Elements in a Tech Reference Manual

["Nancy E. Kaminski" <nancykam -at- MEDIAONE -dot- NET>]

I've just been given the task of writing a technical reference manual for an
application. The system is a GUI interface that displays patient and lab
result information that resides on a mainframe. Basically, it's the pretty,
easy-to-use program that caregivers use to get read-only patient
information; the actual info is entered via several different mainframe
applications at our hospitals.

I've always written end-user manuals; this is a first for me. What basic
elements should be in such a reference? In the meeting today we discussed
having sections on system architecture, troubleshooting, how the database is
organized, and something called "push printing" (which I'll learn about next
week). The development team doesn't really know what else they may want, and
I'm supposed to come up with a list.

Any suggestions of what the typical structure of this type of book is would
be welcome!

Thanks!

===============================================
Nancy E. Kaminski , Technical Writer/Editor
Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis, MN USA
(612) 672-6882 phone, (612) 672-6083 fax
nkamins1 -at- fairview -dot- org | nancykam -at- mediaone -dot- net
"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so." -- Douglas Adams
===============================================

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=