CS302: Software Engineering

Word processing tools, such as WordPerfect, are rapidly being replaced with more sophisticated and intelligent products for document development and maintenance (see Table 18-3). 

In the old days of the 1980s, word processors became sophisticated enough to support such functions as redlining, the identification of changes in documents by means of a vertical line drawn in the margin of the change area. Typical word processors that merely automate the document preparation, such as redlining, still require significant text manipulation and creation of multiple documents with redundant information. Newer tools are beginning to emerge in the workplace that will eventually become as important as word processing has been.

One drawback of serial, word-processed text is that ideas that interrelate to many different topics either have to be replicated or cross-referenced in some way. Hypertext software eliminates that need by allowing any number of associative relationships to be defined for a given text item. Hypermedia extend hypertext to support audio, video, image, graphics, text, and data. In hypermedia, these multiple technologies may all be interrelated and coresident in one environment. In addition, because these tools do not restrict the number of connections an item may have, and because they use mainstream computer technology, application documentation remains on-line and interactively available to all users. Of course, interactive availability also implies a need for hyperlibrary management to control changes to library contents.

TABLE 18-3 Documentation Maintenance Tools