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System Documentation describes the structure, maintenance, and operation of an online system. System Documentation is an integral part of the development process of any online system. System Documentation is essential for ongoing system support, maintenance and modification. Several documents comprise System Documentation including the following:

* Requirements Survey
* Functional Specifications
* Design Specifications
* Technical Specifications

REQUIREMENTS SURVEY

The design process begins with Requirements Survey that evaluates the business model and the manual tasks currently used to support business activity. Requirements Analysis is a complex process that includes input on the client side from upper management to end user. It also includes significant input from the software engineering team as to feasibility and methodology. Through a series of individual interviews, group meetings and *brainstorming sessions*, an analyst assembles and analyzes the data to produce the Requirements Survey. The Requirements Survey is often a wish list of the client's wants and needs, tempered by viability and estimated costs. Having identified these requirements, the analyst is in a position to propose a system design.

FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS

Following approval, the analyst along with his software development team transforms the Requirements Survey into Functional Specifications. Functional Specifications is the primary system design document and serves as a blueprint for the proposed system. It describes manual tasks and translates them into inputs, processes and outputs. Functional Specifications also include the following:

* processing requirements - existing and proposed resources;
* input, processing and output details (data entry, query and reports);
* data dictionary * a description of files and databases;
* flow charts * a visual representation of system processes.

Though still a development document, Functional Specifications is a highly sophisticated document that retains significant value for future development because of the extensive research and development that went into creating it.

DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

Following approval of the Functional Specifications, the analyst generates Design Specifications for the software development team. Design Specifications offers a detailed description of the proposed system from system architecture down to individual fields. While providing a high-level view of the software, it includes specifications of the smallest details of the design. Intended for the current implementation, it retains value for future modification even though it is a planning document and many of its components never see the light of day.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Technical Specifications is the final document in the system development process and is essential for ongoing system maintenance and modification. Technical Specifications is a post implementation document and memorializes the system as it was actually programmed and executed not as planned and proposed. Technical Specifications is often nothing more than a Run Book. However, Technical Specifications should also include the following:

* File structures and access methods
* Source code listings
* Machine procedures (JCL)

Technical Specifications is the only design document that describes the system as it was actually implemented.

System Documentation is essential to the development, support, maintenance and future modification of any online system. Though often overlooked or developed as an afterthought, these design and post implementation documents are a vital part of the system development process and often the only remaining evidence of all the effort that went into developing the system.