Why cannot MSFT publish correct/updated info in MSDN and KB?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Howard Kaikow
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H

Howard Kaikow

Why cannot MSFT publish correct/updated info in MSDN and KB?

It is to MSFT's advantage to encourage us to migrate old code, and develop
new code, with .NET, so they need to take extra care when publishing
examples for us to follow.


The following is a simple example of such an error.

The MSDN library that ships with VS .NET has an article "creating Office
managed COM Add-ins with visual studio .NET" that demonstrates how to make a
VB .NET COM add-in using Powerpoint.See
ms-help://MS.MSDNQTR.2003FEB.1033/dnofftalk/html/office06062002.htm. The
article is also available the MSDN web site.

Since the article uses Powerpoint 2002, I booted to my system that has
Office XP and VS .NET 2002.
I obediently inserted the code from the article, and was disappointed to
find that I had to change 2 statements.

First, I had to change:
Imports PowerPoint.PpSlideLayout
to
Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.PpSlideLayout ' Modified by HK

Then I had to change
Dim objPresentation As PowerPoint.Presentation
to
Dim objPresentation As Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.Presentation '
Modified by HK

I then rebooted to my system that has Office 2003 and VS .NET 2003.
Other than replacing the Powerpoint reference, I do not recall further
problems.
 
* "Howard Kaikow said:
Since the article uses Powerpoint 2002, I booted to my system that has
Office XP and VS .NET 2002.
I obediently inserted the code from the article, and was disappointed to
find that I had to change 2 statements.

First, I had to change:
Imports PowerPoint.PpSlideLayout
to
Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.PpSlideLayout ' Modified by HK

Then I had to change
Dim objPresentation As PowerPoint.Presentation
to
Dim objPresentation As Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.Presentation '
Modified by HK
Click to expand...

Maybe there is a project-wide import on 'Microsoft.Office.Interop' missing?
 
Yes.

But my point is why MSFT does not check out/correct such articles/help.

There's nothing simpler than running the code prepared for an article, then
making sure that the code is correctly put in the article.

And, when incorrect info gets in a Help file, it often does not get
corrected.
I've got a good example of his, if I can find it. I'll check whether problem
was corrected in Help in latest version of product.
I'll be happily surprised if it was corrected.
 
There's nothing simpler than checking ones own code before releasing it to
the customer, but how often does one get a call the same day, only to
discover that there is something wrong with the program?

The people at Microsoft are only human, like the rest of us. It's
frustrating, I know, but we have all been there. If you find a problem,
report it. Do you fix problems you don't know about? If no one tells you
about a problem, do you go looking for it? I'm sure you have better things
to do.

I'm not having a go, but I am realistic about producing quality software -
I've been trying to do it for long enough.

Charles


Howard Kaikow said:
Yes.

But my point is why MSFT does not check out/correct such articles/help.

There's nothing simpler than running the code prepared for an article, then
making sure that the code is correctly put in the article.

And, when incorrect info gets in a Help file, it often does not get
corrected.
I've got a good example of his, if I can find it. I'll check whether problem
was corrected in Help in latest version of product.
I'll be happily surprised if it was corrected.
Click to expand...
by
HK
Click to expand...
Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint.Presentation
 
* "Howard Kaikow said:
But my point is why MSFT does not check out/correct such articles/help.
Click to expand...

Maybe no bug has been reported yet?
There's nothing simpler than running the code prepared for an article, then
making sure that the code is correctly put in the article.
Click to expand...

ACK. It's even worser for translated versions of the articles.
And, when incorrect info gets in a Help file, it often does not get
corrected.
I've got a good example of his, if I can find it. I'll check whether problem
was corrected in Help in latest version of product.
I'll be happily surprised if it was corrected.
Click to expand...

I have reported some bugs for the MSDN documentation using the email
address that can be found on bottom of the MSDN pages (local
installation), and I hope they will fix the bugs.
 
Herfried K. Wagner said:
I have reported some bugs for the MSDN documentation using the email
address that can be found on bottom of the MSDN pages (local
installation), and I hope they will fix the bugs.
Click to expand...

I was saying that back in the beta process. Every chance I got I made a
point to suggest that it is very important that they make sure the documentation
matches the runtime responses. That was in fact where I spent most of my
time during the betas. The documentation we get is sparse as it is, even so
little mistakes can cause a significant amount of wasted effort over time.

I hope everyone does as you indicate and provides feedback on the mistakes
they do find. Ten minutes of providing feedback may save an hour for the
first ten people who see the corrected version, and more time, considering
all those who follow....

LFS
 
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