RE: api documentation was RE: SYSTEM prototype?

Granted it takes some work. It should be easier than being told that you can
start a fire with friction and then having to figure out a practical way to
do it.    

It would be nice if all of the api documentation followed the model of the
CEE apis and showed the data types of the parameters in the various
languages available on the 400.  The api documentation is more of a command
reference than anything else.  I think there's a need for, perhaps in a
separate manual or redbook, basic information on how to use the apis,  to
shorten the learning curve.  Another thing that would be nice would be a
well defined path to the existing documentation on the IBM web site.  I
don't think Info Center has it quite right yet.  The apis do fall out into
different groups, but they all are apis.  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: paul cunnane [mailto:paul@cunnane.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 9:15 AM
> To: RPG400-L@midrange.com
> Subject: Re: api documentation was RE: SYSTEM prototype?
> 
> 
> Personally, I have no trouble with the API documentation.  
> That said, it
> took a while to get the hang of the manuals.  I can usually 
> look up an API,
> prototype it in RPG, and write code that uses it without a 
> problem, first
> time through.
> 
> The API documentation doesn't provide information about how 
> to use it in
> RPG.  There are a few things you need to find out for 
> yourself, either by
> trial and error or exhaustive searching of the documentation. 
>  After that,
> calling APIs becomes second nature.
> 
> To be honest, the above sounds to me like a summary of the process of
> learning any new programming technique.
> 
> --
> Paul
> 
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