Re: FAQ Sections - Feedback Wanted

Dr J R Stockton wrote:
In comp.lang.javascript message <gd0jg3$e06$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
, Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:52:50, dhtml <dhtmlkitchen@xxxxxxxxx> posted:
Dr J R Stockton wrote:
In comp.lang.javascript message <gcts9r$6g4$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
, Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:04:42, dhtml <dhtmlkitchen@xxxxxxxxx> posted:
Dr J R Stockton wrote:
Another category is those questions relating to ECMAScript/DOM
without
reference to anything visual or external :-
An 'Other' category?
I think that the idea of features related only to the manipulation
of
ordinary variables deserves a subsection,
Ah, but what is ordinary?

Approximately, those that one calls into existence with JavaScript
rather than those that are properties of the original document plus
added HTML things.



What do you think of:

,--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| • Meta-FAQ meta-questions
| * Which newsgroups deal with javascript?
| * What questions are on-topic for CLJ?
| * What should I do before posting to CLJ?
| * Why was my post not answered?
| * Why do some posts have <FAQENTRY> in them?
| * How do I make a suggestion?
|
| • Javascript Tips
"Tips" seems wrong there. "About Scripting"??


How about "Language Overview" ?

| o What is ECMAScript?
| o What is JScript?
| o What are object models?
| o What is the document object model?
| o Internationalisation and Multinationalisation in javascript.
| o Where are the CLJ archives located?
To previous section ?


Yes.



| o How do I change print settings with window.print()?
for

Sure.


| • Ajax
I *think* we had some of these answers before Ajax was known.
Therefore, if so, the above heading should be more generic.


Client/Server Communication?

Might be some crossover with the "Forms" questions.

| o What is Ajax?
| o Why is my Ajax page not updated properly when using an HTTP GET
| request in Internet Explorer?
| o How do I download a page to a variable?
| o How do I get a perl/asp/php variable into client-side
| javascript?
| o How do I log-out a user when they leave my site?
| o How do I run a server side script?
| o How do I force a reload from the server/prevent caching?
|
| • Debugging
| o How do I get my browser to report javascript errors?
o Debugging Tips [1]
|
|
| • Things not to attempt in a browser
| o How can I prevent access to a web page by using javascript?
[2]
| o How do I protect my javascript code?
[2]
| o How can I access the client-side filesystem?
| o I have <a href="javascript:somefunction()"> what ... ?
|
|
`-------------------------------------------------------------------------/

Otherwise OK. With anchors having names, parts can be moved at any
time. (Keep the numbers, for brief short-term reference in CLJ.)


The numbers are generated in a loop. If I keep them in the loop, the user will end up in the wrong place on the page. I can move them out of the loop and hard code them into the xml, like:

<CONTENT ID="parseInt" NUMID="FAQ4_7">,


- then the page and the Mon/Wen mailings will look like:

5.9 Why does framename.print() not print the correct frame in IE?
5.30 I have window.status="Moomin"; why doesn't the statusbar change?
5.6 How do I communicate between frames in a web browser?

I find that to be a very confusing presentation.

It would be much better to not display numbers on the page then to display them out of order.

So, will add the NUMID to the xml CONTENT elements and render that as an empty link:

<a name="FAQ4_7"></a>

For the Mon/Wen posting, the number will not be shown and nothing will replace it. We've been with numbers for a long long time. It's time to say goodbye to them.

I will use the old version of the index page, restoring the links in the archives that point to updated questions.

The text of each question in the TOC will be linked to the answer.

If it is difficult to read with the underline, I can use CSS to change the appearance (blue, bold, perhaps, with underline on :hover).

Alternatively, I could use a way to display the answer below the question, by toggling it.

+ What is blah blah ?


- What is blah blah ?
/answer:/
Lorem blah does not work with mork. To fix this, you should
instead use blah blah blah...


[1] (condensed) : Test in small increments. Test locally, before
uploading. Verify presumptions. View intermediate results. Test with
many values. Check extreme cases and end-points. N.B. Debuggers report
where the existence of an error is detected, which is not necessarily
where the mistake is.


I think more complete advice on unit testing would be a lot better.

[2] : I disagree from the usual answer. If a script can be executed in
an Internet Browser, some people can read it. But many cannot read it -
those who know only Right Click, View Source can be utterly defeated by
breaking that operation. Many who want to protect their code do so
because they want to deter their idle and obtuse classmates from copying
it; the protection needs to be literally fool-proof, but not wise-proof.


Those who only know right click would seem so clueless as to be totally harmless. I don't think its worth adding that at all.

The worst Q/A pair I've found is the "what are object models (OMs)?" A question such as "What is a Host object?" or "Is the DOM part of ECMAScript?" could much better address discussion of Host objects than the current "OMs" question.

For now, I have to go through the XML file and add the NUMID attribute so that it exactly matches the one of the TOC before I changed it.

I do not intend to change the current fragment identifiers. Although there may be better IDs, there are already links to them. Changing them doesn't seem to offer that much benefit.

Garrett

--
comp.lang.javascript FAQ <URL: http://jibbering.com/faq/ >
.

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