Re: Ada Reference Manual 2012 in info format

["Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>]

"Jerrid Kimball" <jerrid@kimball.co> wrote in message 
news:jnla59$h9e$1@munin.nbi.dk...
...
> I'm slowly getting to putting some modern-looking versions on the web 
> based on the work of a fellow #ada IRC channel visitor.  I hope to get to 
> it soon.  I'll keep CLA informed!

I suppose some people need to have a pile of eye-candy before they're 
willing to use anything. Sad.

For the record, the design of the Ada Standard HTML had two main criteria: 
(1) Look as similar to the PDF as possible; and (2) use only basic HTML 4 so 
that works on as many devices and browsers as possible. Those goals prevent 
the use of any significant eye-candy. (So does the desire to have these 
things work for people who insist on safe browsing - no scripts, no flash, 
no crap.)

The only changes I would make today is (1) more modern button designs (I 
lifted those from Windows NT 3.1, so they're a bit stale. :-) -- but 
unfortunately I'm neither an artist nor have much visual imagination, so I 
have no better ideas, and I haven't found anything better in the programs 
I've used (the LibreOffice icons make less sense than the ones in the 
Standard). And (2), I'd prefer to bound the maximum column width -- but 
that's not a possibility in CSS 1 or 2. (You can easily make a *fixed* 
column, but that would prevent using the Standard on small devices like my 
phone - a non-starter.)

The yellow background that you claimed to hate was done to differentiate the 
Standard from other pages that you're likely to have open in your browser: 
compiler documentation, ASIS, the Ada Rationales, etc. That came from other 
users that wanted to be able to see at a glance that they were looking at 
the Ada Standard and not some other page. I'd hate to lose that (not that we 
will in the "official" versions).

                                         Randy.