User Documentation for Design Automation at TI

The use of documentation in design automation is extensive. The "DADGUIDE" Documentation System at Texas Instruments' Design Automation Department accomplishes many documentation tasks by means of a set of procedures, local and central computers, word processing programs with macro capabilities, and physical text formatters. The documentation output is resident on a data set at the central computing facility. When users request documents through submission of batch jobs, they execute a document printing program which outputs user manuals at any terminal in line printer, microfiche, or LASER copy. Control over the style and content of such user documentation is achieved by restrictions on characters and symbols, macro commands which force numbered divisions and subdivisions, procedures for revision of documents, check programs verifying output of the DADGUIDE processors, and requirements for approval of the documentation. In these ways, the DADGUIDE system is automating the management of user documentation and helping to extend the use of computer-aided tools company-wide.