Dynamic Alternatives
P.O. Box 59237
Norwalk, CA 90652
562 802 1639



Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2002 10:27:57 -0800

04 00074 60 02110902




Mr. Rod Welch
rodwelch@pacbell.net
The Welch Company
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111 2496
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Subject:   Experience with SDS

Dear Rod,

Here is what I have done with SDS in the last couple of days.

November 7, 2002
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== Error Creating New Subject Index Level

I used a control field to go to a specific location in the Subject Index, and then tried to create a new level under that topic. The resulting record format was incomplete.
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I escaped from that and went back to the same place by navigating the Subject structure. This time the new level formatted correctly.
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I am also not certain how the directory structure and the SI interact. What does the directory structure have to do with it?
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== Subject Search Missing Record

I tried to search Rod's records for anything on Writing A Letter. There is a Subject Index entry, so I did F1 F9 to start a search, decremented the month, and typed Rod's ID over mine.

I got an error saying that a Diary record was missing.
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October 9, 2002 09:21:28 PM DIARY

Pointer: d: sd 08 GLJDY 04 02 41
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There is indeed no such record showing in the Diary.
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First question is why is the pointer file messed up and how do I fix it? Should there really be a record there?
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Next question is why was it searching GLJDY pointers anyway since the only user was 00101?
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== Ergonomic Keyboard

Don Stratt emailed me a test program that it rather nifty.

He can take payment using PayPal, so that is easy.
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I need to have Joyce help with the DIP switches and test to see if we can get the keys relocated. If that works then we can get the key caps changed so that the legends reflect the locations.

November 8, 2002
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== Starting to Use SDS Concurrent With Work

I am starting to use SDS concurrently with working to a greater extent. I am not completely there yet as I mostly interleave SDS with work, but at least I am now (mostly) creating a record concurrently with doing the work.
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Next is to work more in the direction of using planning in SDS to drive the work.
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== How Best to Communicate Problems to Rod

I am developing quite a list of SDS problems and operational issues that I need to make sure get onto Rod's radar.
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Not all of them need immediate attention, but the entire idea of recording my experiences is to uncover these sorts of issues.
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Some of these are places where my understanding is inadequate either of the operation or of the philosophy behind SDS.
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Others are minor issues of consistency, correctness of documentation, appearance, etc.
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There are still others, however that indicate either bugs or design issues with SDS.
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In any case, the idea is to capture all of this and get it into a form where the issues can be resolved systematically.
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== Question

Is this format helpful in communicating my experiences with SDS and the issues I find? Is there a better way to do it?

I want to be certain that I convey anything that I run into so that it can bet recorded for later review.
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Thanks,

Sincerely,



Garold L. Johnson
dynalt@dynalt.com