Re: Survey Question

[Sean Wheller <sean -at- inwords -dot- co -dot- za>]

On Wednesday 26 July 2006 19:31, Diana Ost wrote:
> I have a question for the group:
>  
> How many of you have been asked to document a software application, but
> were not expected to need access to that software?
>  
> It's happened to me a few times where I had to explain that I can't
> document what I can't see. I was wondering how prevalent this attitude
> is from businesses?

It can happen. Best when it does is to get even closer to the software 
architect and do the job of writing the software specs, etc. If you can, get 
access to the code. This will give you a good understanding of the 
functionality. From this stage you can start to get an understanding of what 
the interface of application layer will do. You may not be able to write the 
user manual to the fullest extent as the interface design often changes 
during development, but you will be able do the structuring, concepts and 
some of the feature or functional descriptions.

In some cases where you cannot get access to source code, the work can be done 
totally in the blind if you have a very patient and communicative team.
-- 
Ask me about the Monkey.

Sean Wheller
Technical Author
sean -at- inwords -dot- co -dot- za
+27-84-854-9408
http://www.inwords.co.za
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