Documenting Object Oriented Class Library

[Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL>]

The following information is very brief, but may at least get
you started on the right track. You'll have to work very closely
with the programmers to get the information you need. The
programmers can also refer you to some specific references
(although they may not know it until you ask them for it!).

The following data is excerpted from the Class Reference Library
section of Borland's Turbo Vision for C++ User's Guide.
(The general idea should apply to Smalltalk as well.)

--Begin Excerpts--

Each class's entry has a graphical representation of the class's
base classes and immediate derived classes.

    -------------
    | BaseClass |
    -------------       This section gives a brief synopsis
          |             of the class. In some cases this is
    -------------       the only information needed.
    | THISCLASS |
    -------------
          |
    --------------
    |DerivedClass|
    --------------

DATA MEMBERS section
    This section lists all data members for each class,
alphabetically, showing the data member's declaration and an
explantion of its use.

Example:

aDatamember     SomeType aDatamember;
                aDatamember is a data member that holds some
                information about this sample class. This text
                explains how it functions, what it means, and
                how you use it.

anotherData
     member

MEMBER FUNCTIONS section
    This section lists all member functions which are either
newly defined for this class or which override inherited member
function.

Example:

constructor     ClassName (SomeType aParameter);
                The *ClassName* constructor creates an object of
                class *ClassName*, setting the aDatamember data
                member to aParameter.

zilch           virtual void zilch();
                *zilch* causes the sample class to perform some
                action.

--End of Excerpts--

Beverly Parks
bparks -at- huachuca-emh1 -dot- army -dot- mil