor point -- NeXT has up to date documentation, in printed form, which is > about all you can say for Sun or DEC. This is not true. The printed documentation in the Tech Ref manuals is also based on 1.0, not 2.0. I second the remark that this is a SERIOUS deficiency with NeXT. Explanations of how to program the environment are not available until they are obsolete. Is NeXTStep really so complex and wonderful that it takes twice as long to document it as to develop it? I've basically given up programming my machine except as a Unix box.
Date: Sun 15-Jul-1991 19:08:29 From: rgc@wam.umd.edu (Ross Garrett Cutler) Subject: Re: NextStep_Concepts In article <ronf.679594629@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU> ronf@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU (Ron Frederick) writes: >Minor point -- NeXT has up to date documentation, in printed form, which is Is this true??? The NeXT tech. writer that I talked to said that the printed version of Concepts was *exactly* like the one found in the archives, which is based on 1.0 :-(. >about all you can say for Sun or DEC. Neither of them even ATTEMPT to offer >the same documentation online. When I received my extended 2.1 release, all This is not true. Both Sun and DEC offer all of their documentation online (via CD-ROM). In fact, it's cheaper to buy the CD-ROM drive + online docs than a full wall of docs for a DECstation. It's not PostScript, but it is supposed to be complete (it might even use DEC's CDA (compound doc. arch.), but I don't know...). >of the tech docs except for a few of the Concepts chapters were already >installed. For now, I have to live with the 1.0 Concepts chapters, but I'm >still a fair amount better off than I would be with any other vendor... >-- >Ron Frederick >ronf@cs.stanford.edu >(NeXTmail acceptable)
Date: Sun 15-Jul-1991 20:09:49 From: songer@ei.ecn.purdue.edu (Christopher M Songer) Subject: Re: NextStep_Concepts In article <1991Jul15.190829.2982@wam.umd.edu> rgc@wam.umd.edu (Ross Garrett Cutler) writes: >In article <ronf.679594629@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU> ronf@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU (Ron Frederick) writes: >>Minor point -- NeXT has up to date documentation, in printed form, which is > >Is this true??? The NeXT tech. writer that I talked to said that the printed >version of Concepts was *exactly* like the one found in the archives, >which is based on 1.0 :-(. > Just to speak in defense of the current docs..... The concepts from 1.0 to 2.0 did not really change that much. The 1.0 concepts manuals are still enough to get you well on your way -- which is what they are for. What is central is that the REST of the 2.0 technical documentation is excellent! NextStep is by far the best documented GUI I've seen. (Contrasting against Windows, Presentation Manager, and X) I like the docs. They are clear, and complete. (At least for how I use them.) -Chris
Date: Sun 16-Jul-1991 15:33:56 From: beaucham@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (James Beauchamp) Subject: Re: NextStep_Concepts >Supposedly, the differences are detailed in >the separate document Intro.rtf, but this does not illustrate the new window >layouts. Jim Beauchamp
Date: Sun 18-Jul-1991 00:16:05 From: athan@object.com Subject: Re: NextStep_Concepts In article <1991Jul15.190829.2982@wam.umd.edu> rgc@wam.umd.edu (Ross Garrett Cutler) writes: > In article <ronf.679594629@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU> ronf@kalamazoo.Stanford.EDU (Ron Frederick) writes: > >Minor point -- NeXT has up to date documentation, in printed form, which is > > Is this true??? The NeXT tech. writer that I talked to said that the printed > version of Concepts was *exactly* like the one found in the archives, > which is based on 1.0 :-(. Just my 2c worth on this subject: I find that the *NeXTStep* docs are some of the best I have seen for any computer or software system. I am hard pressed to remember a situation in which I was not able to find the information I needed. All this discussion regarding the fact that the Concepts manual is taken from 1.0 is pretty much moot --> the differences are NOT THAT GREAT! In fact, I would be surprised if the novice programmer (for whom they are intended) actually got to the point where (s)he was noticeably impacted by the differences -- by the time you write code where the differences matter, you know enough to *quickly* figure out what's going on. I can say only one thing about programming the NeXT: **Just do it** Pick up your mouse (you might have better traction by keeping it on the table ... but I'm sure you know what I mean) and play with interface builder. Connect a slider to a textfield, pick a method and put it in test mode. See what happens. Do this over and over again. Read your manual under the covers at night (with a flashlight even!) and learn all those nifty NX functions (I hardly know 2% of them by name, though I know many more of them by "subject" Within 2-3 weeks you'll be doing much more complex things. Get a friend to do it with you, and you're even better off. There's a learning curve to NeXTStep. Like all learning curves, its very steep right at the front edge. Unlike most learning curves, it gets very shallow very quickly. That's the beauty of it. Don't miss out. new newsgroup! The one we're all supposed to move over to... Happy NeXTing. aca (Squish) -- athan@object.com Objective Technologies, Inc.
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Marcel Waldvogel and Netfuture.ch.