CIS 4910 Information Systems Development Project

1
CIS 4910 Information Systems Development Project

• Project Documentation

2
Overview

• Systems Manual
• User Manual
• Design Specifications Manual

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Systems Manual

• What is a systems manual?
• Provides information about the implementation of
  the system
• Aid in installation of your software or
  modification of your software
• Contains two parts
• Getting the software to run on a given system
• Gives the programmer enough information to be
  able to modify the software intelligently
• What does the systems manual contain?

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Systems Manual

• Contents of the Systems Manual
• Introduction
• Installation
• A Guided Tour

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Systems Manual

• Systems Manual Outline
• I. Introduction
• II. Installation
• Hardware and Software Requirements
• Loading the Software
• Building the Software
• Installing the Software
• Documentation
• Known Deficiencies
• III. A Guided Tour
• Organization of the Source
• High-level architecture
• High-level Walk Through
• Know Problems

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Systems Manual

• Installation
• Describes how to install your system on a given
  platform
• Hardware/software requirements to build run the
  software (compilers, operating systems,
  supporting systems, devices)
• How to load the source onto the new machine
• How to make software ready for general use
• Description of user documentation (What it is,
  where it is located)
• Miscellaneous (Description of known bugs and
  inconsistencies, problems likely to occur, work
  arounds)

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Systems Manual

• Guided Tour
• A concrete, high-level view of the implementation
  of your system
• Includes how the software is constructed, what
  the important data structures are (a feel for how
  program works)

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Systems Manual

• Guided Tour (cont)
• Contents
• Organization of the source files, which indicates
  the relationship of the files and how they are
  grouped
• Ex. User interface modules are the html files
• High-level architecture
• Shows the overall structure of the system
• High-level walkthrough
• Take the programmer through the sequence of
  events that occur during the execution of your
  program (basic flow of control and data through
  the entire system)
• Porting hints
• Identify issues that should be addressed when
  porting to a new machine
• Known problems
• Identify the known bugs, inconsistencies, or
  other problems

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User Manual

• What is a User Manual?
• Explains what to do with the product and how to
  do it

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User Manual

• What are the tasks for the writer of a user
  manual?
• Explain the interface (what the user will see)
• Explain the overall premise of the product
• Explain the basic interface functions (menus,
  windows, toolbars, etc.)
• Give a few varying examples of how to use the
  product
• Each option of the system should be explained
  (all error messages should be explained also)

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User Manual

• Hints in writing
• Consistency
• Naming techniques
• Abbreviations

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User Manual

• Hints in writing (cont)
• Write in bite-sized chunks
• Forces writer to write clear statements with less
  rambling
• Keeps the reader reading longer
• Use lots of headings and subheadings
• Grammar Style
• Spelling
• Proper word usage
• Punctuation

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User Manual

• Contents of the User Manual
• Introduction
• Installation Instructions and Requirements
• Guided Tour
• Walk Through Each Scenario

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Design Specifications Manual

• What is a design specifications manual?
• Provides a detailed specification of the system
• What does the Design Specifications Manual
  contain?

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Design Specifications Manual

• Contents of the Design Specifications Manual
• Table of contents
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 Design Overview
• Chapter 3 Static Model
• Chapter 4 Dynamic Model
• Chapter 5 Data Model
• Chapter 6 Functional Testing
• Glossary

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Design Specifications Manual

• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Problem Statement and Purpose of the system
• Chapter 2 Design Overview
• Context Diagram
• Use case diagram
• Chapter 3 Static Model
• Describes the collection of classes created to
  model the system
• Class diagrams
• Chapter 4 Dynamic Model
• Describe each activity that is performed in the
  system
• Collaboration diagrams
• Ex. Four unique scenarios for each stakeholder
  (each scenario has at least 4 screens)

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Design Specifications Manual

• Chapter 5 Data Model
• Depicts all the relationships of data usage in
  the system
• E-R Diagram Level 1
• E-R Diagram Level 2
• Entity Maps
• Sample Data
• Data Dictionary
• Chapter 6 Functional Testing
• Describes how to test the system
• Watir Test Scripts
• Ex. One for each Collaboration Diagram
• Glossary
• Relevant terms Abbreviations explained