Subject: Visual Studio and Program Documentation
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:35:00 -0700
Hi all,
Let me first pose the problem:
I have a complex application and as a result a good amount of technical
documentation has been developed about the application. I get a maintenance
request and use VS to complete the task. But I'm without much in the way of
tools to link the code I've just modified to the documentation that I also
should maintain.
I'd like to propose to the VS developer community that this problem be
thought about and addressed somehow so that we can manage our programs and
documentation in a seamless way.
That being said, I'd be interested in hearing how others have addressed this
problem. Also to be said - the obvious 'you should write your programs so
they are understandable in the first place' is probably not helpful in the
discussion. Think bigger than that.
Another requirement in my mind would be that the solution NOT include
including the text of the documentation in the code itself. It's hard enough
to read as it is and too many comments spoil the broth...
--
-->DaVince
Let me first pose the problem:
I have a complex application and as a result a good amount of technical
documentation has been developed about the application. I get a maintenance
request and use VS to complete the task. But I'm without much in the way of
tools to link the code I've just modified to the documentation that I also
should maintain.
I'd like to propose to the VS developer community that this problem be
thought about and addressed somehow so that we can manage our programs and
documentation in a seamless way.
That being said, I'd be interested in hearing how others have addressed this
problem. Also to be said - the obvious 'you should write your programs so
they are understandable in the first place' is probably not helpful in the
discussion. Think bigger than that.
Another requirement in my mind would be that the solution NOT include
including the text of the documentation in the code itself. It's hard enough
to read as it is and too many comments spoil the broth...
--
-->DaVince
Subject: Re: Visual Studio and Program Documentation
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2008 08:57:56 -0500
"daVince" <daVince@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
news:A7719603-B8F4-4470-91AF-72A859E591EF@microsoft.com...
news:A7719603-B8F4-4470-91AF-72A859E591EF@microsoft.com...
Subject: Re: Visual Studio and Program Documentation
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:22:01 -0700
Ok on further investigation, (having read -ok scanned) thru the "Team
Development with Visual Studio Team Foundation Guide" I'm not convinced this
solves my problem. What I am really getting at is how to search for
technical documentation related to a specific code module. I am NOT
interested (at this point anyway) in managing the documentation associated
with the software development lifecycle. What I am interested in is a system
that associates a specific document with a specific code module in my
application. I would like it to work like: in VS 200x press a function key
and it displays a treeview diagram of the hierarchical nature of my app
(understanding dependencies, etc.) and at each level of the app it displays
links to appropriate documentation.
For example, I'm working on my .net tabstrip control. I press a key and it
shows me that the tabstrip I'm working on is documented directly in document
X. It shows that the tabstrip is part of my workflow statistics project (and
maybe referenced in other projects) which also has document Y (which just
happens to have a screenshot of the tabstrip control) I now know I need to
modify both documents. I now know where to find the documents (or I just
click something to open them).
Can you provide me with a specific example of how TFS would address this need?
I wasn't able to find one...
--
-->DaVince
"Lawrence Garvin [MVP]" wrote:
> "daVince" <daVince@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
> news:A7719603-B8F4-4470-91AF-72A859E591EF@microsoft.com...
>
> The *solution* to this issue is called "Team Foundation Server".
>
>
> --
> Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP, MCBMSP, MCTS(x4), MCP
> Senior Data Architect, APQC, Houston, Texas
> Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2008)
>
> MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
> My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
> http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
> My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Lawrence.Garvin
>
Development with Visual Studio Team Foundation Guide" I'm not convinced this
solves my problem. What I am really getting at is how to search for
technical documentation related to a specific code module. I am NOT
interested (at this point anyway) in managing the documentation associated
with the software development lifecycle. What I am interested in is a system
that associates a specific document with a specific code module in my
application. I would like it to work like: in VS 200x press a function key
and it displays a treeview diagram of the hierarchical nature of my app
(understanding dependencies, etc.) and at each level of the app it displays
links to appropriate documentation.
For example, I'm working on my .net tabstrip control. I press a key and it
shows me that the tabstrip I'm working on is documented directly in document
X. It shows that the tabstrip is part of my workflow statistics project (and
maybe referenced in other projects) which also has document Y (which just
happens to have a screenshot of the tabstrip control) I now know I need to
modify both documents. I now know where to find the documents (or I just
click something to open them).
Can you provide me with a specific example of how TFS would address this need?
I wasn't able to find one...
