Document management tools or processes

[Melissa Lowery <melissa -dot- lowery -at- CAPITALONE -dot- COM>]

     TECHWR-Lers,

     I received several very helpful private responses to my recent posting
     asking for suggestions for document management tools or processes.
     Here is a slightly edited (for length)summary of all of the replies:

     ================================================================
     My suggestion would be a program such as Revision Master, by Diehl
     Graphsoft. You can download an evaluation version from their website:
     http://www.diehlgraphsoft.com  The cost is $179/single,  $449/5 pack.

     Where I work, we are using MS Visual Source Safe.  Much more
     expensive.  I evaluated Revision Master as a favour and have
     subsequently recommended it to the company I used to work for. It's
     very intuitive, and effective. It pretty well does everything Visual
     Source Safe does. Check it out!
     --Suzette Seveny <sseveny -at- petvalu -dot- com> or <suzette -at- yesic -dot- com>
     ================================================================
     I used PVCS in one assignment for tracking multiple document
     revisions.  The good thing about it was that it gave us an accurate
     way to keep track of changes, and despite the hassles was a big factor
     in helping us achieve ISO 9000 certification.  But we were using the
     16-bit version and was pretty slow.  It required a lot of LAN
     overhead, it would crash or lock up fairly often, and everybody found
     it frustrating much of the time.

     Overall, I'd have to say it was better than the system we used on a
     project at another Very Large Corporation, where the tracking system
     consisted of Post-It notes on a chart on the lead developer's door!
     To work on a module, you'd go to the door and take the sticky, which
     functioned sort of like a token. To "check it back in," you'd stick
     the note back onto the door. Not an infallible system, as you might
     imagine.
     --Tom Campbell <tcampbell -at- weather -dot- com>
     ================================================================
     We use MS Source Safe here, and although not the best or the
     brightest, it affords us more flexibility than PVCS.
     --Sharon Di Francesco <SHARON -dot- E -dot- DI -dot- FRANCESCO -at- cpmx -dot- saic -dot- com>
     ================================================================
     Have you looked at PC DOCS, Saros and Open Text?
     --JF Smith <jfs59 -at- gs -dot- net>
     ================================================================
     How about Microsoft Binder? It's part of Office 97. Each Binder
     document will keep track of, paginate, and print many documents (or
     parts of documents) as one document.
     --Doug Parr <dougparr -at- integrityonline9 -dot- com>
     ================================================================
     ... As far as using document control/revision tracking, I've used
     Microsoft's Visual SourceSafe (when on contract at Microsoft). It
     seemed to work well with Word. Basically, each time you make changes
     to a file, you "check it out" (like checking a book out from a
     library). When changes are complete, you "check the file back in" and
     make comments in a change history. Thus, you can easily access
     previous or other versions of the files by checking them out. To view
     comparisons between files, you simply do a document compare. The whole
     process is quite seemless. VSS also has some other selling points.
     --Tif <sands -at- drizzle -dot- com>
     ================================================================
     What you are describing is what PVCS is designed to do. I'm not a PVCS
     fan, but it does what I need it to do so I use it without complaint.
     PVCS will indeed handle binary files with some obscure limitations. We
     use it for everything from ASCII to FrameMaker and AutoCad.

     If your company wants you to track revisions, they are going to have
     to give you space to store them. Whether that space is controlled by
     PVCS or not shouldn't be an issue. From what I understand, PVCS
     archives can actually use less space than storing every revision in
     its native format. They do it using by compressing files and only
     storing enough information to show what is different with each
     revision. Taking a look at one of my files, the file size is 226K and
     the archive for that file is 741K which includes six revisions.
     Storing all six revisions without PVCS could use nearly twice as much
     space.

     I'm not sure how much PVCS cost per license, but I think it is under
     $1000 US. Installation isn't difficult, but using PVCS efficiently
     takes some effort and thought. You don't need to be a specialist, just
     willing to get over the initial hump.
     --Tom Johnson<johnsont -at- starcutter -dot- com> or <tjohnson -at- grandtraverse -dot- com>
     ================================================================
     We use MKS Source Integrity for controlling both source code and
     documentation. (See www.mks.com for more information on this product.)
     A similar competitive product is Microsoft SourceSafe (and another one
     is PVCS, of course). If I were you, I would get evaluation copies
     these two and compare their usage with the one you already have in
     house (PVCS) to see how well they perform on the type of work you do
     with your files. You might want to call and speak to representatives
     of each of the three companies to see how well they are likely to meet
     your needs.(Of course, they're all likely to say wonderful things
     about _their_ products!) Finally, there's a newsgroup at
     comp.software.config-mgmt. This newsgroup has a FAQ which may be of
     interest to you.
     --Renee L. LaPlume <rlaplume -at- rorke -dot- com>
     ================================================================
     I'm not familiar with PVCS.  I have used two other products designed
     to do just what you're wanting.  One is called TeamMate.  TeamMate
     might be a bit expensive and it works with an Oracle database, but I
     found it an outstanding tool for document management with its check
     in/check out features--great when multiple authors work on documents.
     Also Microsoft has a product called Source Safe--similar features. We
     use Source Safe here to store all our documents and to create a
     history of revisions, although we regularly archive to a zip-drive
     disc.  Both products work with binary files.

     The Delphi group in Boston regularly publishes a newsletter regarding
     Document Management and makes tool recommendations.
     http://www.delphigroup.com/. They also have some interesting white
     paperson the subject.
     --Connie Fabian-Isaacs <cfisaacs -at- visionael -dot- com>
     ================================================================
     I suggest that you take a look at Revision Master from my company,
     Diehl Graphsoft. I think you will find that it performs all of the
     functions you are looking for, including check in/check out,
     histories, ODMA compliance, and the ability to work with any file type
     on a Windows 95/98/NT platform, any size, without the heavy duty
     price. Revision Master is not concerned about the type or size of the
     file, just letting the users know what is happening to it. You don't
     mention how many stations you will need, but at $179 for a single copy
     and $449 for a 5-pack, it is not a high-risk investment. I can tell
     you much more about Revision Master, but the best way to learn about
     it is to download the free 30-day trial version from our website
     www.diehlgraphsoft.com.
     --Dave Hollenbeck <dhollenbeck -at- diehlgraphsoft -dot- com>
     ================================================================

     After reading all of the replies and evaluating some of the suggested
     applications, I have decided to go with Revision Master. It seems to
     be designed to meet my specific needs and its ease of installation and
     price will make it easy for me to sell the project team on it. I'm
     going to threaten to implement the Post-It Note system described by
     Tom Campbell if they don't go along with my suggestion ;-). Thanks to
     everyone who provided such useful advice.

     Melissa Lowery
     Technical Writer, A&D, Capital One
     melissa -dot- lowery -at- capitalone -dot- com


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