atw: Re: Version management details in a document
- From: "Caz.H" <cazhart@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:54:28 +1000
Small problem with that little rant Peter: organisations stand and fall -
off line - by program changes. Fact. We've all seen large organisations
bought to their knees for hours or days because of undocumented
configuration changes.
Unless I've misunderstood, this isn't at all the same as routine history /
version records of routine documents that civilians use.
On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 12:28 PM, Peter Martin <peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
> Bob Trussler:
> You wrote:
> > I am at a site were we are developing document standards, with
> accompanying templates.
> > The work we do is designing, building and maintaining large computer
> systems.
> > The programmers (developers) are used to noting every program change in a
> table at the
> > start of the program.
> >
> > 23Jun09 Bob T Added link to new server 03
> >
> > There is a debate starting about the correct, or the best, or the usual,
> or I'm-used-to-
> > this-format place to put that page with the version management and
> approval details in
> > a document.
> > The page that has both
> > V1.3 23Jun09 Bob T Added new server details
> > and
> > Approved for publication by BBBBB on 24Jun09.
> >
> > There are two aspects being discussed.
> >
> > ONE
> > Where do we put the page with the version history? 1 the full history on
> the front
> > page 2 current version details only on the front page 3 following the
> title page 4
> > following the table contents 5 on the last page of the document.
> During the course
> > of a project, or during the life of the subject matter, the history of
> who did what
> > when can get quite long and spread over several pages. I suggested a
> combination of 2
> > and 5. TWO
> > Approval or sign off notes. These can be in two formats here. 1 one
> approval note for
> > the current version. This by implication covers all previous versions. 2
> an approval
> > note for each and every version, change, or update. This note to be
> added as the last
> > column on the version details table.
> >
> >
> > Does anyone have any idea what the current, trendy, latest way to do this
> and
> > preferably WITH SUPPORTING ARGUMENTS.
> > I have looked around and found every possible variation.
> >
> > Feel free to contact me off-line with examples at
> bob-trussler@xxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> Well this might stir up a storm, but my personal view of this stuff is that
> most of it simply shouldn't be there.
> As far as most users are concerned, it's junk, and if there's a need to
> retain a record of document changes (which I can understand -- with some
> qualifications), these should be kept for lookup in a separate version
> control system of some kind.
>
> Sure, a note that the document is approved (when/ by whom), if you must
> (and even there, I'd prefer an online system of storage which carries the
> implication that the document wouldn't be there if it wasn't approved)
> Yes, a version number and release date. With these details the
> perfectionist has a key to the records of changes and updates, held
> somewhere else out of the bloody way. What else is at all useful ? Pages
> and pages of detailed change notes ? YUK! Get a life !
>
> Who the hell then really ever reads the change details at the start of a
> document (or anywhere else) -- or who is there that wants this stuff that
> can't find it in a doc change audit trail ?
>
> The emperor has no clothes. He's nude.
>
> -PeterM
> peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Scitum est inter caecos luscum regnare posse. (It is well known, that among
> the blind the one-eyed man is king.) -
> Gerard Didier Erasmus
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