Automated Documentation Coverage Evaluation System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Software application documentation often lags behind code updates, leaving users without access to accurate information for new or updated features due to the lack of synchronization between code and documentation changes.
Innovation Solution
An automated system that uses a software testing tool to scan the user interface, populate an object repository, and determine if interface objects are documented, generating a report on documentation coverage by identifying undocumented functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If documentation is updated manually to reflect code changes, then documentation accuracy can be improved, but the time lag between code updates and documentation updates increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables documentation to update itself automatically by scanning the application interface, detecting new or modified elements, and generating corresponding documentation entries without human intervention. This self-service mechanism eliminates the manual update process and ensures documentation stays synchronized with code changes in real-time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of documentation updates with an automated electronic scanning and detection system. The software testing tool automatically scans the application interface, identifies changes, and updates documentation programmatically, substituting human manual work with an automated computational system.
2Reliability
If automated scanning is implemented to detect undocumented features, then documentation coverage can be improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The software testing tool performs multiple functions: it scans the application interface, detects new or modified elements, determines documentation status, and generates reports. By consolidating these diverse functions into a single multi-functional system, the patent reduces overall system complexity while improving documentation coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary software testing tool that acts as a bridge between the application interface and the documentation system. This intermediary automatically detects changes in the application and triggers documentation updates, simplifying the interaction between code and documentation while ensuring comprehensive coverage.
3Ease of operation
If manual documentation updates are performed, then ease of operation is maintained, but productivity decreases due to repetitive manual tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables documentation to update itself automatically by scanning the application interface, detecting new or modified elements, and generating corresponding documentation entries without human intervention. This self-service mechanism eliminates the manual update process and ensures documentation stays synchronized with code changes in real-time.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated scanning system operates continuously or at scheduled intervals, constantly monitoring the application interface for changes. This continuous action ensures documentation is always up-to-date without requiring periodic manual intervention, thereby maintaining ease of operation while dramatically improving productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
Evaluating documentation coverage can include identifying, from a testing tool having exercised an application, interface elements of the application's user interface. The identified interface elements are filtered to identify documentable interface objects. For each identified documentable interface object, it is determined if documentation exists for that documentable interface object. A value, indicative of the determined existence or non-existence of documentation, is assigned to each documentable interface object. Documentation coverage data is reported for the application interface. The coverage data is reflective of the values assigned to the documentable interface objects.