Re: Help text in OV/400: where to go next?

[mcrump@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

We are thinking of transitioning from OV/400 help docs to UIM using a third
party product.  Unfortunately it has no conversion function.  We will probably
move forward with two forms of help documentation: 0ld - OV/400, new - UIM.  We
are going to look at two products.  One is Oak Help Manager
(http://home.netcom.com/~sspi/oakhelp.html).  We probably won't review until
after the new millenium - 1.

Overall, I'd agree with Al.  It is going to take years to remove green screens
and I'd imagine some people have a small fortune of time invested in OV/400 help
documents.  Domino is not an option....




"Al Barsa, Jr." <barsa2@ibm.net> on 12/17/99 02:30:54 PM

Please respond to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com

To:   MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
cc:    (bcc: Mike Crump/IS/Ball-Foster)

Subject:  Re: Help text in OV/400: where to go next?



At 11:07 AM 12/17/1999 +0000, you wrote:

Hi,

IMHO, trying to move from full screen help in OV/400 to UIM is a big
feat.  Not impossible, but clearly bigger than you might want to accomplish
in the next 18 months (when OV is scheduled to go away).

Apart from the easy "updatability" of OV, you go write your own display
screen handler, or move to Text Management/38, which is what some people
that I am talking about are doing.

For functions like green screen help, and writing final form executive
level documents, the Domino alternative doesn't cut it.  You would think
that someone at IBM could have figured this our before firing this
gun.  Pretty sad.

It's pretty sad.

Someday (I hope soon) IBM will get greedy/stupid enough to sell off the
AS/400, at which point I will invest.  The AS/400 will get marketed
properly (death top the "Tragic Box"), and eventually the AS/400 will
dominate the computer market, which it should be doing today, because it's
the best computer system in the world.

Al

>Hi all.
>
>Our main product has all the online help in Office/400 (or OfficeVision
>for AS/400, to give it its formal title) documents.  Now, as Office is
>going to go away in a release or two, we have to think about the future.
>
>I don't imagine the /QDLS file system will actually be removed, and I
>would expect that display file help tags will still be supported (though
>I could well be wrong in these assumptions, and would be grateful if
>anyone could enlighten me).  So it will still be possible to maintain
>documents on an older machine and continue to use that help technology.
>But it wouldn't be ideal.
>
>In the absence of IBM implementing HTML natively on the 400, I think the
>best solution for green-screen help would be UIM panels, same as IBM
>use.  But what about our existing document set?
>
>So I have two questions: 1) is anyone else in a similar position and
>what are you doing about it?  2) Does anyone know of Office to UIM
>conversion utilities?
>
>That may really be three questions.
>
>TIA.
>
>Martin.
>
>.:.
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Al Barsa, Jr. - Account for Midrange-L
Barsa Consulting, LLC.
400 > 390

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