On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 09:44:14PM -0400, Ron Wheeler wrote: > How do you write documentation for something that you have never used > and have no idea what the options are?
Exactly! You grumble a bit, pull down the source, and start reading. This is horrible and exhausting and often underappreciated, but it's the only thing that works, it the author won't share his thoughts. > I have worked on documentation for some projects but I can only go so > far without the active involvement of the author. > The biggest thing that I can bring is my ignorance which makes me read > what is there and ask good questions about WTF does it mean and what > needs to be said so that someone who did not write it can use it. > It does require access to someone who can answer those questions. Hear, hear. I'm sure that a large part of technical writing is spent interviewing (not to mention identifying, finding, chasing and hounding) the people who know that which must be written down. -- Mark H. Wood, Lead System Programmer mw...@iupui.edu There's an app for that: your browser
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