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I've just started using VisualSource Safe, and it seems to be decent.
When you say documents on paper and on-line, can I nevertheless assume that all of your docs are in electronic format? If so, you can use something like VisualSource Safe to keep close control over the documents. With it, only one user at a time can check-out any single file, and each revision of each document is saved. Also, when a user is checking a document back in, VSS allows for the recording of change information.
VSS is what the developers here use to track their code, but I don't know how you might use it to coordinate software and documentation except by storing the entire product under the same folder. You could have a Folder for Product X, and in it have subfolders for each release, and each of those subfolders have subfolders for the various parts of the product (including documentation).
Leonard
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From: deliosoff
Sent: Friday, December 04, 1998 10:54 AM
To: TECHWR-L; LCPORREL
Subject: Documentation management
I support documentation for a project management system. The system is
currently DOS based, but is in the process of being rewritten for
Windows in VB. Formerly, all documentation was on paper, but now of
course we want to take advantage of on-line documentation.
The programmers are incorporating some help as they program, but very
shortly I will be involved setting up the documentation for this new
system. Yes, I know I should have been involved earlier, but let us
not get into that.
My questions are this:
What tools can one use to locate and co-ordinate the interrelation of
documentation when it is scattered over numerous modules, both on-line
and on paper.
Do databases exist that can be used to coordinate software and
documentation changes?