--
-->DaVince
"Lawrence Garvin [MVP]" wrote:
> "daVince" <daVince@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
> news:A7719603-B8F4-4470-91AF-72A859E591EF@microsoft.com...
>
> The *solution* to this issue is called "Team Foundation Server".
>
>
> --
> Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP, MCBMSP, MCTS(x4), MCP
> Senior Data Architect, APQC, Houston, Texas
> Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2008)
>
> MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
> My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
> http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
> My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Lawrence.Garvin
>
Subject: Re: Visual Studio and Program Documentation
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 05:33:01 -0700
It seems people have lost interest in this thread - I thought I was posting
it to microsoft.public.visualstudio, somehow it wound up here...
Should I repost to microsoft.public.visualstudio?
--
-->DaVince
"daVince" wrote:
> Ok on further investigation, (having read -ok scanned) thru the "Team
> Development with Visual Studio Team Foundation Guide" I'm not convinced this
> solves my problem. What I am really getting at is how to search for
> technical documentation related to a specific code module. I am NOT
> interested (at this point anyway) in managing the documentation associated
> with the software development lifecycle. What I am interested in is a system
> that associates a specific document with a specific code module in my
> application. I would like it to work like: in VS 200x press a function key
> and it displays a treeview diagram of the hierarchical nature of my app
> (understanding dependencies, etc.) and at each level of the app it displays
> links to appropriate documentation.
> For example, I'm working on my .net tabstrip control. I press a key and it
> shows me that the tabstrip I'm working on is documented directly in document
> X. It shows that the tabstrip is part of my workflow statistics project (and
> maybe referenced in other projects) which also has document Y (which just
> happens to have a screenshot of the tabstrip control) I now know I need to
> modify both documents. I now know where to find the documents (or I just
> click something to open them).
>
> Can you provide me with a specific example of how TFS would address this need?
> I wasn't able to find one...
> --
> -->DaVince
>
>
> "Lawrence Garvin [MVP]" wrote:
>
> > "daVince" <daVince@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
> > news:A7719603-B8F4-4470-91AF-72A859E591EF@microsoft.com...
> >
> > The *solution* to this issue is called "Team Foundation Server".
> >
> >
> > --
> > Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP, MCBMSP, MCTS(x4), MCP
> > Senior Data Architect, APQC, Houston, Texas
> > Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2008)
> >
> > MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
> > My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
> > http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
> > My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Lawrence.Garvin
> >
it to microsoft.public.visualstudio, somehow it wound up here...
Should I repost to microsoft.public.visualstudio?
--
-->DaVince
"daVince" wrote:
> Ok on further investigation, (having read -ok scanned) thru the "Team
> Development with Visual Studio Team Foundation Guide" I'm not convinced this
> solves my problem. What I am really getting at is how to search for
> technical documentation related to a specific code module. I am NOT
> interested (at this point anyway) in managing the documentation associated
> with the software development lifecycle. What I am interested in is a system
> that associates a specific document with a specific code module in my
> application. I would like it to work like: in VS 200x press a function key
> and it displays a treeview diagram of the hierarchical nature of my app
> (understanding dependencies, etc.) and at each level of the app it displays
> links to appropriate documentation.
> For example, I'm working on my .net tabstrip control. I press a key and it
> shows me that the tabstrip I'm working on is documented directly in document
> X. It shows that the tabstrip is part of my workflow statistics project (and
> maybe referenced in other projects) which also has document Y (which just
> happens to have a screenshot of the tabstrip control) I now know I need to
> modify both documents. I now know where to find the documents (or I just
> click something to open them).
>
> Can you provide me with a specific example of how TFS would address this need?
> I wasn't able to find one...
> --
> -->DaVince
>
>
> "Lawrence Garvin [MVP]" wrote:
>
> > "daVince" <daVince@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
> > news:A7719603-B8F4-4470-91AF-72A859E591EF@microsoft.com...
> >
> > The *solution* to this issue is called "Team Foundation Server".
> >
> >
> > --
> > Lawrence Garvin, M.S., MCITP, MCBMSP, MCTS(x4), MCP
> > Senior Data Architect, APQC, Houston, Texas
> > Microsoft MVP - Software Distribution (2005-2008)
> >
> > MS WSUS Website: http://www.microsoft.com/wsus
> > My Websites: http://www.onsitechsolutions.com;
> > http://wsusinfo.onsitechsolutions.com
> > My MVP Profile: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Lawrence.Garvin
> >