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Manual Writing Tools?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the from-code-to-printed-man-pages dept.

Saulo Achkar writes "I've been recently assigned the task to rewrite the user's manual to a piece of relative complex software. Today, the existent manual used was developed with reStructuredText, a very nice piece of software; unfortunately, we're not able to create classes or templates for things like similar interfaces (that share the same functions), which means we need to write more code and that means more editing. XML formats aren't very friendly to code or edit in, either. What kind of techniques or tools are there to make writing manuals a bit friendlier and faster?"

10 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Lawyers by albalbo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I get my lawyers to do it; they're my writting machines.

    --
    "Elmo knows where you live!" - The Simpsons
    1. Re:Lawyers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I was expecting a joke about habeas corpus, but I suppose that would be rather anachronistic.

  2. Your #1 site for quality editorial work! by bunions · · Score: 2, Funny

    writting!

    in other news, sarcasm is the lowest form of humor.

    --
    there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    1. Re:Your #1 site for quality editorial work! by DrMorris · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, that clearly tells us that this guy's looking for "writting" system that at least supports spell checking...

  3. Manual Writting Tools? by ozbird · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you find a good spellchecker, let the Slashdot editors know... (Manual Writing Tools.)

  4. "Manual Writting Tool"? by ctid · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is this some l33t haX0r way of saying, "lawyer"?

    By the way, I'm aware that this is going to look odd once the editor notices the mis-spelling of the headline to the article.

    --
    Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
  5. Re:Just a suggestion... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    No, no, you get it all wrong! You are supposed to suggest writing everything in DocBook, using Emacs or Vim. Using efficient plain-text is so 70s. Modern people use Java-based XML-processing-frameworks that use 156MB JVM-space to process a 500 byte README.

  6. Re:"Manual" you say? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'll take 'penis mightier' for 500

  7. You're both wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    He asked for "Manual," not "Automatic," writing tools. You should be recommending pencils, pens, and mechanical typewriters.

  8. Re:"Manual" you say? by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Funny
    Ditto. I like pens and typewriters.
    Ah, there's nothing like the fresh smell from a ditto machine.