Re: Using Synergy configuration management system with Frame files

[Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>]

Typically you can check out and check in a whole directory tree, so if
you're updating a bunch of files (e.g. book, .fm files, and screen
shots) you don't have to fiddle with them individually (unless someone
else is working on the same project).

I'm not sure Synergy is appropriate for version control of FrameMaker
projects, since from what I read you can't prevent multiple checkouts.
The assumption is that the files are all mergeable source code.

Rational ClearCase, Perforce, MS Visual SourceSafe, Subversion (free,
open source), and CVS (ditto) will all work with FrameMaker.

In a pinch, you could use Sharepoint for version control, but you'd
want to buy SharePointBoost's Sharepoint Batch Check In.

2009/11/13 GILLIOTTE Valérie <vgilliotte -at- mega -dot- com>:
> Hello,
>
> Our development team works with IBM Rational Synergy configuration management and change request system. They would like the technical publications department to use Synergy to store FrameMaker  files and better track changes in documentation.
>
> We use FrameMaker 7.1 and Webworks 2003+Automap / e-pro for our on-line help. We are a  team of 5 technical writers.
>
> I've searched the archives for this (at the time Synergy was called Continuus), but the answers are quite old.
>
> Is there somebody here who has used successfully IBM Rational Synergy with FrameMaker files and books ?
> I'm worried about the fact that Synergy is more adapted to development than documentation. What about screenshots ? It would be painstaking to checkin/out a screenshot each time we have to update one...
>
> I see two advantages of using this kind of system:
> - for the time being, before a release I copy all the Frame files and images to a specific resource where I build the online help (but as we don't have a check-in / check-out mecanism so far, it is impossible to know in what state the files are) ...
> -  we need to translate our documentation in 3 different languages. For the time being there is always a period of time just before the release where we restrain from writing to have a stabilized version of the documentation for last-minute translation updates (with a check-in / check-out system it would be possible to continue writing)
>
> Also what would be the difference between IBM Rational Synergy and a content-mangagement system lile Documentum or Sharepoint ? Which is most adapted to Framemaker ?
>
> Thanks for any feedback on this. You can aslo cc me directly as I am on a digest (vgilliotte at mega.com).
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