Robert McLaws: FunWithCoding.NET

ScrollingGrid 2.0 RC1 Released

I've just sent out the e-mails to all of our ScrollingGrid customers with test copies of ScrollingGrid 2.0. This has been a long time coming, and I'm very excited about reaching this milestone. My partners and I still have a lot of work to do on the Road to RTM, but we're well on our way. This release is private, but it marks that we're almost ready for public release, which should come in about two weeks at this point. That is always subject to change, but I'm pretty confident that we'll get there.

This release is one of the reasons I've been pretty quiet lately. Truth be told, I'm not online much anymore. I've been doing most of my work at Starbucks, where I am not distracted by a twisted need to stay up-to-date on blog entries as they are posted. We've been sitting on this ScrollingGrid 2.0 code for so long that I just couldn't stand it any longer. I need to get it out there so that I can sleep again.

August is going to be a very exciting time. I'll have a whole slew of new things coming online.

Documenting .NET Components

I feel the need, once again, to preface this entry with a few disclaimers. One: this is my opinion. Two: I'm not just saying that this stuff sucks, I'm trying to be constructive with the criticism so that problem areas can be improved. Three: It's a much-needed venting of frustration. Please interpret as such.

The past week has been a crash course in building Combined Help Collections for MSHelp2. For the number of people building .NET components out there, there seems to be a severe shortage of information. Fortunately, third party tools and Microsoft's own code come to the rescue one again.

So you want to know the best way to learn how to integrate with VS.NET's help? Same way you use Reflector to learn how stuff works in .NET... decompile it. Helpware's FAR can decompile any MSHelp2 collection into the source files. You can then take those files apart for examples on how to create "See Also" sections and what-not. Best way to go IMO... just don't rip off content. That's what <MSHelp:link> tags are for ;).

MSHelp2 is a pretty slick system. It has a bunch of nifty ways that it hides and filters code based on certain tags. Once you get the hang of it, editing the files is a snap. My favorite editor? You guessed it: FrontPage 2003. It's quick, it's easy, and it has Dynamic Web Templates. A big plus for keeping the layouts simple.

Unfortnately, the list of what I don't like is longer than the list of what I do. I'd build some tools myself, but I don't have the time. First on my "Man this is more difficult than it has to be list" is Helpware's FAR. It's a great tool, and it gets the job done, but it's as complicated to use as MSHelp2 itself. The UI is very poorly organized, to put it nicely. It's fairly obvious that the developers (not to knock them, since they're fellow MVPs) are conflicted over it's purpose. The different utilities pop up in separate windows (instead of a unified Workshop interface) and it's INCREDIBLY difficult to navigate. I spent my first 3 hours with it banging my head against the desk. At the very leats, I should be able to set a profile saying whether or not I'm working the the old-school CHMs or the new HxS files.

Also, working with the HxT (Table of Contents) files is way harder than it has to be. I'd like to see the UI cleaned up a lot. Also extremely confusing is the fact that you have to generate a completely separate set of collection files if you want to plug-in the help file into other collections (Like the MS.VSCC). The documentation on this is completely confusing for newbies, and it took me almost 2 days to completely figure it out. I'd like to think that I'm pretty smart, but it kinda sucks when your tools make you feel like a complete moron. Makes me want to be a carpenter... my hammer doesn't make me feel stupid.

But the biggest problem lies, again, with Microsoft. To use FAR and NDOC, you have to install the Visual Studio Help Integration Kit 2003, aka VSHIK. The problem is, their documentation about writing documentation is HORRIBLE. Ironic, isn't it? It doesn't even follow the conventions that the VS.NET docs do. They combine several subjects into a single topic, and then they don't even explain that part very well. There is not a hierarchial reference of HTML tags for use on MSHelp2 HTML files, nor is there any guidance on how to create layouts. Basically, IMO it was not written with the end user in mind, and to that end, it's practically worthless. I'm sorry VSHIK team.... the compiler is great, and you guys are trying. I won't mince words: you have more work to do.

At the end of the day, it's no wonder why more .NET components do not have integrated help. Microsoft makes it easy to build the components, but they make it next to impossible to get them to commercial quality. At least not to the little guys that make up the bulk of the potential in this market segment. Microsoft supposedly wants to facilitate the creation of rich vendor markets, but the only people they focus on are the people who write bloated components that can afford to have someone at the MS campus 2 weeks a month to work with them. It's not enough.

