Customizing documentation generation

Information appearing in documentation

Objecteering documentation generation is based on:

· modeling information

· model annotation (through tagged values)

· notes (text zones), which can be freely entered

· a document template, which customizes the desired documentation

You can, therefore, generate different kinds of documentation (analysis documents, design documents, quality control documents, …), depending on the parameters you define.

Producing formatted documents

The formatting of documentation is the last step in generation (see Figure 1). A specific processor called "TPF" (Text Pre-Formatter) generates formats adapted to different text formats (Postscript, Ascii, RTF, …) you select. You can apply several different processors to the same document, depending on the desired format.

Formatting is transparent. However, it is interesting to note that documentation generation generates a document in a common format, before converting it to the desired format (HTML, RTF, …).

Figure 1. Documentation generation process

Windows XP and documentation formatting

If you are using Windows XP, and if your Objecteering installation path contains blanks (for example, "Program files"), then the Windows XP Service Pack 1 must be installed, in order for the TPF tool to function correctly.

Entering free text

Complementary free text is entered through Objecteering notes. These can be defined:

· through model dialog boxes (as shown in Figure 2)

· in the "Documentation" tab of the auxiliary window

· in the "Auxiliary properties" tab of the auxiliary window

Figure 2. Entering the description of a class

Steps:

1. Select the "Notes" tab.

2. Click on "Add".

3. Select the "description" note type.

4. Enter the contents.

5. Confirm.