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: Documenting Software in a SDLC From:"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- att -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 26 Oct 2001 15:23:48 -0400
> A couple of days ago I happened upon the best of the bunch, an e-book by
> Edward B Toupin. The book can be purchased online for $7 (US) and can be
> obtained from the following site. The book (90 pages) is delivered in PDF
> format with an additional zip file containing 16 (mostly) useful document
> templates. The site is:
>http://www.onlinebooksinc.com/NewFiles/edtoupin.html
> You can view a section of the book for free, including the Table of
> Contents.
I took a look at the book, but I don't understand why most of the bulleted
lists are not introduced by text that would put the lists in some logical
context. I can see nothing in the text preceding the bulleted lists (except
those lists that are properly introduced) that gives the reader any clue
about what the bulleted list is trying to convey.
For example, on page 25 the following section appears:
3.5 Post-Development
Once the product has been developed and fully tested, it's ready for
packaging and
distribution. This is where your documentation comes into play for the
internal staff
and for the users. You'll need to determine the best possible documentation
deliverables depending on the company's packaging and deployment.
At this point, it's important to be able to accept input from the customer
using bug
tracking, feedback forms, customer service, and User Acceptance Tests. As
problems are encountered, the problem reports are presented to development
and
the SCM process is used to resolve the issues.
· Installation
· Plan installation.
· Distribute software.
· Install software.
· Obtain acceptance of software in operational environment.
· Operation and Support
· Provide technical assistance and consulting.
· Maintain support request log and change management.
· Maintenance
· Reapply SLCM as required.
· Document changes with Feature Update Document.
· Retirement of Existing System
· Notify user.
· Conduct parallel operations.
· Retire old system.
<end example>
Is it me, or is there something fundamentally wrong here?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Announcing new options for IPCC 01, October 24-27 in Santa Fe,
New Mexico: attend the entire event or select a single day.
For details and online registration, visit http://ieeepcs.org/2001
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
