021122; Dynamic Alternatives: A record on the web

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

Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 14:34:33 -0800

04 00074 60 02112201

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

Subject:

A record on the web

Dear Rod,

I have put SDS records on my site before. These are on yours...

http://www.welchco.com/sd/08/GLJDY/02/02/11/22/124823.HTM
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http://www.welchco.com/sd/08/GLJDY/02/02/11/01/170530.HTM
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Both records [actually, an SDS record and a letter] were generated today, and yet the first one has the error with the mailto tag missing the ending quote and <. The only difference I can see is that there are no action items in the one that is wrong.

The first record links to the SDS version of the record that I sent you on SDS functionality.

The generated links are to welchco.com, which is probably fine for me, but not what I would expect in an SDS system belong to anyone other than you.
The letter itself showed up in the wl html location, but not in wt, so the DIT record was not sent to the web site. The document isn't marked confidential that I can see. I could force the record to be sent, but that is hardly the point.

..
I have attached the SDS records.

The path to the letter (2201 file) is

F:\04\00074\61\02\11\2201.
..
The path to the SDS record (0179 file) is

D:\sd\08\GLJDY\00\0179,

...since it is still in today's records.
..
The SDS record 0179, the first HTML file, details some of the difficulties I had trying to get this done.

Q: If I create a prior date record, and then use the doc management system to create a DRT or DIT record, will that record get the same prior date? I sent you the email in Nov. 20, so I should have created the issuing work record for that date and the DIT record on the same date.
..
Thanks,

Sincerely,

Garold L. Johnson
dynalt@dynalt.com

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Original Source
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November 22, 2002 12:48:23 PM      DIARY          Friday      Garold L. Johnson         0179      124823

01 - Functionality For A New SDS
02 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
03 - References
0301 -   SDS records
030101 -
030102 -
0302 -
0303j-   <----------------- DIT  Documents Issued Today -----------------------------> <----- FROM -----> <------ TO ------> R/I    <------ Respond By -----> Project      Document
0304j-   Dr Project     Yr Mn Filenm   Typ <----------- Description ------------------> Orgnztn   Contct   Orgnztn   Contct   Date   Date   Orgnztn   Contact  WBS Number Users Number
030401 - F: 04 00074 61 02 11 2201     I1  Functionality for New SDS                    DYNALT-[D GLJ      WELCO     RW       021122 021207 WELCO     RW                                                                                               04 00074 04 021122a                       00000793  0101  00000040  0101  00000040  0101
030402 -
030403 -
0305 -

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0306 -    Time Milg Emply T  Bill Function  Special Subject/File
04 - K101 00.0 0000 00000 0 00000 00000000 00000000 04 00074 04 021122a
0401 - Functionality for New SDS
0402 - =============================
0403 -
0404 - Summary/Objective
0405 -
040501 - {0001 Follow up
040502 -
040503 - I sent Rod an email on Nov 20 presenting some ideas on functionality
040504 - for a revamped SDS.

..


040505 -
040506 - I tried to get the email into Issued Documents for today (forget
040507 - trying to get it in for the actual day). What a pain! The editor is a
040508 - major nuisance.
040509 -

..


040510 - It took several tries to work out that the 'g' command places the
040511 - file at the first visible line on the screen rather than the line
040512 - where the cursor was positioned.
040513 -

..


040514 - Then lines that are wider than the screen are not handled well. I
040515 - think that Rod used the 'cut to file' command and then reinserted the
040516 - file indented. This didn't work for me because the command uses a
040517 - rectangle rather than lines. I would have been ahead to use the paste
040518 - from the DOS window. I would have been even further ahead to format
040519 - the entire file in MultiEdit and then use the window paste
040520 -

..


040521 - {1X7I Word wrap messes up when trying to indent lines. Characters
040522 - beyond the edge of the screen are lost using Alt F9. Wrapping isn't to
040523 - the list indent even when I used Ctrl D to enter a bullet. I tried the
040524 - F1 F1 F6 bullet, and that tried to do a double underline (did Rod
040525 - change that without telling me? It looks like it.)
040526 -

..


040527 - If we are going to bring documents into the system, we need *much*
040528 - better tools to do so. Possibly even external to SDS.
040529 -

..


040530 - The major headings were: (how can I copy them here? Use Window paste,
040531 - since there is no copy line(s) in the editor.
040532 -

..


040533 - The edited document closes when I use F5 to start a linek, Ctrl F6 to
040534 - get to the document, and  to set the link position. When I try
040535 - to do it for the next one, the document is not available using Ctrl
040536 - F6. It turns out that using a previous reference to open the document
040537 - work, but this is yucky.
040538 -

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040539 - {VQ9G Essential Features, ref DIT 1 885N
040540 -
040541 -
040542 - {GL9F Desirable Features, ref DIT 1 PPSY,
040543 -
040544 -
040545 - Accidental Features, ref DIT 1 PPUU
040546 -
040547 -
040548 - Features to Remove, ref DIT 1 PPVU
040549 -
040550 -
040551 -
040552 -
040553 -
0406 -

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

..

November 20, 2002

04 00074 61 02112201

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

Subject:

Functionality for New SDS

Rod,

I got to thinking, which can always be dangerous, and I have a few notions as a start.
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It is essential that we distinguish between elements of the SDS design that are essential and those that are accidents of the current implementation.
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Essential Features

Linking to specific locations in other records (and within the current record).

0 Easy access to related records.

Automatic linking based on context.

A chronological record.

Organic subject structure

Contacts for tracking people involved

Document management

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Desirable Features

Lists, bulleted and numbered

Headlines

Emphasis, bold, italic, underline

Automatic word wrapping

Spell checking

Anchors and links hidden by text? Certainly links can be placed under text if we decide to do so, but is there a reason to do so?

Information Mapping block structures including the specific and general tables.

Bulleted lists

Numbered lists

Specific tables

General tables

URL recognition and launch from them, as KeyNote does.

..
Accidental Features

All issues of format -- we should feel free to change record formatting in any way we choose so long as we create routines to upgrade existing SDS records. This specifically includes fixed length fields and fixed record locations where reasonable.

DOS short file names. Do not use names with spaces, but the files do not have to be restricted to DOS (8.3) names or numbers.

Keyboard layout -- this is a losing battle.

Representation -- ASCII files are excellent, but the presentation and editing do not have to look on screen the way the file exists on disk.

Navigation within the Subject Index -- search plus a tree implementation would be far better.

All codes -- the user shouldn't have to care how subjects, records, contacts, or anything else is represented, only how they are accessed.

..
Features to Remove

"Mystery meat" -- hot spots and areas that have no visible representation. This can be done as we move to graphical presentation.

..
Thanks,

Garold L. Johnson
dynalt@dynalt.com