Document version control information -- summary (long)

[RJACOBSE -at- GPS -dot- COM]

Roy Jacobsen -at- GPS
06/04/97 09:09 AM

Some time ago (a long time ago, actually) I posted a request for
information on document version control systems you all have in place. I
didn't get much meat, which tells me that many of us are flying by the seat
of our pants when it comes to this.

I received pointers to a couple of web sites, MKS and StarBase, and one
other person told how her company uses Visual Source Safe from Microsoft.
(That information is at the end of this post.)

Since then, I attended the STC Conference in Toronto, and two of the
sessions I attended there had to do with using Lotus Notes as part of a
document version control system. Here are some of my notes from those
sessions:

Using Notes to manage a large information project
Kimberly Mazur, Mary Ann Henselmann, Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
Monday, 5/12/97

ADP = "the payroll people"
They've developed a Notes application they call Topic Tracker (TT), which
they use to track all information in all documents, paper and online. TT is
not the repository for the content, it is an index for the content. And it
is something that writers are responsible for updating whenever they make a
change to a topic.

Document Control in Lotus Notes
Ken Ries, Allison Volz, KEMET Electronics
Wednesday, 5/14/97

Not only was this session about using Notes for document control, their
slides were Notes documents (using their doc control application).
KEMET is an ISO 9000 compliant producer of capacitors. The doc control
system, KEDS, is the repository for all their process documents, and it
manages the process these documents must go through to be revised and
approved.

TECHWR-L responses:
StarTeam was the last project I worked on at StarBase, and we use it
here at Expersoft. It will give you version control for any files
you can create or store on Windows 95 or NT -- binary or ascii.

In addition to version control, it'll give you password-protected
access, defect tracking and threaded conversations that you can
attach to projects or specific files, charting and reports, and an
audit trail.

I've already cashed in my stock options, so I don't have a vested
interest in the product anymore (other than as a user), and the
interface and docs have changed somewhat since I worked on the
product, so I can't claim those anymore either. But it's a handy
piece of software to have on hand and I heartily recommend it.
The 2.0 release provides remote access modules, so you can check
docs in and out over the Web. 3.0 is due out soon.

Their web site is at
http://www.starbasecorp.com
and their sales phone is 1-888-star700


Susan W. Gallagher               Manager, Technical Publications
sgallagher -at- expersoft -dot- com         Expersoft Corporation, San Diego CA
                            http://www.expersoft.com

                            -----------------------------------------------
                            -

                            From the web site www.mks.com:

                            MKS Source Integrity is the only award-winning
                            configuration management solution with coverage
                            from client/server to intranet. This powerful
                            tool gives you true, project-oriented release
                            management and parallel development
                            capabilities, everything your team needs to
                            move projects from code to release.

                            -----------------------------------------------
                            ---

Hi Roy...

At my company, we all use Microsoft Visual Source Safe (VSS). All
development code is there, plus any other documents that many people need
to access, such as product descriptions, contract exhibits, functional
specs, etc. I think we've got it set up on a 4 GB server (although we're
starting to run out of room...we'll add another 4 GB and be fine for
several years).

For a given document, you create it in your DTP/whatever program and
check it in to VSS. Once the document is in VSS, whoever wants to modify
it can check it out onto her/his hard drive, then when she/he's done
checks it back in. Anyone can easily verify the history of each document,
showing who checked out the doc when and what changes they all made to
it. When you need to, you can roll back to a previous version of the
document. Creating directory structures in VSS is just like Microsoft
Explorer i.e. if you're used to Win95, there's no real learning curve.

I really like the system, personally. If you'd like to know more about
it, just let me know.


Julie Beynon
Documentation Team Lead
GTE Enterprise Solutions
Vancouver BC

--------------------------------------------

Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

Regards,
Roy Jacobsen
Editor
Great Plains Sofware
rjacobse -at- gps -dot- com

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