How to write documentation for microsoft access database?

Question

I've been developing a small database for my summer internship and I need to write a manual/documentation for it aimed at both users and developers for future use. Thing is...I have no idea where to start or what information to include. Many people I work with have no idea what databases can do so I need to keep it as simple as possible. The database is implemented in Access and I experimented with the database documenter but I think that is overkill. Is there some kind of documentation standard that I can follow or anything of that nature?

This question appears to be off-topic because it is about writing documentation, not code. — Wooble, Aug 12 '13 at 14:09
@Wooble I'd have thought that this falls neatly into the "practical, answerable problems that are unique to the programming profession" category - especially as far as developer documentation is concerned. (Then again, it is somewhat subjective.) — John Parker, Aug 12 '13 at 14:21
If you want to keep it simple then I would use lots of screenshots, arrows, circles and textboxes. I use [PicPick](http://www.picpick.org/en/). I would create one version for users and a second more detailed version for developers. — Andy G, Aug 12 '13 at 15:28

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:25

As a starter for ten, I'd have thought that the user documentation should be task orientated. (i.e: How to achieve 'X'.)

In terms of the developer documentation, defining the meaning of any non-obvious fields in your schemas, how they're used and the relationships between different tables, etc. would be a good start. (I'm presuming your VBA code is well commented, etc.) You may also want to examine the existing "Documenting Visual Basic with Doxygen" question/answer.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 12 '13 at 14:14

0

Just straightforward english if you are explaining a process. If you have a series of Macros do a document highlighting to code used in each macro and the order it should be employed. This could aid someone down the line if they are trying to automate the process.

answered Aug 12 '13 at 14:14

Dave Ward

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Appreciate the advice! – Ryan Aug 12 '13 at 14:19

How to write documentation for microsoft access database?

2 Answers2