"Theory of Operations" (or "functional description" or other title) are seldom, if ever, "information needed to help them get everything back online as fast as possible." More often than not they are the ignored frontmatter that people grumble about as they search for a quick explanation of why a widget is suddenly hitting a frammistat and how to replace one or both.
Information salted within the section that contains the diagnostic and repair instructions that explains what the widget and frammistat are supposed to be doing and why they're suddenly whacking each other silly can sometimes be a help. A completely independent section that explains in excrutiating detail how the entire system, including all of its 376 widgets and frammistats, work together is at best trivia for the proud new owner and at worst the part of the document that people always complain that they have to wade through to find the infomation they really need at the moment. As for appendices, I don't know what most writers use them for, we use them for incidental materials that the reader might find of interest and point to them in footnotes. We put the information that we think people really need in the body of our documents. Gene Kim-Eng ----- Original Message ----- From: "Al Geist" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Service manuals are reference materials that more often than not will > spend > most of their lives on a shelf or in a seldom opened file on the system > software CD. However, when they're needed, the last thing the service > people > want to find is big gaps in the information needed to help them get > everything back online as fast as possible. > > Also, why would you put them in the appendices? I agree that you don't > have > to make them the most prominent part of the manual, but they should be up > front with the specifications, installation material, et al. It seems to > me > that the appendices are where you put things that are specific to that > particular machine-parts lists, schematics, etc. > > I would worry less about loosing customers to companies that provide > better > material for servicing the systems than to competitors who try to reverse > engineer from a service manual. ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
