[thelist] Create a pre-project documentation

[Jay Blanchard]

[snip]
What I need from you is a little help on getting started (and finish
too). What should I use for the document structure and so forth. If
anyone can share some examples that would be very much appreciated ...
[/snip]

I have been outlining a series of articles on documentation but haven't really started the writing yet, but I think that I can point you in the right direction. First of all, starting with a text doc is great. Now you'll want to flowchart some. Make sure each process is described. Do it in text first, then draw out the chart using standard flowchart symbols. For instance

click 'foo'
query database for this data
does data exist?
yes - display data
no - display 'no data' message

Standard flowchart symbols are available in a lot of places, if you use M$ Excel use the Auto-Shapes where there is a good representation of symbols. Flowcharts should be simple and use only a handful of symbols. Make sure to include database table layout and relationships.

You can also use UML, but it may be over the top for what you require. Hopefully this will get you started.