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If you have not done this before, you might take a look at Document! X from
Innovasys. Depending on the language used to create these COM objects,
Document! X could be a help to you. If the COM objects are written in Visual
Basic, Document! X is a good fit. At the very least, the examples available
on the Innovasys site could be useful to give you some ideas of what
direction to go in.
System wide procedures and functions get you into other areas. You could
benefit from creating object model diagrams (using something like Visio),
and perhaps also from tools already available because the developers use
them. Is it a Rational shop? Does the system involve a database? If so,
which one? Procedural documentation in itself is endless, and hinges on the
state of development at any given moment. Often procedure documentation is
the most short lived of all technical documentation. And as for function, I
suppose you mean functional specification? If this has not already been
documented for a system in production, then you might want to ask some
questions of the folks who built it. Functional specification tends to be
written after the requirements phase but before the development phase.
Good luck,
Andrew Lakritz
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew T. Brooke [mailto:abrooke -at- pathcom -dot- com]
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 3:26 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Documenting COM objects
I have the following project to do next month:
"Design, develop, and update required technical documentation of COM
objects, procedures and functions of the XYZ system" (name changed to
protect the innocent!)
I think I have a fair idea of what COM objects are - here's one description
I found, which may apply:
Component Object Model (COM)
A model for binary code developed by Microsoft. The Component Object
Model (COM) enables programmers to develop objects that can be accessed by
any COM-compliant application. Both OLE and ActiveX are based on COM.
I've documented API services in the past and think this may be similar. Is
there anyone who has document COM objects who can offer me any practical
advice?
Thanks,
Andrew Brooke
abrooke -at- pathcom -dot- com
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