[Octave-bug-tracker] [bug #35157] Naive users baffled by "complex scalar type invalid as index value"

[Clem]

Follow-up Comment #14, bug #35157 (project octave):

I very gratified that so many people are interested in this issue!

I didn't know about the command


help --list


I would suggest that the  --list  option that be shown when you just type
*help*.  It's not now, at least in 3.4.0:


help
>> help

  For help with individual commands and functions type

    help NAME

  (replace NAME with the name of the command or function you would
  like to learn more about).

  For a more detailed introduction to GNU Octave, please consult the
  manual.  To read the manual from the prompt type

    doc

  GNU Octave is supported and developed by its user community.
  For more information visit http://www.octave.org.


(Should I make a bug report for that?)

Also....  I don't know how to get this done, but the binary builds are often
behind and/or incomplete.   3.4.0 is the most recent Mac binary and it comes
with the *doc* command inactivated. (I think Jordi told me that.)


>> doc true
info: Cannot find node `Top'.
info: Cannot find node `Top'.



I know this is a sensitive subject, but I found it was not easy building
Octave on my own, which makes it even more important to make the latest
binaries available to those students taking the two Stanford Classes as well
as others.

A few of the students in ml-class.org struggled because in the past semester
because only Windows binary available was the older Windows version 3.2.4. 
I'm glad to see 3.4.3 is now available for Windows from Octave Forge, which is
just in time for the new Semester classes for ml-class.org and pgm-class.org. 
I note that the Mac binary is still at 3.4.0, but I won't complain as that's
pretty close to 3.4.3.


I'll be taking pgm-class.org, so I will endeavor to relay any useability
issues to the bug list.

I will say that my impression is that most of the students were pretty happy
with using Octave.  So, on behalf of my fellow students taking ml-class.org,
thanks a lot for building a great system for us to use.  It made a big
difference in our learning of Machine Learning.





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