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Subject:Re: Need examples of system documentation From:Ed <glassnet -at- gmail -dot- com> To:deltaskye -at- yahoo -dot- com Date:Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:39:38 -0400
On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 11:19 AM, deltaskye <deltaskye -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> The engineer has asked me to provide him some examples of what the documentation might look like. I have all kinds of stuff generated when other customers followed an organized SDLC as they were designing a system. I'm looking for ideas on how to frame the documentation as the engineer and I try to document a system that someone else designed (and who is no longer available).
>
> I don't know if the following is helpful, but here are some of the topics the engineer has suggested:
>
> External data interfaces
> Oracle database management system
> BEA configuration
> System backup/restore
One way to proceed is to document the system with data flow diagrams,
at increasing levels of detail. For instance, the overview diagram
will contain a very generalized view, probably showing not much more
than you've described above. Then you define each block in detail, and
so on.
If you go in this direction, you'll probably think of mind maps, or
network diagrams, or even top-down approach. This contrasts with
having a documentation framework, and trying to find all the pieces as
you move along, in a bottom-up approach.
Since this is a document for engineers, admins, and probably
management, I think you will do well following this path for a while,
and then you will discover several ways to break things into chapters
and topics, as we humans like to see.
--
Ed
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