Documentation Generator
You can design data models and diagrams using diagram editor and other specialized tools in Software Ideas Modeler. When your model is revised and described as needed, you can generate project documentation from it. Software Ideas Modeler provides several built-in documentation templates, but you can also create your own ones.
The documentation generation can be used for these scenarios:
- documentation from a diagram
- documentation from UML model
- documentation from a data model (ERD diagrams)
- use case definition
- user interface documentation
- user requirements documentation
How to Prepare Model Documentation
The documentation generator allows you to generate the documentation for any unannotated diagrams. The exported documentation includes pictures with the particular diagrams and the structured content with the elements and their attributes.
If you want to create better and more meaningful documentation that provides additional useful information the model, you need to add your own descriptions to the model elements and diagrams. The generator includes all the descriptions of elements, diagrams, and folders in the final documentation that provides a comprehensive view of the model solution.
How to Generate Documentation
The documentation generation action is available in the Ribbon / Process / Generation / Documentation.
If you use the class menu interface, it is available in the Tools menu / Generate Documentation.
Generate Documentation Dialog
The generated documentation can be adjusted using the Generate Documentation dialog. It includes three tabs - General, Content, and Template Settings.
The documentation will be generated after clicking on the Generate button. The file will be saved to the path specified in the Output file box.
General Settings
The General tab allows you to choose which template you want to use for documentation generation. Software Ideas Modeler offers several predefined options. Using the documentation templates feature you can define documentation of any type of style. The template can be selected from the Template dropdown in the Template group.
The Output group contains settings for the generated documentation file. You can choose from several file formats from the Format dropdown. These document file formats are supported:
- DOCX
- HTML
- ODT
- RTF
- TXT
The filename and path where should be the documentation generated must be entered into the Output file box. You can also use the ellipsis button for choosing the path from the file dialog.
If you want to open the generated documentation in the (external) default system application, you should check the Open document after generation box.
Content Choice
The Content tab includes the project tree with all the project elements. All of them are included in the output by default, but you can exclude some of them or include only particular diagrams, folders, etc. The selection buttons None, Invert and Select All help you with the complex selection operations.
The tab also offers the Up and Down buttons that can move project elements up and down within their level in the hierarchy and adjust the organization of the generated documentation.
Template Settings
Documentation templates can include additional settings that allow you to change some aspects of the template. Usually, you can choose which documentation section you want to include and which not.
The default documentation template offers these options for the generated content:
- Contents
- Glossary
- Documents
- Diagram tagged values
- Element tagged values
- Attributes
- Multiplicities and cardinalities
- Tagged values
- Operations
- Tagged values
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