TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Error management in documentation From:"Tony Lupton" <T -dot- Lupton -at- astracon -dot- com -dot- au> To:Kevin McLauchlan <KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com>, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Wed, 20 Oct 1999 17:26:34 +1000
Kevin McLauchlan responded to somebody's suggestion to use the defect
database used by developers.
> I've tried asking all developer groups to employ keywords
> to flag the user-doc guy (me...) but that didn't work.
> When I attempted to rely on the keywords for searching and
> filtering, I missed some BIG stuff that should have been
> documented.
We do use the same database as the developers, with two mods that allow
doco to make best use of the db:
- We have a component for documentation (ie defects etc raised directly
agains the documentation)
- We also have a flag on every defect for "affects documentation". when
an engineer resolves an entry in the database, they decide if it needs
documenting. TWs get the opportunity to say no it doesn't , but we don't
have to search the entire database for things that might need
documenting.
Using the same database is a good thing from a whole project
perspective, as it allows project management a bigger picture view than
just development.
Tony
--
Tony Lupton * Astracon (Australia) Pty Ltd
Learning Products Team Leader * * 303 Coronation Drive
Email: t -dot- lupton -at- astracon -dot- com -dot- au * PO Box 1656
Phone: +61 7 3368 6926 Milton Qld 4064
Fax: +61 7 3368 6999 * Australia
