5.2.12 User manual not fit for purpose

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MacNala
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5.2.12 User manual not fit for purpose

Post by MacNala »

The user manual provided with 5.2.12 cannot search for 'snapshots'.
If you click the help and select contents from the Manager screen then click Search and enter the keyword snapshots and then click List Topics you a message No topics Found.
This is despite there being a section titled Snapshots at 1.11 of the table of contents.
If this is the quality of the documentation it is a wonder that anyone finds anything.
socratis
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Re: 5.2.12 User manual not fit for purpose

Post by socratis »

As far as I can see, it's perfectly fit for search purposes. I have no problem whatsoever finding multiple references of "Snapshots", but I'm on OSX.

What do you use for searching? Are you using the Windows help or the PDF? If you're using the Windows Help, then this thing has been more problematic than anything else in the Windows sphere, since its inception. Try the PDF version, under /doc. Even a decent browser can open it, display it and search for it, on the fly...

BTW, did you notice this just with 5.2.12? I mean does it work with 5.2.10? The section regarding "Snapshots" hasn't changed...
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mpack
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Re: 5.2.12 User manual not fit for purpose

Post by mpack »

I believe the OP is referring to the "HTML Help" viewer which is displayed by the manager on Windows hosts.

Sure, the HTML help viewer is weak. Chances of fixing - close to 0 I would think.

View the PDF instead, with a decent PDF viewer. Or, contribute a better (free) Windows html viewer to the project.
andyp73
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Re: 5.2.12 User manual not fit for purpose

Post by andyp73 »

The VirtualBox.chm file looks as though it has been compiled without having:
Full-text search=Yes
defined in the OPTIONS section of the .hhp file from which it is compiled.

I have had a look at vbox/doc/manual/Makefile.kmk and have not the first clue as to how it creates the .hhp file(s) before calling Microsoft's help compiler to create the .chm file. Might be time to set up a build environment so I can compile it on Windows and see what is going on.

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