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Subject:Re: Bugs in Documentation From:Grant Hogarth <grant -at- ONYXGFX -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 6 Jun 1996 12:09:36 -7
Ruth Glaser <ruthg -at- GORETEK -dot- COM> writes:
> I'm particularly interested in how other writers handle bugs in hard copy,
> particularly in documents that are large and costly to reproduce.
> 1. How do you define documentation bugs (incorrect information, omissions,
> style inconsistencies, etc.)?
Exactly... also (different from omissions) "things to add when we get
time the next time around if the product hasn't changed so much as to
make it useless", and "changes to manual needed because the ****
engineers/marketers/etc. changed things *after* we went to print"
> 2. Do you rank them in order of significance when determining if they'll be
> fixed for the next release?
Fixes are in order:
Fatal Errors
Quick and easys (clipped graphics, bad x-refs, minor style things, etc.)
Non-fatal errors
Omissions
> 3. Do you let known bugs slide when pressed for time?
Yup. "Poor content/formatting is better than no content."
Now... Fatals and mission criticals will get fixed, but the
rest...sorry.
(Took me a *long* time to come to terms with that concept.)
> 4. Any other thoughts on the subject?
*I* like to know how other folks *Get* the bugs in the docs reported
to them... and how the bugfix gets reported back upstream.
Grant
=====================================
Grant Hogarth, Information Developer, Onyx Graphics Corp. Midvale, UT
grant -at- onyxgfx -dot- com WWW:http://www.onyxgfx.com FTP:ftp://ftp.onyxgfx.com
#include <std_disclaim>
Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand
things that won't work.
-- Thomas A. Edison
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