Manual check, day 1

Script Debugger Beta Testing
#1

top page:

This help document is also searchable (using Help Viewer).

Does that mean that there is another way to open/search the manual?
→ This help document is also searchable using the Search field in the tool bar.

The top right blue arrow is documented and easy to understand and use, but not the bottom right one with a chapter/section name before it.

  1. It’s not clear why the arrows are designed differently.
  2. The bottom arrow sometimes points at different chapter heads and sometimes at different section heads. That’s confusing because there is no distinction between the head “level” and because the bottom arrows are not always available.

“open” page:

To open an existing script, do any of the following:
• To navigate to the file in the standard Open File dialog, choose File > Open.
• To search for the file by name or contents, choose File > Open Quickly.
• If you’ve recently had this script open, choose it from File > Open Recent.
• Drag-and-drop the script file onto Script Debugger’s icon in the Finder or the Dock.
• If Script Debugger is the owner of script file types, double-click the script file in the Finder. (But that doesn’t work for an applet, since by default when an applet is opened from the Finder, it runs.)

→
To open an existing script, do any of the following:
• Navigate to the file in the standard Open File dialog, with File > Open.
• Search for the file by name or contents, with File > Open Quickly.
…

“Template Chooser” page:
about user templates
Save into ~/Library/Application Support/Script Debugger 6/Templates
→ Save into ~/Library/Application Support/Script Debugger 7/Templates

The Script Debugger .app package still uses this:
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/

and this:
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/sd5help.helpindex

also
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/DemoMenuSample.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/LiteMenuSample.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/RKPaid.png

will have to be modified if the [PAID] green thing is removed from the UI

and
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/AppIcon.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/AppIcon16.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/cascadeMenu.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/cascadeNewNew.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/dictMenu.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/editWithBBEditNew.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/errorDialogNew2.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/launchquery.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/miniDebugger.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/outOfDateNewNew.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/pasteTellMenu.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/pathWidget.png
Resources/English.lproj/sd6help/images/templateChooser.png

all use SD6 icons or references, it is minor but would look better with the new SD7 icons

#2

About the [Table of contents] position:
Usually corners are kept for easy to access functions. Having [Table of contents] right above the big blue arrow that is defined as the way to read the manual sequentially kind of defeats the purpose of the arrow (I’ve already mis-clicked half a dozen times). It seems to me the [Table of contents] link would be better placed between the links at the bottom of the page, or exchange its position with the big blue arrow.

“Script Debugger Help”
• add a word about the difference between single and double underline links
• add a word about the difference between bold and standard links

“Compiled Script”
• why not have backward compatibility info for Compiled Script Bundles?

“Application (Apple)”

An traditional applet’s script can be edited in Script Debugger by

→ A traditional

“Run-Only Script”

It also contains a checkbox,

Not sure what the “It” refers to because of the change of style. Maybe repeat “The bundle inspector also contains…”

“What Is Saved”

For this reason, a bundle format file is the most compatible with version control systems, non-Mac filesystems, and so on.

also found in “Compiled Script”

Are you really sure about that ? One of the point of VCS being atomic commits and verifications, I’m really not sure that format is the “most compatible”…

"Spotlight and Quick Look"
open quickly is not indicated as a Full version only feature.

"Description"
There does not seem to be a font setting for the description text in SD. Whatever I do to change the font/color I fail.

“Bundle”

You can use an sdef file to define AppleScript English-like terminology for your script, thus giving your script a dictionary.

Why focus on the “english-likeness” of the thing as if it were the only way to give a script a dictionary?

→ You can use an sdef file to define AppleScript terminology for your script, thus giving it a dictionary.

When you add a custom icon, you do not need to remove the existing standard icon — when you edit a file they may be re-created anyway.

I’m not sure I understand the last part about icons being re-created.

… use AppleScript version… statment …

→ statement

Cchoose File > Reveal XXX in Finder.

→ Choose File > Reveal XXX in Finder.

----------------- Done for today -----------------

#3

The Help content is hierarchical, and the bottom arrows are for navigating between items belonging to the same parent. So when there’s a Further details box at the bottom of a page, to read all the entries you can click on the first and use links at the bottom to move through them all, rather than going up and down the hierarchy each time. From your reaction it’s clearly not obvious to all, but I wonder if a detailed explanation up front is just going to make things seem more complicated.

#4

It depends on how you explain the thing. The top page has good indications on how to use the help, adding one line for that would not confuse the reader.

#5

I’m just not sure one line will explain it, either.

#6

I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re suggesting.

#7

It’s the most compatible in terms of not potentially losing information.

#8

Bold links are links to chapter heads.