TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
We have a very similar system in place for our Development office. It's sort
of no-frills, but SourceSafe has proved reliable and (as the name kind of
implies) has saved our butts more than once. I can only answer your first
question: No, you if each chapter is a file, there is no way via SourceSafe
to have two people modifying it simultaneously. In fact, I suspect this is
the case regardless of what (if any) document control mechanisms you use.
It's prudent and fairly standard to have one person
at a time working a file.
As for the graphics, we got around that one by not storing them in
SourceSafe, but on the server (which is also backed up). We did so to save
time on the checking in, checking out process. That way, regardless of who
has a file checked out, the graphics retain their links because their
location never changes.
I can't really suggest any other alternatives, though it sounds like you
might want to chunk out your book into more, smaller files. Therefore, it
would be less likely that the same people would need the same file at the
same time. Thanks. DB.
-----Original Message-----
From: Laura Tarwater [mailto:ltarwater -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 1999 11:55 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Multiple checkouts with FrameMaker?
I've looked in the archives and found nothing regarding my situation in
particular:
I just started working in a development environment with FM books,
using Microsoft's Visual Source Safe as a document control mechanism
(inherited from the programmers). With this setup, it seems that only
one person can have a book checked out at one time. This has been
causing some workflow problems, as you might imagine.
Is there a way with this current setup that will allow different people
to check out different chapters of the same book at the same time? Our
graphics imported by reference especially don't seem to like this.
Is there an alternative setup that would serve better?
Thanks for any suggestions,
Laura Tarwater
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sponsored by Weisner Associates Inc., Online Information Services
Moving your documentation online? We can help with standards, planning,
or training. Visit us at http://www.weisner.com or mailto:info -at- weisner -dot- com -dot-
Sponsored by 4Translation.com, a "Web Enabled" Translation Service offering
an online quotation system, quality translations, and timely delivery in all
major languages. http://www.4translation.com, mailto:info -at- 4translation -dot- com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: dbarefoot -at- MPSBC -dot- COM
To unsubscribe send a blank email to $subst('Email.Unsub')
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-
