bugGNU Octave - Bugs: bug #30260, Refcard typos

 
 

bug #30260: Refcard typos

Submitter:  Jake <epy>
Submitted:  Fri 25 Jun 2010 01:03:13 PM UTC
   
 
Category:  None Severity:  3 - Normal
Priority:  5 - Normal Item Group:  Documentation
Status:  Fixed Assigned to:  None
Originator Name:  Open/Closed:  * Closed
Release:  * 3.2.4 Operating System:  * GNU/Linux
Fixed Release:  None Planned Release:  None
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Thu 01 Jul 2010 12:01:56 PM UTC, comment #13: 

Closing the bug is a good idea.

Perhaps some comments can be added to the refcard.tex file describing what criteria should be met by those who wish to modify it? I assume David's comment from the 28th has most of what is needed.

Ben Abbott <bpabbott>
Group Member
Thu 01 Jul 2010 04:33:30 AM UTC, comment #12: 

Do we want to kick this over to the octave-maintainers list for a discussion of what to have on the refcard?

Otherwise, the typos are now fixed and, unless someone submits a patch to change the refcard, I will close this bug.

Rik <rik5>
Group administrator
Mon 28 Jun 2010 08:49:30 PM UTC, comment #11: 

Huh? Being generous I find 1.5 columns of the 3 columns letter pages for the readline shortcuts.. They are quite useful to know by the way, though perhaps the language aspects are more important. Though with over a thousand functions in the core of octave and the operators to document, you really have to pick and choose.. I suppose what I'm saying is whats important to you might be less important to others and so some discussion of proposed changes to the refcard should take place.

D.

David Bateman <dbateman>
Group Member
Mon 28 Jun 2010 06:37:58 PM UTC, comment #10: 

I looked at the letter size refcard, and almost the entire first page is for text shortcuts and navigating info pages which are relatively insignificant I think.  They're useful to some yes, but I think language syntax and commands are more important.  I mean, I've only ever used the help pages, and all you really need to know is to use the up and down arrow keys and q to quit.

Jake <epy>
Mon 28 Jun 2010 05:50:21 PM UTC, comment #9: 

A reference card should be able to be printed on one recto-verso page, so that it can be bundled with the manual and installation disk. When I updated the reference card for 3.0, I went to a lot of effort to ensure that refcard-legal in a 4 column format fitted on two pages.

If you add fzero, there is a strong possibility that the text will no longer fit on two pages. Think about what are the most used functions of Octave when you decide what should and shouldn't be on the refcard. I've already made compromises and if you modify the refcard you too will have to.

D.

David Bateman <dbateman>
Group Member
Mon 28 Jun 2010 04:17:11 PM UTC, comment #8: 

I made the typographical changes in this changeset.

http://hg.savannah.gnu.org/hgweb/octave/rev/551913ba1f85

If you want to make changes to some of the actual documentation on the refcard (I also agree with adding fzero) please experiment and add a patch for it.  refcard-letter is the smallest physical size so that is the file to check for text alignment issues.

Version numbering can be automatically linked to the Octave build number, but shouldn't be.  Documentation is prepared against a specific version of Octave and shouldn't auto-update.  For example, the refcard says that 'help' with no options will produce a list of functions in Octave.  This behavior was changed in the 3.2.X series and is no longer valid.  It would be dead wrong for the documentation to direct users to things that don't work.

Rik <rik5>
Group administrator
Sun 27 Jun 2010 07:02:21 PM UTC, comment #7: 

M = Meta

This is the same meaning as used by Emacs. On most keyboard Meta is mapped to Alt.

D.

David Bateman <dbateman>
Group Member
Sun 27 Jun 2010 05:04:43 PM UTC, comment #6: 

Overall it's a REALLY good condensation of Octave...I think there should be a link in either the Docs or Wiki section of the website (unless there already is, I couldn't find it readily).  I only found this because I went digging through the source.

Jake <epy>
Sun 27 Jun 2010 05:00:08 PM UTC, comment #5: 

Regarding versions, only the version of the GPL need be elaborated since there are some significant differences between the versions of the GPL.  It already says version 3 of Octave, I think that's sufficient until version 4 comes around.

There's a whole other column left on that last page, so I'd agree that splitting up that section might be a good idea.  I don't know about those other functions; I just suggested fzero() since it's one of the baser solving functions.  I think it's pretty common to want to find a zero of a function.

I hope anything I've said hasn't come across as overcritical, I just saw this for the first time on Friday and was just offering up some suggestions to improve it.

Sooo...what does that M indicate?

Jake <epy>
Sun 27 Jun 2010 04:26:01 PM UTC, comment #4: 

Regarding Octave's version number, the version is defined in ./src/version.h. Is there a cross-platform method to automatically keep it up to date in refcard.tex?

The GPL and warranty text don't change as often, but perhaps they should be automatically updated as well?

Regarding fzero, the functions for linear programming (glpk), nonlinear programming (sqp), quadratic programming (qp, pqnnonneg), and linear least squares (ols, gls, lsqnonneg) might also be added to the refcard? ... no doubt I've missed others as well?

Perhaps it is best to break up "Equations, ODEs, DAEs, Quadrature" and added sections with the same names as in Octave's manual?

Ben Abbott <bpabbott>
Group Member
Sun 27 Jun 2010 02:57:53 PM UTC, comment #3: 

Also, I noticed the frequent referencing of 'C' and 'M'...it's apparently that 'C' indicates the Ctrl key, but what on earth does the 'M' indicate?  'C' and 'M' should be specified right after the title before the sections start.

Jake <epy>
Fri 25 Jun 2010 01:18:44 PM UTC, comment #2: 

And the version of the GPL should be specified.

Jake <epy>
Fri 25 Jun 2010 01:09:11 PM UTC, comment #1: 

Also, maybe fzero() should be added to the "equations, ODEs, DAEs, Quadrature" section.

Jake <epy>
Fri 25 Jun 2010 01:03:13 PM UTC, original submission:  

Sparse matrices: "create sparse identify matrix", should be "identity"

Global and persistent variables: "set intial value", should be "initial"

Path and packages: "display the current Octave cunction path". should be "function"

Linear algebra: "structrual matrix rank", should be "structural"

C-style input and output: fseek() missing entirely, should be before or after frewind().

Jake <epy>

 

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    Date Changed by Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced by
    2010-07-01 rik5 StatusIn Progress Fixed
        Open/ClosedOpen Closed
    2010-06-28 rik5 StatusNone In Progress

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