1. Documentation Letts Study Guide Information Systems - IT Chapter 19

2. Documentation and diagrams  Documentation is information to help people use or adapt a system. It consists of notes, manuals, diagrams and/or instructions.  Technical documentation explains how a system or program works.  User documentation explains how to install and use software.

3. Diagrams are used a great deal in documenting information systems. A flowchart is a diagram showing the operation of a process. It consists of:  symbols (or boxes) to represent the operations with messages explaining the operation;  lines connecting the symbols. These lines may have arrows on them.

4. System flowcharts  A system flowchart represents operations on data in an information processing system.  A program flowchart represents the sequence of operations in a program. The system flowchart and program flowchart are quite different from one another  the arrows in a system flowchart represent the flow of data;  the arrows in a program flowchart represent the order of instructions.

5.  System flow charts use standard symbols which you should know: - see sheet  separate symbols for operations involving documents, input from keyboards, manual tasks, computer processes, disc, magnetic tape, screen display communication;  general symbols for input/output and storage.

6. Representing Algorithms - structure diagrams Program and other algorithms can be represented by:  program flowchart which show the order of instructions;  structure diagrams which show the structure of the algorithm. It shows how an algorithm is broken down into more and more detailed steps.

7. Program flowcharts For program flowcharts:  standard symbols are used which you should know: start/stop, general operation, predefined process, off-page connector, input/output and decision  each box has at most one line in and one line out except decision boxes which have two or more lines out  There should be just one START and one STOP box  Extra notes can be written in the right-hand margin

8. Structure diagrams In structure diagrams steps are shown in rectangles  more detail is shown by going down the page  order of steps is shown left to right across the page  selection is shown by a small circle at the top right of a box  repetition is shown by a small asterisk at the top right.

9. User documentation User documentation with software may include:  an installation manual;  a user manual;  a tutorial;  help messages.

10. User Manual A user manual usually contains:  Background information including identification, hardware and software requirements, a system description and limitations of the program;  An explanation of how to use the program, including data capture methods, menu options, sample outputs and possible errors.

11. Technical documentation Technical documentation of a program usually includes:  flowcharts or structure diagrams  details of limitations, special features and different versions  a program listing notes  details of data structures used  a set of test data and expected results