Tinderbox Manual

Would it possible to generate the PDF version of the Manual with slightly larger font. Using an iPad to read the text is quite hard (for my eyes). I have an iMac, but having both a Tinderbox file and the Manual open at the same time is quite hard. The preferred way, for me, would be to use the iPad for the manual and the iMac for the Tinderbox file.

There is no ‘manual’ has such. Are you talking about the app Help, or some other document. I’m not sure how app Help (a Os-wide Apple feature) works in regards to size. The PDFs accessible from the Tinderbox Help menu are normal PDFs and open in Preview where the text is easily scaled.

Aha, in the app Help, with input focus in the Help window, use ⌘+= (Cmd & equals key) to make text larger and ⌘± (Cmd & minus/hyphen key) to make it smaller. Or ⌘+0 (Cmd & zero key) to reset to default size. These are actually OS-wide commands IIRC, but the issue is to make sure you click on the Help window before applying the shortcut. However, I believe there is no way to do this scaling via a menu, as clicking the app view menu sets focus back on the app window.

If you are not referring to app Help, could you please specify in more detail exactly the document to which you refer (i.e. from where you got it/opened it). :slight_smile:

Slightly behind the times but perhaps what you’re looking for: Tinderbox Help as a pdf

I´m referting to this Tinderbox: Downloads and the subheading “Just the Manual”. The Manual is v8.6 but I can cope with the difference to V9. At my level anything goes.

Ok, that is a PDF like any other. Same shortcuts as described above work in Safari, Preview, etc. The controls are normally listed in such apps on the View menu.

Yes, I understand that, but it also means that you have to scroll the image horizontally all the time. My original question was if it would be possible to re-render the PDF using a larger font. The result of such operation would yield more pages in the document, but also that the document would be easier to read than the current one.

If I recall, the manual is set in 13pt body text. How much bigger does it need to be?

Difficult to say. I am using a 12.9" iPad Pro. The PDF index-page has a font-size that is too large (in my view) but looking at the first text-page (page 8 of 135) I would say that the font-size for the header “Introduction to Tinderbox” is probably a good choice for body text.

Ok, that will be big and seems the wrong fix here. I attach a Zip file holding the HTML fill (and CSS, images) etc used to make the (v.8.6.0†) PDF manual: v8.6.0 HTML manual.zip (2.9 MB)

Unzip and open the HTML file You can then zoom the view and the text will re-flow (unlike in a PDF). There will be no Table of Contents as that was created by the wkhtmktopdf script that creates the PDF from thee above HTML.

From recollection, everything in the manual is in aTbRef which is all in HTML already. :slight_smile:

†. It’s the last version of the source TBX file for app Help that I hold. The PDF creation was ca side experiment of my own.

Thank you for all your effort on this subject and thank you for the files. I used DEVONthink to create a PDF-file that I can use on the iPad. So far everything looks good.

Of course I use the aTbRef, it is invaluable when you are close to know what your looking for, but not just there. I find it harder to find overviews and structure material. Listening to Michael Becker and his words to “trust the system” and just dive in and produce is a viable alternative, but I would like to have a better general knowledge about the system, preferred structure (if any) and the use of the different options available (agents, stamps, rules etc). I use the Cookbook just as an example to understand how its structured, trying to find reasons why its done in this way or that way, how rules and actions and a lurking agent form the final product. My assumption on this is that the creator of the Cookbook is a person with deep knowledge and it should pay off to study the makeup of the file.

Again, thank you for all your help.

I think that is a misunderstanding. The cookbook was designed and started by @eastgate and then updated/expanded by me (@mwra). It was essentially a set of unit tests showing inputs output. But those test is now better duplicated and better cross-referenced in aTbRef.

Experience over the years shows that just setting a small goal is a much better way of betting started than constantly re-reading the various descriptive resources. Why? The app is a toolbox. Few users need every tool/technique to do the things they want. Thus by concentrating on a task, you start learing the tools you need.

There is not correct way to do an overall task; not least there are new push-button “do my task for me” buttons as you might find in MS Office for example. The idea here is you use the app’s features in a combination that offer you (we all do things a little differently) the optimum balance of style.

The only bad choice for learning, IMO, is trying to replicate behaviours learned in another app. If they are merely familiar in terms of an expected outcome but you don’t know how the process works. this generally fails as you don’t know the process to re-construct.

So, think of the “how do I get to my result” and less “how do I get something that looks like an imagined result”/

What are you wanting to do, using Tinderbox? If we concentrate on that it might help you break out of the cycle of pre-reading but not starting.

All your fellow users here have gone through this same unfamiliar starting stage when first using the app so there are no dumb questions. :slight_smile:

I hear you and it will eventually go your way, but still, I want some more understanding of components of the toolbox. I do the manual and then I will get myself a project and go from there.

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