Documentation Standards › Considerations › Standards For Preparing Text Documentation › Structuring Documentation

Structuring Documentation

When preparing documentation:

• Provide prefaces to give an indication of what is to come: at each level, structure your documentation into an introduction followed by more sections of more detailed information.
• Provide indexes and a table of contents. At the beginning of each section, indicate the sections that follow. For online help text, provide a search index.
• Be consistent in the use of titles, names, and indentation. As in the case of any other interface, it is consistency that gives a professional appearance.
• Leave "white space".
• Provide diagrams where appropriate. The CA 2E Toolkit Convert Print Key (YCVTPRT) command can be used to convert print key output to text source.
• Provide examples to illustrate what you are describing.
• Provide summaries to reinforce the most important points.