Have QA compile the help project?

[Lynda Straus <Lynda_Straus -at- THEMONEYSTORE -dot- COM>]

My development team uses PVCS for storage/tracking of the source files
for a Paradox-based application.  I create and maintain the online help
for this application on my hard drive, with backups to a network drive.

Background - sorta long, sorry:
We now have mostly a new development staff, with resulting confusion
(the old process was never documented) about the process of compiling
and delivering individual application files to QA, then deploying to
Production, using several directories out on multiple network servers.
Development has decided to have QA check out the files from PVCS,
compile, then do acceptance testing on the newly-compiled files/whole
application.  Deployment to Production is then from the approved QA
subdirectories instead of the development subdirectories, which are
generally only unit-tested and may not be the latest version of a form
or file.

My question:
Development suggested having QA do my compiling over the network.  I
said that it couldn't work, first, because there are problems when
compiling over a network (they asked, what?, and I didn't know, I just
heard it here on the listserv) and second, because of all the project
settings, troubleshooting, etc., involved.  They weren't impressed.

I need reasons why the help author *only* should be doing the work up to
the point of delivery.  OR, if anyone is handing over a ready-to-compile
folder (mine's 480 files, 10MG before compiling, and one file, 780KB
after compiling) to the QA staff, please let me know, and how well does
it work?

Thanks much,
Lynda Straus
lynda_straus -at- themoneystore -dot- com

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