the paper discusses how the organization of technical writers vis-a-vis programmers significantly influences the effectiveness of the writer as user advocate. A writer can be treated as a peer to developers, but only ...
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the paper discusses how the organization of technical writers vis-a-vis programmers significantly influences the effectiveness of the writer as user advocate. A writer can be treated as a peer to developers, but only if the writer understands the technology they're writing about and helps to improve the product's ease of use. this can be achieved more easily in an environment where writers are more closely aligned organizationally with developers.
Our approach of rule-based refinement(1) provides a formal description for the stepwise system development based on Petri nets. Rules with a left-hand and a right-hand side allow replacing subnets in a given algebraic...
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ISBN:
(纸本)3540672613
Our approach of rule-based refinement(1) provides a formal description for the stepwise system development based on Petri nets. Rules with a left-hand and a right-hand side allow replacing subnets in a given algebraic high-level net system. the extension of these rules supports the preservation of system properties. In this paper we extend the preservation of safety properties significantly. We define rules, that introduce new safety properties. In our new approach we propose first the verification of properties at the moment they can be expressed and then their preservation further on. Hence, properties can be checked as long as the system is still small. Moreover, introducing properties allows checking these for the relevant subpart only. Changes that are required later on can be treated the same way and hence preserve the system properties. Hence, we have made a step towards a formal technique for the stepwise system development during analysis and design.
this paper proposes the integration of the documentation development process into the rational unified process (RUP), a formal development process for software applications. Specifically, the paper identifies (in RUP ...
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this paper proposes the integration of the documentation development process into the rational unified process (RUP), a formal development process for software applications. Specifically, the paper identifies (in RUP parlance) the workers in the process (such as technical writer, information architect), the artifacts required by and produced by the documentation process (including concept, task and reference documentation), and the documentation development workflow (the activities of the workers who produce the artifacts). this paper describes a documentation development process in terms of its integration points with software development processes, and also in terms of its own flow and progression as a separate process.
Reports on our preliminary analyses of our research which was designed to determine the navigational patterns that users follow in the World Wide Web and hierarchical Web sites. In all, 33 participants completed the s...
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Reports on our preliminary analyses of our research which was designed to determine the navigational patterns that users follow in the World Wide Web and hierarchical Web sites. In all, 33 participants completed the study using a within-subjects Greco-Latin design, where each person viewed two sites - one organized in a Web structure and one organized in a hierarchical structure. the results suggest no significant difference in the participants' perceptions of their navigation of the sites, the sites' ease of use, feeling lost in hyperspace, and the organization of the sites.
this paper presents some thoughts on redefining a technical writer's role in the software development process. It outlines ways in which writers can use their writing skills to collaborate with and add value to th...
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this paper presents some thoughts on redefining a technical writer's role in the software development process. It outlines ways in which writers can use their writing skills to collaborate with and add value to the HCI (human computer interaction) and software architecture functions. It also points to areas that writers need to explore further to discover the ways in which they can contribute meaningfully to information, and therefore product development throughout the life cycle of the software product. It uses real-life examples to illustrate ways in which writers can transform documentation from an item on the laundry list of deliverables into an effective design and development tool.
Software developers have used version control systems for years, to manage source code changes and to enable them to reproduce any given level of their software from the source code that created it. Most writing depar...
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Software developers have used version control systems for years, to manage source code changes and to enable them to reproduce any given level of their software from the source code that created it. Most writing departments, however, tend to perform full-scale weekly backups at best or tempt fate by not performing any backups at worst. the two major reasons for this neglect of document version control are lack of adequate tools and the effort required by writers to deal withthe inadequate tools presently available. this paper describes a tool I developed at IBM, the Automated Backup Manager (ABM), which attempts to connect the writer's documentation to a true source version control system, without reducing writer productivity.
In this paper we describe the ideas of Elucidative programming. With Elucidative programming we are primarily concerned with documentation of program understanding, and presentation of such understanding on the World ...
ISBN:
(纸本)9780780364318
In this paper we describe the ideas of Elucidative programming. With Elucidative programming we are primarily concerned with documentation of program understanding, and presentation of such understanding on the World Wide Web. In a broader perspective, we are interested in support of any technical writing which needs to address source program constituents. We claim that Elucidative programming may be helpful for these purposes, mainly due to a documentation model based on relations between places in the documentation and program constituents. the main section in the paper introduces a concrete Elucidator tool for Java. We use this tool as outset for a discussion of collaboration and teamwork centered in WWW based program presentations.
Suppose you want to integrate a tutorial, or several tutorials, into your product documentation. Doing so can let your users check their understanding and ability to use what they have learned. In HTML documentation, ...
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ISBN:
(纸本)9780780364318
Suppose you want to integrate a tutorial, or several tutorials, into your product documentation. Doing so can let your users check their understanding and ability to use what they have learned. In HTML documentation, for example, you could structure your pre-exam documentation so that it builds toward a core set of principles and procedures that you identify as necessary for a typical user. At OmniMark, we had two pieces to this puzzle, but they had not been integrated. We had our HTML documentation for our product, SureSpeed, and the tool to build this documentation, an OmniMark program called kbook2html. We also had a program called examcgi that built online tutorials. To integrate them, I built kexam, a documentation builder written in OmniMark that produces boththe HTML documentation, and a set of exams that are templates for a the CGI program, examcgi. To the user, it is all one.
the emergence of a new economy, fueled by business-to-business e-commerce and moving toward things like component-based development, and soon to be dominated by browser-based applications, is creating a shift in focus...
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the emergence of a new economy, fueled by business-to-business e-commerce and moving toward things like component-based development, and soon to be dominated by browser-based applications, is creating a shift in focus away from user documentation and towards what we might refer to as systems documentation. this term encompasses any kind of documentation that describes the technical aspects of a software system for people like systems analysts, modelers and software engineers, rather than users. Technical writers need certain specialized skills, such as the ability to analyze Java code, and knowledge involving subjects like component-based development to thrive in this new world. the author considers how tech writers should be able to combine systems documentation skills withtheir existing communication skills in order to serve as catalysts within software development projects, in contrast to their traditionally less active and visible roles.
the paper considers how documentation professionals are faced today with a paradox that seems to defy resolution. We have learned the necessity for employing careful planning and mature project management practices to...
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the paper considers how documentation professionals are faced today with a paradox that seems to defy resolution. We have learned the necessity for employing careful planning and mature project management practices to produce documents that match the needs of our users. On the other hand, we face the reality of Web time, wherein those users expect us to deliver information faster than previous methods have allowed. We cannot simply abandon practices that have proven to work; indeed, we have seen the consequences of simply slapping existing paper documents onto the Web. Each organization in each industry will have to determine how much to truncate the proven project management standards. Perhaps one model for doing so is the "just good enough, just in time" mode, which will allow us to deliver information products that work, and to do so quickly, withthe understanding that we can improve them continually after initial delivery.
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