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Technical documentation is a generic term for the classes ofinformation created to describe (intechnical language) theuse,functionality, orarchitecture of aproduct,system, orservice.
Classes of technical documentation may include:
Historically, most classes of technical documentation lacked universal conformity(standards) for format, content and structure. Standards are being developed to redress this through bodies such as theInternational Organization for Standardization(ISO), which has publishedstandards relating to rules for preparation of user guides, manuals, product specifications, etc. for technical product documentation. These standards are covered by ICS 01.110.[1] Technical product documentation not covered by ICS 01.110 are listed in the subsection below.
A technical documentation is also required for medical devices followingEU medical device regulation.Annex II, Technical documentation, and Annex III, Technical documentation on post-market surveillance, of the regulation describe the content of a technical documentation for amedical device.This includes e.g. information on the device specification, labelling and instructions, design and manufacture, safety and performance requirements, risk management, and the validatain and verfification of the device, including the clinical evaluation; and also information frompostmarketing surveillance.
Some documentation systems are concerned with the overalltypes orforms of documentation that constitute a documentation set, as well as (or rather than) how the documentation is produced, published or formatted.
For example, the Diátaxis framework (which is mostly used in the field ofsoftware documentation[8]) posits four distinct documentation forms, corresponding to four different user needs:tutorials,how-to guides,reference andexplanation.[9] By contrast, DITA asserts five different "topic types":Task,Concept,Reference,Glossary Entry, andTroubleshooting, whileRedHat's Modular Documentation system uses three "modules":Concept,Procedure andReference.[10]
