From: RZOTTO@DKNKURZ1.BITNET (Otto Stolz)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.xedit-l
Subject: Re: Oversimplistic?
Date: 13 Oct 92 16:13:43 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Acknowledge-To: <RZOTTO@DKNKURZ1>

On Tue, 13 Oct 1992 08:12:41 EDT Dick Atlee said:
> Please pardon me if I take exception to the recent comment that one
> should browse through the online help before asking an "oversimplistic"
> question. [...]

Pardon granted :-)  This is a discussion group, after all.

> the online help is something you tend to use when you already know what
> you want and need details. Those who browse such text have minds that
> work in admirable ways, [...]

Thank you for the admiration :-)

Indeed, there are questions that cannot be easily answered from the
on-line help files (and not even from the 1 inch thick XEDIT Command &
Macro Reference), and indeed, the relevant command may go unnoticed
by the reader's eyes in the XEDIT MENU (e.g. it took me months to dis-
cover that VERIFY will let you arrange the columns on the screen).
This is precisely the reason I took the pains to reply to the original
poster in great detail, giving pointers to the various help entries.

However, it is worthwhile to know the tools one is using; with a tool
as powerful and versatile as XEDIT, this involves indeed some learning,
but the investment will pay off soon. The 2nd best method to acquire
the necessary knowledge (short of a XEDIT tutorial) is to browse through
the XEDIT MENU, and through the BRIEF, or DESCR, sections of the per-
tinent help files---not to learn every detail, but rather to get an over-
view and learn where to look, if a particular detail will become re-
levant. I'd suggest, earnestly, every XEDIT novice should take the time,
issue the
    HELP XEDIT MENU ( BRIEF DESCR
command, then move the cursor to all menu items, in turn, hit the
ENTER key, and read. (The above command will display the BRIEF sections
of the Help files selected from the menu, if available, and the DESCRIPT
sections, otherwise.)

Particularly, I think every XEDIT user should know about the XEDIT
prefix commands, as they let you specify many basic editing operations
much more efficiently (and also, more comprehensibly) than subcommands.
I do most of my editing via prefix commands.

> With absolutely no offense intended to anyone, I hope this group
> remains the resource for everyone that it is, and doesn't frighten
> enthusiastic users into silence and departure. If that is the ultimate
> aim, the list can pretty well be abandoned in favor of IBM's online
> documentation.

I did not intend to frighten any user from asking questions in this
group (and I hope that my poster could not be mistaken to mean that).
But remember that reading, understanding, and responding to questions
does take time and efforts; let us try not to ask from the volunteer
contributors to devote their valuable time to questions we can easily,
and almost instantly, answer ourselves! Otherwise, helpful and
enthusiastic experts might well be driven into silence and departure.
My ultimate aim is to keep everybody interested and willing to contri-
bute.

Best wishes,
                    Otto Stolz <RZOTTO@DKNKURZ1.Bitnet>
                               <RZOTTO@nyx.uni-konstanz.de>
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU