manage Word templates & version control (OfficeXP SP3)

[Diana]

We have many Word templates containing code. We have the main global templates which houses library code thats code used often. & then behind the local templates we specific code eg our 'Letter.dot' template.

We also have many projects on the go.

We are having an issue of projects running paralell & template sharing/management. A template is required in one project 1. The same template is required in project 2. We have to wait for the 1st project to be rolled out to production, before we can commence the 2nd project. This impacts on delivery dates. Another issue we are experiencing is if we are project 1 is currently rolled out to the test pilot group & users. The 2nd project is currently being developed. We use project 1's template as this is the latest version of the template. If project 1's template requires changes. We will use the latest project 1 template for project 2. which means copying & pasting the code from project 2 back into projects 1's latest version of templates. The copying & merging of code can create errors, as something maybe missed. The copying & merging of the code happens until we roll out project 1's templates to production. (ie all the pc's.)

I dont think putting a freeze on development for project 2, until project 1 is completed & rolled out to all pc's is an option.

We use MS-Visual Source Safe(VSS) for centrally storing the latest version of templates. We check-in & check-out the whole template file into VSS. But theres still an issue of version management. We do the template releases when the project is completed. its not based on releases being done every quarter or every 6 months.

I was curious how other firms manage Word template projects and manage version control, when different projects are running simultaneously. And if there are other management tools out there besides VSS ?
Any recommendations or comments would be appreciated.

diana

[charlotte]

If you have a template in a source safe project, you can create a new project and share the template to it, then branch the template in the new project. Is that what you're doing? Do you compare the two template versions using VSS or are you just copying the whole template from one project to the other form changes? I would approach the problem by comparing and only copying the changes from the template in the first project to the branched template in the second project. That way, you only deal with changes that might affect the project currently in development. At some point the changes in project 2's template that do not exist in Project 1 would be migrated back into Project 1 with the appropriate testing. Once both projects are stable, delete one branched copy of template and share the template between them. Of course, the problem with this is that you lost the history of the template that is discarded.

[Diana]

hi charlotte

i'm currently checking the whole template into VSS. this displays the history. i'll experiment with what you suggested; creating new projects with branches & then sharing the template.

many thanks diana