Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!oliveb!sun!dogwalk!herzog
From: herzog@dogwalk.Sun.COM (Brian Herzog, Sun Microsystems, GPD)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: PHIGS books
Summary: wait a minute...
Message-ID: <111859@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 22 Jun 89 21:25:38 GMT
References: <WARSAW.89Jun22152002@rtg.cme.nist.gov>
Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM
Lines: 49

(sorry for the previous posting, which ate my response...)

In article <WARSAW.89Jun22152002@rtg.cme.nist.gov> warsaw@cme.nist.gov (Barry A. Warsaw) writes:
>
>I have just started using SunPHIGS, Sun's version of PHIGS, but the
>documentation is very poor.  They only include a "Beginner's Guide" which
>has a brief overview of the PHIGS system, and a set of manual pages which
>is great if you know what function you want to use but are unsure of the
>syntax.
>
Although I am not a member of the SunPHIGS team, I feel compelled to
respond.  The "Beginner's Guide" you mention (actually called "Getting 
Started with SunPHIGS"), which you imply is a token skimpy document, is, 
in fact 171 pages long, and includes extensive tutorial information on 
SunPHIGS and PHIGS in general, as well as a large amount of sample code.  
This document is often recommended (along with "Understanding PHIGS" by 
Template) in this newsgroup, by non-Sun employees, as among the best PHIGS 
introductory material available.

>What they *don't* include is a guide for taking a novice through the
>general concepts of how to get things done with PHIGS.  For example, I
>want an explanation of how to use name sets to get invisibility of
>elements.  I had to wade through the manpages for a week to get some vague
>idea of how to do this.
>
It seems to me you want something (documentation customized to your level
of expertise) for nothing.  This is an extermely competitive market, and 
getting more so.  You may not like the current industry "standards" of 
documentation, but the SunPHIGS documentation is as good or better than 
everything else out there in the PHIGS marketplace.  Try reading the actual 
PHIGS standard sometime!  
Additional tutorial information would cost a great deal of money to 
produce, the cost of which would get passed on to the purchasers of the 
software.  The people who don't need or want that text would then complain 
about the high cost of the software.
When the day comes that the market demands that further tutorial text be 
included, Sun and Template and Apollo (et al) will have to deal with that; 
in the meantime, if you want further training, follow the current accepted 
marketplace practice and take a class.

>NAME: Barry A. Warsaw                USMAIL: National Institute of Standards
>TELE: (301) 975-3460                         and Technology (formerly NBS)
>UUCP: {...}!uunet!cme-durer!warsaw           Rm. B-124, Bldg. 220
>ARPA: warsaw@cme.nist.gov                    Gaithersburg, MD 20899

Brian Herzog
herzog@sun.com
Disclaimer:  The above opinions are my own and do not necessarily
             represent those of Sun Microsystems, Inc.