Documentation (instant Manual)

[gallaher@teleport.com (Ed Gallah]

I described Instant Manual briefly last spring, and got several as-yet
unfulfilled requests for it. This is because the manual was incomplete,
and I wanted to finish it. This has now been accomplished.

Some years ago, while reading the STELLA manuals, it became clear to me
that I needed a similar way to document my own models, both as a log of my
work, and to provide a document that my students and/or colleagues could
review/critique, etc.

I developed a set of styles for use with MS Word 5.1 on the Mac. This
format includes marginal titles and subtitles, and styles for inserted
pictures and captions. I include a shareware program scrren capture
program (Flash-It) for which the developer requests $15, well worth it.

Instant Manual is used in many of the curriculum documents from CC-STADUS,
delivered through the Creative Learning Exchange, so it is being quite
widely used.

As Wayne described, it really helps to use it in close conjunction with the
modeling process itself. You can "think out loud" on paper, while
capturing each step of the diagram development, equations, output graphs,
etc. I believe this serves a different, although overlapping purpose when
compared to notes placed within the model itself. Often I would like the
internal notes to be for the user, but I want to document the development
process separately.

One major advantage is that I used to save v 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, many of
which were just minor changes in parameter values that illustrated some
useful point. There really was no reason to keep all these, except that I
didnt want to "forget" that interesting simulation. However, two weeks
later it took HOURS to open and review 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 in order to figure out
what they all did.

Now I find that even if I lose the whole model on disk, I can reproduce it
quickly with the documentation.

If anyone would like a copy, Instant Manual is available (disk and manual)
for $25, part of which will go to support SyM Bowl 97, the high school SD
competition. If you have a favorite screen capture you might not need
Flash-It. Also, if you want to use a PC you can easily translate the Word
file (or I can do it before sending it (since Macs read and write PC disks,
but not vice versa)). But you will need something in the way of a PC
screen capture.

I am currently traveling, but reading e-mail. My wife can send out the std
Mac version, but anything different will have to wait for about 10 days.

Ed Gallaher
gallaher@teleport.com