Part of the Computing fundamentals glossary:

1) In general, a document (noun) is a record or the capturing of some event or thing so that the information will not be lost. Usually, a document is written, but a document can also be made with pictures and sound. A document usually adheres to some convention based on similar or previous documents or specified requirements. Examples of documents are sales invoices, wills and deeds, newspaper issues, individual newspaper stories, oral history recordings, executive orders, and product specifications.

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A document is a form of information . A document can be put into an electronic form and stored in a computer as one or more file s. Often a single document becomes a single file. An entire document or individual parts may be treated as individual data items. As files or data, a document may be part of a database . Electronic Document Management ( EDM ) deals with the management of electronically-stored documents.

When using certain computer application programs such as a word processor , a document is the unit of saved work. Each document is saved as a uniquely named file.

In the computer industry, documentation is the information provided to a customer or other users about a product or the process of preparing it.

2) To document (verb) a fact, event, or other thing is to record or annotate it, meaning to put it into some relatively permanent form so that it can be retrieved later.

This was last updated in September 2005
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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