Software Documentation Generation Using Differential Upgrade Modules
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in providing effective and integrated user documentation for software upgrades, as minor revisions often come with release notes rather than updated documentation, leading to complexity for users who may not implement all upgrades, resulting in a wide variety of feature sets and difficulty in maintaining comprehensive documentation.
Innovation Solution
A documentation-generation module on the user's computer system generates updated user documentation by accepting pre-upgrade and differential upgrade documentation as inputs, producing post-upgrade documentation in a revision format that allows comparison of pre-upgrade and post-upgrade feature sets, enabling users to switch between views for easier evaluation and reference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If documentation is replaced with every upgrade, then users have complete and integrated documentation for each upgrade combination, but the complexity of providing and maintaining documentation for each possible upgrade combination becomes unmanageable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments documentation into modular components: base documentation covering core features, and differential documentation modules for each upgrade. Each module can be independently selected and combined based on the specific upgrade path, avoiding the need to maintain complete documentation for all possible upgrade combinations while ensuring documentation completeness for each user's actual configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested documentation structure where differential documentation modules are embedded within the base documentation framework. The system nests multiple levels of documentation (base + one or more upgrade modules) to create customized documentation sets, allowing users to have comprehensive documentation for their specific upgrade combination without requiring the manufacturer to maintain separate complete documentation for every possible combination.
2Device complexity
If users are provided with release notes instead of updated documentation, then the burden of providing multiple documentation sets is reduced, but users must refer to multiple separate documents (user manual and release notes) which becomes unwieldy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the base user manual with differential upgrade documentation modules to create a unified, integrated documentation set. Instead of requiring users to separately consult the original manual and multiple release notes, the system combines them into a single cohesive document where upgrade changes are integrated into the relevant sections, maintaining ease of reference while reducing the number of separate documents users must manage.
3Reliability
If complete documentation is provided for each possible upgrade combination, then users have accurate documentation for their specific configuration, but the quantity of documentation that must be downloaded and maintained becomes excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments documentation into a core base manual and separate differential modules for each upgrade. Users download only the base documentation plus the specific differential modules corresponding to their upgrade path, rather than downloading complete documentation for all possible upgrade combinations. This segmentation dramatically reduces the quantity of documentation while ensuring accuracy for the user's specific configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The base documentation is designed to be universal and applicable across all upgrade paths, serving as a common foundation. The differential modules are then layered on top to provide upgrade-specific information. This universal base combined with targeted differentials allows the system to provide configuration-accurate documentation without requiring separate complete documentation sets for each possible upgrade combination.
Data Source
AI summary
A software application includes a document generator. A user can download from an upgrade website documentation (e.g., release notes) describing the differences in operation between a post-upgrade version of the application that would result if a target upgrade is implemented and a pre-upgrade version of the application, e.g., the one available on the user computer system. The document generator can generate full documentation for the post-upgrade version from the pre-upgrade documentation and the upgrade documentation. The post-upgrade documentation has a revision display mode and a non-revision display mode, the former showing the changes from the operation of the pre-upgrade version to the operation of the post-upgrade version.