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c++.announce - STLSoft 1.9 final release planning: ideas sought

reply "Matthew" <matthew hat.stlsoft.dot.org> writes:
Hi peeps

I think I'm nearly at the point where, technically speaking, STLSoft 1.9 is
ready for off.

The big tasks that remain are:
    - the websites
    - the documentation
    - the examples
    - the extras
    - the samples
    - the test programs

I'm keen to hear input from users on all of these (or other) issues.

Ask yourself:
    - What is not clear about STLSoft?
    - What information do you not easily get from the website and/or
distributions?

My current thoughts are:

Website:
--------
    - trim down the websites significantly
    - have the sub-project websites be more like tutorial sections, e.g.
ACESTL.org would just note that it's the ACE-related sub-project, discuss
the ACESTL components, and give a few code examples

Documentation:
---------------
    - refine as per http://stlsoft.org/doc-1.9, but add more discussion to
each component (like
http://stlsoft.org/doc-1.9/classstlsoft_1_1auto__buffer.html)

Examples:
----------
    - keep the examples format as is (see the latest beta for the current
examples) but gradually add more and more until this covers (almost) all
components


Extras:
------
    - no changes planned to format
    - add examples of use of them (this may have to be a 1.9.2 thing, tho)

Samples
--------
    - refactor all the current examples for the new STLSoft include
directories, and new/updated components since 1.8.9
    - add more in the future

Test Programs
---------------
    - no changes planned


Please let me know any thoughts/requests, as this is pretty much the last
chance to get changes into 1.9.1.

Cheers

Matthew
Dec 28 2006
next sibling parent reply Jim B <jimbat users.sourceforge.net> writes:
Matthew Wrote:


     - the websites


* Look and feel is _ok_, but there's too much dead space for the top/left
menus, and the test is too cramped oehterwise.

* Too much information on the first page(s); too little on other pages

* Having a Mailing List page that says there's no mailing list is pretty dumb.
Why not create a mailing list? Or dump the paeg?

* FAQ site is dead. Judging by the amount of traffic on the newsgroup, I
recommend killing this and just including an FAQ in the distribution. If not,
you need to fix the link by adding a page

* Documentation page is good

* Compiler Compatibility is bad. Drop it. People who (are forced to) care can
see in the code.

* Downloads - Why do I choose the beta over the 1.8.9 distro? The spread of
content over the main distros seems wrong also, but not sure what'd be better.
Good that you have an "all" distro. Will the "examples" now included in the
beta be a separate section in the non-beta 1.9 release?

* Libraries page - this is the same as the documentation page! Kill it

* White Papers - this is organised wrongly. Better related to subject, than
magazine articles vs columns - no-one cares about that, apart from you, I
suspect. ;-)

* Submissions page - seems very uninviting. Talk about previous submissions,
maybe?

* Compilers - needs updating?

* Links - make a links page and put them on here, perhaps along with other
projects that are implemented in terms of STLSoft, and whatever commercial
projects you're aware of that use it. You should also link to other C/C++
libraries that you use, or think well of. Make it a "what's good for STL-ish
C++ people" rather than "what's just about STLSoft"

That's all for now. Ill think about the other areas (docs, examples, etc.) at
another time

Jim
Dec 29 2006
parent "Matthew Wilson" <matthew hat.stlsoft.dot.org> writes:
Thanks for the input.

Reactions embedded ...

"Jim B" <jimbat users.sourceforge.net> wrote in message
news:en417m$29k7$1 digitaldaemon.com...

 Matthew Wrote:


     - the websites


 * Look and feel is _ok_, but there's too much dead space for the top/left


menus, and the test is too cramped oehterwise.

Will bear that in mind. (Please, when I __finally__ get round to it, give it
another round of criticism)


 * Too much information on the first page(s); too little on other pages


Good point.


 * Having a Mailing List page that says there's no mailing list is pretty


dumb. Why not create a mailing list? Or dump the paeg?

I've never got round to it. Silly, I know.

Will ditch the page, and exclusively encourage comment in this forum.


 * FAQ site is dead. Judging by the amount of traffic on the newsgroup, I


recommend killing this and just including an FAQ in the distribution. If
not, you need to fix the link by adding a page

Good point.

Fancy collating it? :-D


 * Documentation page is good


Well, that's something at least! <g>


 * Compiler Compatibility is bad. Drop it. People who (are forced to) care


can see in the code.

