Source Control for Frame

Wed Dec 10 08:01:15 PST 2008

I concur with Mike and Fei Min.  In fact, I've been working with checked in Framemaker files for 15+ years.  So I'm shocked when people don't use source control. Waaaay back in ancient times we used RCS to check in our files which not many people use today. I've used Perforce, Clearcase, CVS, and now SVN. They all work just fine. I'd add to Mike's list:

- Through check in comments you can keep track of what was done on a file.  Really good if you do regular production or template updates.

- Tagging of changes with bug numbers (SVN has a nice interface to JIRA).

- Ability to recover old versions of the documentation if necessary. You can do some labeling or branching of doc files if necessary. Though, branching I don't recommend except in some special cases.

- Incorporate document production directly into the product build.

Framemaker and individual image files are all checked in as is. We don't check-in the individual files that make up ePublisher projects. We zip those projects (just the source not the distribution) and check in the .zip. They of course, do not change as often as the Framemaker source.

If you want to diff two Framemaker versions. Check out the latest version and open an older version from your source control, then use Frame diff. Works fine.

Mary

> -----Original Message-----
> From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-
> bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of FeiMin_Lorente at amis.com
> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 6:18 AM
> To: Mike Feimster
> Cc: Framers List; framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com
> Subject: RE: Source Control for Frame
>
> I agree with Mike. We use CVS with our FrameMaker files. Although it is
> a
> bit annoying that FrameMaker thinks it's changed when it often hasn't,
> and
> CVS can't tell the difference, the source control system is still
> extremely useful for all the reasons that Mike gave below. We also find
> the check-in comments are good for figuring out what change was made at
> what time, and why.
>
> Fei Min
> ________________________________________
> Fei Min Lorente
> Senior Technical Communicator
> Medical Division
> ON Semiconductor
> feimin.lorente at onsemi.com
> +1 519 884 9696 ext 2297 | office
> +1 519 831 4931 | mobile
> +1 519 884 0228 | fax
> http://www.onsemi.com
> ________________________________________
>
>
>
> "Mike Feimster" <mike.feimster at acstechnologies.com>
> Sent by: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com
> 12/10/2008 09:01 AM
>
> To
> <quills at airmail.net>, "Donald M Rinderknecht"
> <Donald.M.Rinderknecht at noaa.gov>, "Flato, Gillian"
> <gflato at nanometrics.com>
> cc
> Framers List <framers at frameusers.com>
> Subject
> RE: Source Control for Frame
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Even though the files are binary and you can't do diffs, the other
> benefits of a good version control system are well worth it.
>
> - You can always go back to a previous version, whether it's the
> version
> from yesterday or last quarter's release.
>
> - Archiving is simple with tags.
>
> - You always know who the last person to work on a file was.
>
> - File locking for binary files makes it very difficult to step on each
> other's work.
>
> - It is impossible to delete something from the repository, this means
> it is extremely difficult for someone to permanently mess up a
> document.
> (You can delete stuff from the "current version" but it still exists in
> the older versions.)
>
> - Since each person has their own local working copy of files, you
> rarely have network issues and absolute path problems can be minimized.
>
> - Provided you're update/commit (check-out/check-in) policies are
> followed, you always know where the latest version of any doc is.
>
> - If you move to structured Frame and XML, you can do diffs as well as
> branching and merging.
>
> We use Subversion with TortoiseSVN. Terminology and specific benefits
> may be different for other systems.
>
> Mike
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com
> [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of
> quills at airmail.net
> Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 3:36 PM
> To: Donald M Rinderknecht; Flato, Gillian
> Cc: Framers List
> Subject: Re: Source Control for Frame
>
> At 1:53 PM -0600 12/9/08, Donald M Rinderknecht wrote:
> >Hi Gillian,
> >
> >Other than the diff report (which I assume provides more details than
> >just a time/date stamp) is SVN useful?
> >
> >I've been wanting some centralized document management for our
> >FrameMaker (and other) files for a long time. We have several folks
> >that author materials, sometimes in teams. I'd like to have check
> >in/check out and versioning at the very least. It would be really cool
> >to be able to metatag content and search for it also.
> >
> >Folks have mentioned going to MIF files or XML. Wouldn't those options
> >add steps to the workflow? I assume they (MIF or XML) would affect the
> >workflow in a similar fashion. Also, going to XML would require
> >structure (I assume) so I don't think we're ready for that. We've
> >started to use structure in some docs, but I haven't had time to
> >implement that broadly.
> >
> >What is PDM?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >don.
> >
> >Don Rinderknecht -- 405.325.2805
> >Meteorologist Instructor/Developer
> >Warning Decision Training Branch, Norman, OK http://www.wdtb.noaa.gov
>
> If you are working with a team that may be assigned files that others
> are working on, the locking capability is nice. It prevents others from
> checking out the file you are working on. Other than having that and a
> a
> date time stamp version, there isn't a lot that any source control
> system can add for Frame since the primary files are binary.
>
> Scott
>
>
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