The ClarisDraw manual is significantly less bulky than the MacDraw Pro manual. Why is that, and what are the advantages and disadvantages?

This information was provided by Claris Corporation on 16 March 1998, and incorporated into Apple Computer's Tech Info Library.

ClarisDraw is the first Claris product to follow a new concept in documentation. Many customers told us that the typical product manual did not suit their needs, and therefore, they did not tend to use it. They wanted specific solutions to specific problems, while many user guides simply detailed each feature.

At the same time, it became clear that printed materials were getting more and more expensive to produce. Since some customers weren't using the printed documents that came with our products, Claris formulated a new approach.

Our research found that many customers are very happy with a versatile, well-designed electronic help system, especially when it is combined with a printed manual that is solutions-oriented rather than feature oriented.

For ClarisDraw 1.0, Claris implemented this new system of documentation. The ClarisDraw 1.0 User's Guide is significantly smaller than the one that shipped with its predecessor, MacDraw Pro; but by comparison, the ClarisDraw manual goes to much greater lengths to describe HOW to do things as opposed to simply reciting features.

What is not as readily apparent when you open the box, though, is the fact that the on-screen help that ships with ClarisDraw is dramatically different from the on-screen help that shipped with MacDraw Pro. The new on-screen help that ClarisDraw uses features interactive definitions (click on certain words and definitions appear on-screen); search by topic or article text; the ability to "retrace your steps" while looking at articles; the ability to view a table of contents or topics alphabetically; note-taking capability; and much more. You can also easily print any portion of the on-screen help that you want.

So we changed the way the User's Guide provide information, and we dedicated more resources to the on-screen help. While the manual details procedures, it frequently refers you to the on-screen help for specifics. The on-screen help is designed to be the place that you go for explanations of specific features; it is more comprehensive than the User's Guide. The User's Guide, however, does provide an excellent overall view of the product. The on-screen help and the User's Guide complement each other to provide you with the most assistance possible, obtained as easily as possible.