At any rate, the documentation is pretty much done, and it's time to move to the other place where MS dropped the ball: Installers. And don't talk to me about WiX either. It's not ready for prime time yet. It will be really neat... someday. Right now I still have to sumo-wrestle with VS.NET's deployment projects to do what I need them to do.

I hate that I always want to make everything better. Because part of me wants to drop what I'm doing and spend three weeks putting together a dirt simple tutorial for building Integrated Help, in terms that people that don't hold BAs in documentation can understand. But I don't have the time. At least, not if I want to get ScrollingGrid 2.0 out before the end of 2004. At least I won't run out of things to do for a while. I don't want to knock the guys that came before me too hard, but the industry has been around for 20 years, and this is where we're at? It's easy to write software, but it's next to impossible to build a decent business around it?

Geez.

Channel9 Tours MSR with Kevin Shofield

Scoble and Co. take us on a tour of the Microsoft Research facilities. It starts out with the extremely bright Lili Cheng from the Social Computing Group, talking about the app that made waves at PDC'03: Wallop. She still won't let me get an account, but that's another story for another day.

Next up we meet the guy that invented laser printers ("that's quite an interesting story", and it was.) and we see how messy extremely bright people really are.

Along the way we run into one of the guys that worked on the new MSN Search stuff. He might as well have been wearing one of those "Quiet Period" t-shirts from Google, cause he couldn't discuss much.

Finally, we get to the really good stuff. 10,000 motors on a 1 inch chip. That's, like, a lot of motors ;). And microprojectors. I'm waiting for the day when they can print out a massive sheet of those suckers, and build it across entire walls of rooms. Think displays like the main viewer on the Enterprise. If it costs $2-$3 to display to project a 1x1 image, it would cost $26-$39K to cover my 8'x11' bedroom wall. Where would that be useful for? Well, if you ask Rory, his answer would be: "For porn, of course. The porn industry is responsible for every invention of the 20th Century." If you think I'm joking, ask him how we got to the moon in 1969. I, on the other hand, would use it for my Xbox. And downloading movies from Netflix. and Windows XP MCE.

Done Blogging? Try Flogging!

What is a Flog? Well, according to the Republican National Convention's website at GOP.com, it's a Fact Log. And what is GOP.com's Flog running on? None other than .Text. I had a hint based on the layout, but my suspicion was confirmed by clicking on the "Flogger" link under the definition. You're taken to http://www.gop.com/flog/Skins/Marvin3/newpost.aspx. Marvin3 is one of the skins that comes with .Text.

Pretty Cool.

You Can't Judge a Party By Its' Software, Or Can You?

Why The Redistributable?

Sun Offers Solution for "v1 Uncertainty Theorem" - Screw Version Numbers

What is the "v1 Uncertainty Theorem". It's a term I've created to explain a common phenomenon in the sofware industry. It states "The rate of adoption for any software product will be minimal as long as it is still the first major release." In a nutshell, it means that harly anyone uses v1.0 of a product, no matter how cool it is.

So how did Sun combat this? They said "to hell with the versioning system", and changed J2SE 1.5 to J2SE 5.0. [via Slashdot]

In response, Interscape has decided to rename the upcoming ScrollingGrid 2.0 release to ScrollingGrid 9.0. Just kidding.

This is ridiculous. Who taught Scott McNealy how to count? Oh yeah, these are the same guys who lied on the Java benchmarks. Right, my bad, I almost forgot. 

Initial VS2005B1 Feedback: Efficient CD Use

So I've downloaded all of the VS2005 ISOs, and they're all burned to CDs. Here's my first bit of feedback. Microsoft: Why did you make a 3MB ISO (AmberPoint)? Isn't that a waste of, among other things, a CD? My suggestion for the final release is to combine the Visio Tools, AmberPoint Express, and the Remote Debugger into one CD. Make it the "Visual Studio 2005 Extras" disc, and bring the CD count down from 8 to 6.

Hey come on. If that's the only thing I have to complain about at this point, I'd say you guys have done a pretty killer job.

VS2005 on MSDN - Gentlemen, Start Your Downloads!