Re: Flow Charting and Technical Writers

[Wendy Phillips <wendy -at- SYNERGEX -dot- COM>]

> Do software technical writers often have to flow chart the system they
> are creating documentation on?  I would ordinarily assume that any
flow
> chart (i.e., logical flow chart, data flow diagram, etc.) would be
> created by developers and systems analysts and then given to the
> technical writer.  However, I have always had to create these myself.
> Existing flow charts were either non-existent or unusable.
>
> I have read numerous books on technical writing and none has even
> mentioned flow charting as a TW task.  Yet this is often one of the
most
> important things that I have to do.
>
> I seek answers to the above for career planning reasons.
>
>               Tony Markatos
>
> ______________________________________________________
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Often?  How about always?  I consider flowcharting processes very
important to the documentation of any product.  If you write programmer
reference guides, you need to flowchart both the way the software works
and how it fits together with other software tools.  For end-user
documentation, you need to flowchart the process of how the user uses
the software.  Frequently, these flowcharts are printed in part of your
manual, but you should always make one.  Creating a flowchart will
clarify your thoughts, help you get organized, and create a deliverable
you can check with your SMEs (to be sure you've grasped the big picture
of how the product works).
Obviously, I'm pro-flowcharts,
HTH,
Wendy
wendy -at- synergex -dot- com