Re: documenting desktop to web application
I've been asked to create user documentation for a
client's existing custom application . No problem. However, they want me to do this with the
understanding that they will be moving from this
stand-alone desktop application to a web application
in the next 18 months. One of the reason's they
want to document the app now, is to get down on
paper everything the application does, to aid them
in converting the application to a web app. - which
my company will also be doing.
A previous repondent suggested that you completely ignore the request to document the desktop application--!!?!--but I assume you can't do that. (Most of us wouldn't work for long, if we didn't do what our clients and employers asked of us.)
Lectures about how desktop apps are different from web-based apps are unhelpful when the person who hands you your check is waiting for an answer. Besides, it's quite possible to create a web-based app that works--from the user's point of view--exactly like a desktop app, especially when the desktop app is already there to serve as a model.
Identical behavior may even be a requirement of the web-based app.
Even if it's not, the company's users need documentation for the existing app, during the 18-month development of its replacement.
Assuming that you do need to meet this request, I'd recommend using an HTML-based help format. If the existing desktop app runs only on Windows, you can easily use the HTML files to create HTML Help.
With luck, you'll be able to use lots of the same files--maybe even with little alteration--as source for plain HTML help, JavaHelp, or some other Help delivery system. That choice will depend somewhat on the technology used to create the web-based application, but HTML is virtually guaranteed to be the right format for its help files. You may have to create your own TOC, index, and other navigation aids, but there are tools to make that easier, even if you end up designing a totally customized solution.
Have fun with this! Between the two help systems, it sounds like you've got a good long gig.
--David
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