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.
Subject:Re: Version Control Software From:"Wayne J. Douglass" <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 25 Mar 1997 09:33:28 -0800
At 07:28 AM 3/25/97 PST, Robert Plamondon wrote:
>>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.
>
Depending on the size of your operation, Robert's scenario is eminently
doable. At my previous company (albeit a small one), we worked exactly like
this. Once somebody from QA asked me if my department could produce the
documents for any given version of the software. I said yes and challenged
Development to produce the actual down rev version of the software (it was
that kind of company).
--Wayne Douglass
=========================================================
Verity, Inc. Email: wayned -at- verity -dot- com
894 Ross Drive Telephone: 408-542-2139
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Facsimile: 408-542-2040
Connecting People with Information: http://www.verity.com
=========================================================
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
