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What happened here is that "Richard" once again postulated his lame claim
that DFDs are the be-all and end-all of technical writing,
Generic Richard:
What I have stated is:
* Structured writing is the key skill set of a technical writer.
* Structured writing, minor formating issues aside, is really all about analysis. That is that it is about coming up with a properly structured understanding of the functionality of the product, and then letting that understanding guide the writing process.
* There ain't no better way of doing a structured analysis than with structured systems analysis (i.e., data flow diagrams).
Lauren Stated:
yet he never relates his claim to industry-accepted standards of documentation,
Generic Richard:
Your right . The industry-accepted standards lack the necessary rigor. In task analysis proper id of the interrelationships between essential tasks is the lithmus test of completedness. Only data flow diagrams offer this.
Lauren Stated:
nor does he support his claim with a validly supported argument
Generic Richard:
If you want me to quote the experts, from what I see, I am the only remaining person who is aware of the unique benefits of data flow diagrams. There used to be others, but, as one writer confideded to me, the "politics" got too heavy.
Lauren:
In my 17 years documentation career, I have never seen in person, nor used a DFD
Generic Richard:
I never said that DFD are popular. I fact, I have often stated the opposite.
Lauren:
and I now
run my own business that I built with my documentation career. So from
experience, DFDs are pointless.
Richard Lewis:
Make that from your experience.
Lauren:
Unfortunately, your valid question kinda got lost in the crossfire. I am
also interested in an answer to your question; however, your question was
really vague, so some clarity or at least specifity of what you meant by
"software documentation" may yield better results.
Generic Richard:
If someon asked me a question, I am at a loss as to what it is. If the people who swore in emailing me or who in any way implied a false acqusations about me asked me a question, they are not going to get an answer.
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