[TYPO3-doc] Reference of Typo Script

[Matthew Manderson]

Happy Sunday Elmar and Tyler!

>I agree that having more examples would probably be helpful to all, 
>but not in TSref.  As stated above it is a reference manual..I think 
>the majority of users - myself included - would find a new TSref full of 
>basic examples very frustrating to use and rather unwieldily!
Exactly! Hence the reason for the second volume to not change tsref at all
but to provide some additional missing knowledge.

I don't come from a programming or PHP background but I can PHP hack things
to do what I want. Clearly using TS fully requires an in depth
understanding of TS and PHP to be able to write extensions and therefore
take maximum advantage of TYPO3 generally.

The missing link in my mind appears to be this understanding of TS and how
it interacts with real life examples. 

"Betriebsblindheit" a bit like not being able to see the woods for all the
trees
:-)

Rather than blindly add a new document into the matrix I am thinking through
the right way to introduce this volume. I certainly could not write the
whole thing but getting it started would be fine.

I am concerned there are bigger documentation problems that get in the way.
Not having a uniform referencing system is a problem.  

There certainly seems to be the families of information:

1)Installation
2)Extension Manuals
3)References

and then currently we have say 4) Tutorials and 5) Core Documentation. These
two are more disjointed. Not in terms of the actual content but the way it
is presented in the library.

Anyway I am certainly not in a position to contemplate a major restructure
of documentation, the work is huge and the resources few and I am not in
the best position to organise. However a TSbyEX2 seems a suitable modern
document that could play a vital role if structured well.

>If you do this and need help please let me know if I can aid in some way.
Thanks.

For example, looking at the conditions section of TSREF there is no mention
of extending with the 'Extended TS Conditions' and no mention of if else
constructs which Joey has contributed some good examples. TSREF tells you
the facts but you need a lot more experience to construct advanced usage.
This advanced and practical usage is buried in the lists.

At this stage, I am assuming that you also agree the idea of a TSbyEX2 has
potential.  If so, what are your thoughts on the layout and collating the
content?

Enjoy!




Elmar Hinz wrote:

> Matthew Manderson schrieb:
>> I have sometimes found that complete beginners do have a useful
>> perspective on things simply because they are not already experienced and
>> familiar with the current practices.
>> 
> 
> I was thinking about a simlilar comment during writing the posting
> myself, but I didn't find a translation for "Betriebsblindheit" that
> would hit the spot.
> 
> But TS is not just the usual case. To really understand if there are
> differences between normal properties and functions for example, you
> need to study the sourcecode a bit. The question is not so trivial as
> it may seem on first glance. On syntax level a function is also a
> property. Properties are defined by data types. Some datatypes are
> defined by a function again.
> 
> If he is not a genious a beginner will need some weeks of experience
> with the behaviour of TS, before he gains a clear view in this field
> and could write profounded documentation. It is one of the points
> where the ambiguous namings are quite confusing.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Elmar