Re: Automating docs compilation in the software build process

[Doc <doc -at- vertext -dot- org>]

On Fri, 16 May 2003 17:14:18 +0100, David Handy
<david -dot- handy -at- automsoft -dot- com> wrote:

>Has anyone had any experience doing this? Are there major snags? 

Do it both ways. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1) You will need to compile and generate final format so you can check
to make sure that everything works properly.

2) If their automated compile fails, you will still have the completed
docs ready to go.

A few years ago we had a disaster when it turned out that the
developers had not read the VSS docs carefully (quelle surprise). They
didn't realize that every now and then you actually had to optimize
the database and move older material out.

We had a massive crash. Three weeks of code went up in smoke just
before the product went gold. The doc was maintained in a separate
database, but VSS played no favorites and ours was corrupted beyond
recovery. 

But, since we compiled our own docs for proofing and QA, we got to sit
back a bit and enjoy watching the programmers try to catch back up to
the documentation.

-Doc
The VerText Company
South Hamilton, MA
+1.978-609.1165

Our choicest plans have fallen through
our airiest castles tumbled over
because of lines we neatly drew
and later neatly stumbled over.
	-- Piet Hein

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