Writing a Software Technical Reference Manual (part 1) - A Little Knowledge...
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Any developer attempting this document should ensure that (s)he has:

• A sound understanding of how the project is structured
• Complete knowledge of the control flow within and between allcomponents
• Complete knowledge of all the APIs in the application
• Knowledge of the data structures and the storage containers used
• Knowledge of the variables used in all the components
• An understanding of how the installation files are packaged
• An understanding of how the user interface has been developed
• Knowledge of the variables that need to be configured to initializethe application
• Sufficient knowledge of the software platform on which the applicationhas been developed.

While the requirements specification and design documents usuallycontain this information too, an understanding of the reasons why, say,a particular API has a certain boundary value, or a certain variable isa configuration variable and not a runtime variable, would be invaluableto someone explaining their utility.Assuming adequate knowledge on the part of the developer/writer, thenext step is to assess the scope of the material covered by the STRM.Let's look at that next.

Next: Hard Decisions >>
 

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