Documentation for end users

In addition to documenting the design of the application, you should record information about how the program is used.

The amount of information that users need and how much of it you should supply depends upon whom the users of the program are and what type of program it is.

At a minimum, include the following information for those who use your program:

• What one needs in order to use the program, for example:
  • For online programs, is there a password?
  • For batch programs, what is the required JCL?
• The input that one needs to supply to the program, for example:
  • For an MPP, what is the MOD name that must be entered to initially format the screen?
  • For a CICS® online program, what is the CICS transaction code that must be entered? What terminal input is expected?
  • For a batch program, is the input in the form of a tape, or a disk data set? Is the input originally output from a previous job?
• The content and form of the program's output, for example:
  • If it is a report, show the format or include a sample listing.
  • For an online application program, show what the screen will look like.
• For online programs, if decisions must be made, explain what is involved in each decision. Present the choices and the defaults.

If the people that will be using your program are unfamiliar with terminals, they will need a user's guide also. This guide should give explicit instructions on how to use the terminal and what a user can expect from the program. The guide should contain discussions of what should be done if the task or program abends, whether the program should be restarted, or if the database requires recovery. Although you may not be responsible for providing this kind of information, you should provide any information that is unique to your application to whomever is responsible for this kind of information.