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Subject:Re: Version Control Software From:Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 25 Mar 1997 07:28:07 PST
>We are looking for a version control software program for our documentation.
>We use Word as our source documentation. Any suggestions? What is everyone
>using?
I don't like any of the revision control features that I've encountered.
If you want to be able to reconstruct an older version, they all have
tremendous flaws. Interleaf doesn't track changes to diagrams or styles.
Nobody tracks changes to material linked to the document.
Thus, in my opinion, none of the revision tracking software meets
my most rudimentary qualifications (that of being able to reconstruct
the old version), so I mostly just create a new directory, copy everything
in it, and work from there. This is revision control by replication,
which has the advantage of being both simple and robust.
Once you've settled on this as a methodology, revision control is just
a feature to stick change bars into the text automatically. This is
a task that's within the capabilities of most software.
I suppose that people who are into the manufacturing-oriented ECO
way of doing business use the various database front-ends, such as
those offered by Interleaf and Documentum. This is appropriate if it
meshes well with the company's overall workflow and is implemented
intelligently.
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139 http://www.pioneer.net/~robertp
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