Re: BPCS Docs

fkolmann@revlon.com.au writes:

>  It is a rare bird that can write code that works well, 
>  is simple, is clear, and can also write a
>  good clear specification, and a user guide.

There used to be an MIS professional called a "technical writer."

The programmer got the stuff to work well.  Between programmer & writer & 
data from the original systems analysis before the program was started ... we 
get all the known scenarios & screen print images ... the technical writer 
produces the user guide.  This person is not a programmer, but a combination 
of business analyst & effective communicator.

Project management software can tell us how recently software was upgraded, 
then compare that with the documentation to see if it is up-to-date with 
latest modifications.

As it became practical for programmers to take over role of systems analyst & 
other MIS functions, some job responsibilities got dropped & one of them was 
how best to deliver documentation to the end users.

Maintaining good documentation adds to the cost of supporting software, and 
to its value.  There is the perception that a lot of people do not make 
productive use of the documentation that exists, and thus the profit from 
investing in documentation is less than that from investing in the 
application, so the documentation needs to be priced separately, or the 
copyright owner's rules need to be adjusted to encourage 3rd parties to add 
to the wealth of available documentation.

Al Macintyre  ©¿©

Y2K is not the end of my universe, but a re-boot of that old Chinese curse.
The road to success is always under construction.
When in doubt, read the manual, assuming you can find the right one.
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