Agreed. One of my friends reckons there's only one person in the whole world
who cares about compiler compatibilities that much, and that I should stop
doing so!

Seriously, it's likely that 95+% of STLSoft users use a very narrow pool of
compilers - GCC, Borland, VC++ - so I could probably start being a little
less compulsive about backwards compat.

Either way, no point promising a comp compat table and never providing it,
eh? ;-)


 * Downloads - Why do I choose the beta over the 1.8.9 distro?


Because the 1.8.9 distro is *very* out of date.


 The spread of content over the main distros seems wrong also, but not sure


what'd be better. Good that you have an "all" distro. Will the "examples"
now included in the beta be a separate section in the non-beta 1.9 release?

Still all questions to be decided. Interested in more input from users on
this one.


 * Libraries page - this is the same as the documentation page! Kill it


Will do!


 * White Papers - this is organised wrongly. Better related to subject,


than magazine articles vs columns - no-one cares about that, apart from you,
I suspect. ;-)

Agreed.

Frankly, I'm planning a big sort out of info/articles and their distribution
between various places - e.g. stlsoft site,
http://synesis.com.au/articles.html, other libs sites - so this should all
be clear and crisp before 1.9.


 * Submissions page - seems very uninviting. Talk about previous


submissions, maybe?

Good idea! I will do that.


 * Compilers - needs updating?


Probably. Shouldn't be a big drama.


 * Links - make a links page and put them on here, perhaps along with other


projects that are implemented in terms of STLSoft, and whatever commercial
projects you're aware of that use it. You should also link to other C/C++
libraries that you use, or think well of. Make it a "what's good for STL-ish
C++ people" rather than "what's just about STLSoft"

Agreed.


 That's all for now. Ill think about the other areas (docs, examples, etc.)


at another time

Please do. (And anyone else's opinions are welcome also.)
Feb 16 2007
prev sibling parent reply Neal Becker <ndbecker2 gmail.com> writes:
Matthew wrote:


 Hi peeps
 
 I think I'm nearly at the point where, technically speaking, STLSoft 1.9
 is ready for off.
 
 The big tasks that remain are:
     - the websites
     - the documentation
     - the examples
     - the extras
     - the samples
     - the test programs
 
 I'm keen to hear input from users on all of these (or other) issues.
 
 Ask yourself:
     - What is not clear about STLSoft?
     - What information do you not easily get from the website and/or
 distributions?
 
 My current thoughts are:
 
 Website:
 --------
     - trim down the websites significantly
     - have the sub-project websites be more like tutorial sections, e.g.
 ACESTL.org would just note that it's the ACE-related sub-project, discuss
 the ACESTL components, and give a few code examples
 
 Documentation:
 ---------------
     - refine as per http://stlsoft.org/doc-1.9, but add more discussion to
 each component (like
 http://stlsoft.org/doc-1.9/classstlsoft_1_1auto__buffer.html)
 
 Examples:
 ----------
     - keep the examples format as is (see the latest beta for the current
 examples) but gradually add more and more until this covers (almost) all
 components
 
 
 Extras:
 ------
     - no changes planned to format
     - add examples of use of them (this may have to be a 1.9.2 thing, tho)
 
 Samples
 --------
     - refactor all the current examples for the new STLSoft include
 directories, and new/updated components since 1.8.9
     - add more in the future
 
 Test Programs
 ---------------
     - no changes planned
 
 
 Please let me know any thoughts/requests, as this is pretty much the last
 chance to get changes into 1.9.1.
 
 Cheers
 
 Matthew


Do we have any cvs/svn/whatever access?  I'd like to update my last download
with the latest changes.
Jan 01 2007
parent "Matthew" <matthew hat.stlsoft.dot.org> writes:
 Do we have any cvs/svn/whatever access?  I'd like to update my last


download

 with the latest changes.


Not as yet.

As soon as v 1.9 is released, I will continue to refine the docs and so
forth, including stripping out all the "old" headers - e.g.
unixstl_process_mutex.h (now is unixstl/synch/process_mutex.hpp).

Once all that's done to a really good level, I've been considering putting
it on SourceForge with the release of 1.10, at which point svn access would
be possible.

For the moment, just download the latest beta zip and overwrite. (And do a
backup if you're cautious.)

Cheers

Matthew
Jan 01 2007