Taking Advantage of Revision Control Management


Using conventional methods for managing documents, particularly in the network file share model, there are no built-in revision controls that protect the integrity of data. In the most primitive cases, there is no revision control and old documents are simply replaced when they are updated. In several other cases, revision control is ad hoc and operational procedures designed to maintain a level of control often fail or are confusing. What you are left with is a file structure that resembles Figure 26.6.

Figure 26.6. Conventional revision control.

graphics/26fig06.jpg

The file structure displayed in Figure 26.6 is an example of how companies try to maintain a level of history over the course of a particular document's development. This example demonstrates the difficulty in standardizing the process because it appears that there are a couple of different naming conventions being used for the same document. It also demonstrates the challenge to clearly present the exact progression or history of the document, or to even specify which file is the latest revision. This method also invites the possibility for more than one user collaborating on the document to make changes that do not end up in the most current working version.

One of the key benefits of WSS is that it gives knowledge workers a clear and consistent method for maintaining versions of documents. It also protects the integrity of the data in documents through a check-in/ check-out functionality so that collaborative users do not step on the efforts of other team members .

Document Versioning

Document versioning allows collaborating team members to keep multiple versions of a document. If a change needs to be reversed , a knowledge worker with the appropriate rights can restore the previous version and continue working. A Version History command is included on the drop-down list users see when they click the arrow next to a document name and on the toolbar in the Edit Properties page for the document.

The Version History command is also available in client applications compatible with WSS, such as the programs found in Office 2003. When the user clicks Version History, a list of the previous versions of the document appears. The user can open an old version, restore a version (replacing the current version), or delete an old version.

Saving Files

If the user saves the file again, without closing the file, a new version is not created. If the user closes the application he or she is using to edit the file, and then opens it and saves the file again, another version is created.


Preserving Data Integrity

To preserve the integrity of data, only members of the Administrator and Web Designer site groups for a site can determine whether document versioning is enabled for a particular document library.


Versions are automatically created whenever a user updates a document in a document library on a site in which versioning has been enabled. It is important to understand under what circumstances versions are created. Versions are created

  • When a user checks out a file, makes changes, and checks the file back in.

  • When a user opens a file, makes changes, and then saves the file for the first time.

  • When a user restores and old version of a file (and does not check it out).

  • When a user uploads a file that already exists, in which case the current file becomes an old version.

Document versioning is enabled through the Settings page for each particular document library. To enable document versioning for a document library, perform the following steps:

  1. Navigate to the list, and on the left link bar, click Modify settings and columns .

  2. On the Customize Document Library page, click Change General Settings.

  3. On the Document Library Settings page, in the Document Versions section, under Create a Version Each Time You Check In a File to This Web Site, click Yes as shown in Figure 26.7.

    Figure 26.7. Enabling document versioning for a document library.

    graphics/26fig07.jpg

  4. Click OK.

Check-in and Check-out Function for Document Management

Checking documents in and out allows users to obtain exclusive write access to a document, eliminating potential data loss and the need to merge changes from collaborative authors. When a user checks a document out, that user is the only user who can save changes to the document. Other users can read the document, but they cannot make changes. The user who has the document checked out can update the document, and see the latest version of the document, but other users will not see the updates until the document has been checked back in.

In the event that a checked-out document becomes lost or corrupt, members of the Administrator and Web Designer site groups for that site can override a document check-out if necessary, and force the document to be checked in with the previous version.

The Cancel Check-out Right

Individual users can also be assigned the Cancel Check-out right without having to be made a member of the administrator or Web designer site groups.


Assuming the user has the appropriate rights, a user can cancel a checked-out document and return it to the previous version by performing the following steps:

  1. Navigate to the document, click the down arrow next to the document's title, and then click Check In.

  2. On the Check In page, select Discard Changes and Undo Check Out, and then click OK.

  3. On the confirmation message that appears, click OK to check in the document.



Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Insider Solutions
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Insider Solutions
ISBN: 0672326094
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 325

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