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The Architecture Navigator does not create documentation but allows users to easily access the navigate through documentation that resides in the Read The Docs.
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| ArchNav | Read The Docs | |
|---|---|---|
| FEATURES | Supported(Y/N) | Supported(Y/N) |
| Web-based | Y | Y |
| Stand alone | Y | N |
| Dynamic webpages | Y | N |
| browser compatibility | N - Works best on Mozilla Firefox | Y |
FUNCTIONALITIES
| Architecture Navigator | Read The Docs |
|---|---|
Technologies used include:
| Technologies used;
|
| Works on the browser | Works on the browser |
| Content is dynamically loaded as the user navigates to new pages. | |
| Offers quick access to documentation in a click. | Documentation is scattered and does not offer a straightforward way of looking up information. |
| Have embedded backlinks to the wiki. | Holds complete and formal technical documentation. |
| Clickable maps in the form of images. | Clickable maps in the form of an SVG diagram. |
| Dynamic code generation |
INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS
| ArchNav | Read The Docs | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | GNU/Linux | |
| Web-server | Apache | |
| vCPU cores | 2 | |
| Memory | 8 Gb | |
| Storage | 1 Gb |
MAINTENANCE
| ArchNav | Read The Docs |
|---|---|
| Requires user training on how to use the tool | Straight forward |
| Will require a team of technical contributors/committers | |
| Require manual update of the links to point to the current documentation | |
| Has too many moving parts |
FINDINGS
ArchNav brings complexity when designing a clickable image for the Architecture Nav, the process is a tedious one since you'll have to take a snapshot of the existing diagrams bitmaps, cconvert it to a PNG file, draw shapes around objects on the image to generate coordinates and lastly store the image attributes in a JSON object. This is time consuming compared to creating OVERLAYS using SVG diagrams.
ArchNav code is not a storage hog since most of it is generated dynamically on demand using PHP and Javascript.
Documentation residing in the read the docs is always up to date and the most current. The Arch Nav will require manual update of the links pointing to the documentation when there is an update making it a repetitive and tedious task.