We had a great question from a reader yesterday:
Is there a todo/nice-to-have list anywhere for MySQL documentation? Or perhaps a list of Devs who require documentation support? Or is all documentation a function of the core Documentation team?
Tag Archives: Free Software Magazine
How to contribute to the MySQL Docs
We had a great question from a reader yesterday:
Is there a todo/nice-to-have list anywhere for MySQL documentation? Or perhaps a list of Devs who require documentation support? Or is all documentation a function of the core Documentation team?
Manual Translations
Probably the most frequently asked question to the docs team at MySQL from the public is 'I want to translate the manual into [insert language]'. That language can be anything from one we already have, through to some comparatively obscure suggestions.
Manual translations
Probably the most frequently asked question to the docs team at MySQL from the public is “I want to translate the manual into [insert language]â€. That language can be anything from one we already have, through to some comparatively obscure suggestions.
Development tool availability and the rise of GNU/Linux
The issue of open source languages and the availability of development tools is a thought process I was having the other day. One of the key tools in the GNU space is the GNU C compiler. Up until its availability on Unix (long before the Linux kernel came on the scene), developing on Unix was limited to whatever tools were made available by the Unix vendor.
Development tool availability and the rise of GNU/Linux
The issue of open source languages and the availability of development tools is a thought process I was having the other day. One of the key tools in the GNU space is the GNU C compiler. Up until its availability on Unix (long before the Linux kernel came on the scene), developing on Unix was limited to whatever tools were made available by the Unix vendor.
Extending the documentation toolkit
I noticed this piece from Johan Andersson on Writing NDBAPI programs - connecting to MySQL Cluster last week, which shows you how to use the NDBAPI - the programming interface to the MySQL Cluster system. By coincidence, today we enabled the NDBAPI documentation today. It consists of two elements:
Extending the documentation toolkit
I noticed this piece from Johan Andersson on Writing NDBAPI programs—connecting to MySQL Cluster last week, which shows you how to use the NDBAPI—the programming interface to the MySQL Cluster system. By coincidence, we enabled the NDBAPI documentation today. It consists of two elements:
Documentation formats
We were discussing documentation formats today within the team, and I have to admit that personally I don’t have a preferred format. I find I use the HTML (online) formats often when I'm looking for something specific, and the PDF when I want to read something in more detail. As I spend most of my day in emacs when programming, I use either HTML or the Info format.
Documentation formats
We were discussing documentation formats today within the team, and I have to admit that personally I don’t have a preferred format. I find I use the HTML (online) formats often when I'm looking for something specific, and the PDF when I want to read something in more detail. As I spend most of my day in emacs when programming, I use either HTML or the Info format.
Obviously, with access to the source files, I can also look more closely at certain elements - for example, I like to look across the various chapters when I'm looking for a command or other text, when sometimes accessing the raw source can give me the exact info I want.
We're already working on some ways to improve the way the documentation generated - my work last work was part of that. We're experimenting with better linking on the HTML and PDF documents, improved searching, and thinking of ways in which we can provide more specific (and less weighty) manuals.
As a reminder, we already provide HTML (online and download), CHM (download), man pages and, through product releases, Info format (for use in emacs and other tools).
I'd be interested to hear what formats people prefer - do you use the Mysql .info manual within emacs? Is there a format you use that we don't support? Any other improvements you'd like to see ?