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Subject:RE: Problems Documenting An Application From:kimber_miller -at- acs-inc -dot- com To:<pbw3172 -at- yahoo -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 22 Feb 2000 13:34:08 -0600
Paula:
Since you're documenting the whole system and there are no specs, (and if you
have the choice) I'd begin with a UI spec that describes the features of each
screen (window?). At the same time you're producing that, talk to the client
about the product's purpose. What are the use cases? What are the things that
people do with the software?
Just a simple list to start will help you get out from under the Overwhelm
you're in now, and you'll be able to go from there. The UI description that I
describe, above, will serve the client well as a spec stand-in.
Once you have the list of general use cases, working on the UI description will
help you decide just how many windows there are in each task, what the task
break-out is, etc.
Hopefully, one of these ideas will help.
What a growth experience! %-/
--Kimber
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Kimber Miller
kimber_miller -at- acs-inc -dot- com
Affiliated Computer Services
Dallas, Texas
214.887.7408
"This is the final test of a gentleman; his respect for those who can
be of no possible service to him."
--William Lyon Phelps
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My problem is that this application has SEVERAL screens and I don't know
where to begin. I have started with the main menu, printing each screen
out that falls under that one menu item. Then maybe I can get some type of
order from there. I have noticed that several screens duplicate so this is
causing problems as well. I figured that if I divided the manual up by
task (screens) based on the main menu options, it would be easier to
document.
The client says that they have no program specs to help me in determining
how many screens I have to work with here. Also, there is no existing help
to guide me on what I'm looking at here so I have to guess what field
descriptions mean.
Any suggestions would be DEEPLY appreciated in sorting out this mess.
