[izpack-devel] Changes in ShortcutPanel / UserInputPanel

[Elmar Grom]

Hi everybody,

I have a little grievance to share with you all and would appreciate if at
least the folks that made changes to some of my code would pay attention.

First of all, I appreciate the efforts you all put in to maintain IzPack and
to improve its functionality as well as its appearance. I think it is clear
to us all that in many cases this kind of work does not so much involve
writing a lot of new code from the ground up but to make modifications to
one's own code or code that someone else has written some time ago. So here
comes the thing I would like to write a little about:

   Not everyone takes to changes made to their work in the same way.

... stepping on my soap box ...

As far as I am concerned there are no problems with folks making changes to
my stuff, except for one thing: I would like to see quality preserved or
preferably enhanced. While I can't see anything wrong with the code changes
or stability of the code, that is not where my work nor my quality standards
end.

At the time I contributed my work, I took great pains to make everything as
good as it could possibly be. That also included user DOCUMENTATION! At the
time I even went so far as to give the entire IzPack user manual a complete
work-over.

While quite some effort was invested to re-format the user manual since that
time, it seems that the actual information contained in it did not keep pace
with changes in the project. At least, after upgrading to the latest version
of IzPack something on the ShortcutPanel did not work as expected and I had
to dig in the code to find the answer. It works fine, it's just that the
user manual makes no mention of the existence of the feature in question.
Frankly, that makes me a bit unhappy.

... getting off my soap box ...


Ok, this much about what bugs me, so here is my offer, not for the first
time I might add.

If you make changes to my code (or any other code in IzPack for that matter)
that need to be reflected in the user manual and you do not feel up to the
task of making the changes in the manual (no problem, we are not all native
English speakers and most of us are not novelists...), then please e-mail me
with all the necessary information. I am happy to change the existing text
accordingly and to write new text where necessary. BTW, I am likely to mail
back some questions to make sure the manual has got it right. That's
perfectly normal, so please don't be bothered by it.

Also, as far as you remember the changes made so far. Please send me this
information as well, so that I can bring the manual up to date.

	Elmar