Re: Code Annotation of the Week

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

In this case I would take issue with characterizing the documentation of the 
message as "publishing nonsense."  The message itself certainly is nonsense, but 
it is an actual user message, and not just hidden code annotation.  The 
programmers may believe it will never be seen because the system will melt into 
slag first, but in the reality I work in, programmers are sometimes wrong.  If 
customers and users see this message on their screen and cannot find an 
explanation for what event has triggered it in the documentation, will they 
conclude that the product is bad, that it is badly documented, or both?

As a customer/user, I would prefer to have access to a nonsensical message's 
real-world explanation than find myself staring at a nonsensical message with no 
explanation for it at all.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>
To: "Robert Lauriston" <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>; <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 3:33 PM
Subject: RE: Code Annotation of the Week


>I wasn't questioning who is responsible for what or whether it is
> advisable to publish nonsense. Rather, I was questioning the management
> style.
>
> Leonard
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
> om] On Behalf Of Robert Lauriston
> Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 1:23 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: Code Annotation of the Week
>
> As a manager, I'm responsible for the quality of the work of people
> who report to me. We're not going to distribute patently inappropriate
> nonsense such as "pish posh Romana" except in response to a written
> request from some fool with the authority to insist, and I'm going to
> cover my department's ass so the fool takes the blame.
>
> On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 12:58 PM, Leonard C. Porrello
> <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -dot- com> wrote:
>> "a major red mark in their annual performance evaluation"? Really?
>>
>> Leonard
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:
> techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>>
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
>> om] On Behalf Of Robert Lauriston
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 10:10 AM
>> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>> Subject: Re: Code Annotation of the Week
>>
>> If that writer reported to me, letting something like that go out for
>> review would be a major red mark in their annual performance
>> evaluation....
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Are you looking for one documentation tool that does it all? Author,
> build, test, and publish your Help files with just one easy-to-use tool.
> Try the latest Doc-To-Help 2009 v3 risk-free for 30-days at:
> http://www.doctohelp.com/
>
> Help and Manual 5: The all-in-one help authoring tool. Full support for
> team authoring with multi-user editing - both directly and in combination
> with VSS-compatible source control systems. http://www.helpandmanual.com/
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as techwr -at- genek -dot- com -dot- 
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/techwr%40genek.com
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
> Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat
> 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Are you looking for one documentation tool that does it all? Author, 
build, test, and publish your Help files with just one easy-to-use tool.
Try the latest Doc-To-Help 2009 v3 risk-free for 30-days at:
http://www.doctohelp.com/ 

Help and Manual 5: The all-in-one help authoring tool. Full support for 
team authoring with multi-user editing - both directly and in combination
with VSS-compatible source control systems. http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat