Yet another new thing

[Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

This new job of mine is just chock full of surprises.
Now the chief system architect says that included with
the other documentation, we wants a data point map. I
had never heard of such a thing before. He wants a
document - no definite form, apparently - that shows
where each point of data in the database is used in
every other part of the system.

(Most of the finished system will be done in Java, but
parts will be in C++.)

For instance, suppose you have a data table named
"ShouldI" and in that table is a field named "RunAway"
with a value of "HellYes." He wants something that
shows every method in every class in the entire system
where the "ShouldI > RunAway: HellYes" data point is
used in any way. Just doing a text search and listing
the files isn't good enough; he wants a layout on
paper (Visio tree diagram, outline in a Word document,
some form) that goes practically down to the line
number in each file. He tells me this is something
entirely different from ERDs or UML diagrams. 

I've never before heard of a data point map, and while
I've started searching for info on the Web, I would
appreciate any pointers anyone has on how to do such a
thing. Any suggestions on tools for doing this?

I figure that code comments could be excluded from the
areas searched for data points. Since a comment
doesn't really use the data point, it's not relevant
whether you include that location in the map. Does
that sound right?




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