Re: getting info

["Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- STARBASECORP -dot- COM>]

From Herm Holtz...

> Among the many observations about the typical problems of tech writers
> have been many about difficulties in getting information. In my own time
> in tech writing, inasmuch as the bulk of the work in thsoe days was in
> writing manuals about hardware, we were often compelled to rely on our
> own analyses of engineering schematic drawings of the equipment. What are
> some of the typical sources of data today--for writing a software manual,
> for example? What would be the worst case--e.g., depending on your
> ability to read the code? Do you get bug reports? Beta test results? Etc.

The bulk of my information comes from my own investigation
of the product... Play with it and see what it does. Often,
the true behavior of the product is vastly different from
the original product specifications or prototypes.

I am sometimes forced to rely on information obtained from
programmers. I get uncomfortable about this -- I have learned
to distrust a) their abilities (in general) to communicate
the product's functions and b) their perception of the kind
of information that I really need.

For example, when I was documenting a feature that had yet to be
implemented, the programmer told be in would "prompt for <function>
on exit". I documented the fact that a dialog with yes/no buttons
appeared. Not the case at all -- the dialog box jumped up and
hit you in the face!

Programmer: That's not what it does
Me: Then it's not a *prompt*

I've seen products that were spec'd and prototyped to death,
but when release time came, the final version bared little
resemblence to the original idea.

Do I get bug reports/beta test results. Yes. Are they
significant? Not always... Not even close. Nothing I've
seen can compare to hands-on.

Sue Gallagher
StarBase Corp, Irvine CA
sgallagher -at- starbasecorp -dot- com