Re: 9i doc testimonials?

On Wed, 7 Nov 2001 09:55:39 -0000, "George Barbour" <gbarbour_at_csc.com> wrote:

>John,
> The "9i doc enhancements" are fine, but I wish they would not try to jump
>to Tahiti quite so much when the actual information I'm looking for is held
>locally on CD or disk, especially when I try a search.

George, point taken.

Most pathways on the doc CD do lead to the local files (list of books, master index, definitions of SQL statements, catalog views, glossary items, etc.) However the search is the most "eye-catching" and that does use an Internet connection.

People also use various tools (Webreaper, Getright, etc.) to download parts of the site, and I can't testify how successful each tool is at setting up local links. I hope we can get a zipped version of the CD put up to save people kludging their own own methods of making a local copy.

The Internet connection is because the search facility uses lots of stuff behind the scenes that most people would not like to configure themselves. (Many GB of available tablespace and lots of spare CPU to accomodate people searching for "the" and "a" :-); iAS with DAD set up to run stored procedures; Oracle Text; properly configured EXTPROC entry in tnsnames.ora; function-based indexes plus init.ora parameters and user privileges to enable them; DBAs installing appropriate patch sets; files located in a known path rather than on an arbitrary drive letter or Unix path; etc.)

We measured success rates with and without search. With search, success was 100% on a set of problems similar in difficulty to OCP questions. Without, success was 87%, with people primarily using the master index.

Another alternative is to use the Acrobat search facility within the individual PDF files, although I suspect that is not a widely known feature.

Because we do emphasize interactivity with the external site, you can expect some extra features on that front, like personalization and perhaps someday custom-built PDFs. We are already using popularity data to fine-tune the content of frequently visited topics for future editions.

Also, you'll find that new content becomes available on the site and is thus searchable from any doc CD or local copy, even if it wasn't present when the CD was cut or files downloaded. The 9i Windows docs have already appeared, and Windows + Unix install docs might appear sometime this week.

>< set soap-box mode on>
>However, Oracle is one of the richest companies in the word, your man Larry
>flaunts it.
>So, where are the "real" Oracle manuals? I prefer hardcopy, my O7 & O8
>manuals are dog-eared and overwritten by my own notes. For a company like
>Oracle to save a few pennies by not sending manuals out with their product
>is mean. Expecting users to pay "extra" pennies for the manuals over and
>above the software support and update fees doesn't enhance your company's
>name here matey.
>< set soap-box mode off>

This is a subject of which we're aware. It's an area where I personally have less visibility, but that is changing by the day.

Right now, I can just offer some thinking out loud:

There is a bit of an "all or nothing" quandary. 107 manuals is too much to put in a box. Ordering the whole set from the Oracle Store would no doubt cost a pretty penny; even printing all the PDFs would run up paper and toner bills. Picking a subset is no simple matter -- install docs, multiple volumes of Admin Guide, multiple volumes of SQL Reference...? Perhaps to be lost or tucked away on a bookshelf, far from the people who really use the software, like happens to many doc CDs.

You might find any prepackaged docs to be aimed at a far less experienced audience than yourself, since those without dog-eared V7 manuals are more prone to not knowing where to start.

Again, it's only recently that we have lots of usage data from PDF downloads and search hits on the web site, to help us make judgments about how to improve the situation in future.

<aside>I have had people tell me that the 9i online docs give them enough confidence to do away with their well-loved hardcopies. I've been hearing that promised for 15 years by a raft of companies, but never seen it come true until now.</aside>  

>A lot of folks, well I do anyway, carry a laptop with no available internet
>connections.
>The laptop being used for notes and manuals etc; I therefore would like you
>to consider tailoring your notes/manuals to a stand alone machine.
>
>George Barbour.
>Edinburgh.

There are a couple of scenarios that we are trying to gather information about. Since we are looking for first-hand accounts, anyone who is in one of these boats and would like to express an opinion or have a dialog should drop me a line at work (john.russell @ oracle.com).

It sounds like you are in the "consultant" mode where you'll be working at various sites, and you'll have the wherewithal and motivation to do a bit of configuration if needed to get things running locally.

Another possible scenario is the "high-security" site where access to external sites is prohibited. The solution in this case might be very different from above, so it's important for us to understand which situation is more common, which is more serious, and all the complicating factors with each one.

In this scenario, maybe an IT group would want to set up a centralized copy of the doc web site, including search capability. Hard to tell how practical and realistic that is:

• We usually only hear about this as a hypothetical situation via third-hand reports.
• Server logs show hits from the kinds of places that are reputed to have restricted Internet access.
• People might look stuff up using their personal AOL accounts, or a non-mission-critical computer at work. Or order or print hardcopies.
• Not clear how much motivation an IT group would have to configure anything so that users can do an occasional doc search. (Assuming they are aware of the existence of online docs at all.)

Thanks,
John

>"John Russell" <netnews_at_johnrussell.mailshell.com> wrote in message
>news:2pteuto7t0uat28f415o4t2r59i4ua729t_at_4ax.com...
>> In Oracle9i, we did a makeover for the online database docs that you
>> can see at http://tahiti.oracle.com. (With similar changes retrofit
>> for the 8i docs, available at the same site.)
>>
>> For this year's OOW, we'll have a demo at the campground and would
>> like to get some feedback from customers who have seen some benefit
>> from the 9i doc enhancements -- learned about new features, found
>> information through the search engine, saved time from redesigned
>> features like the list of books or new features like the SQL / PL/SQL
>> / SQL*Plus combined reference, and so on.
>>
>> If you have had positive experiences such as these [specifically with
>> the 9i docs] and wouldn't mind being quoted, please drop me a line at
>> john.russell @ oracle.com.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> John
>

--
Got an Oracle database question?
Try the search engine for the database docs at:
http://tahiti.oracle.com/