The Problem
On a team project, multiple authors are simultaneously creating multiple documents that undergo constant revisions for multiple readers.  How do we manage such a dynamic situation?

"Change control is the practice of proposing, evaluating, approving, and controlling important changes made during the project and ensuring all stakeholders are aware of the changes that effect them in a timely manner."

The team's configuration management plan must specify what change controls procedures are to be used for each document the team produces.  The kind of procedures you need vary depending upon how many changes a document is expected to incur.   Several factors should be considered.

• Will changes to the document impact many people or only one person?
• Is the document created by a single person or multiple people?
• Is the document updated on a regular basis or is it created once and then mostly static?
• Does the document have a single author or multiple authors?
• Will the document be updated by a single person or multiple people?
• Will multiple people be updating the document concurrently?
• Do previous changes need to be tracked or is only the current version of any importance.
• Does the document undergo modifications, or are the changes primarily additions of new material?
• If previous changes need to be tracked, is a simple description of the change adequate or does the document content need to be archived?

Change Control Spectrum

• One person "authors" the document and only they make changes.  Others must contact the author with update requests.

 
• One person "owns" the document (either physically or by file permissions or other access controls) and others must obtain the document from the owner in order to update it.

 
• "Bulletin Board" style where people contribute to an ongoing, chronological appending of messages.

 
• Automated version control such as CVS, SourceSafe, StarTeam, etc.

 
• Formal Change Control via a Change Control Board.  Consider adopting or revising McConnell's example procedure.  In CPE 206, the instructor requires that at a minimum the following three documents must be under Formal Change Control:
1. Software Requirements Specification (SRS)
2. User Interface Prototype or User Manual
3. Software Architecture - specifically, the public interface for all your classes.

Document Version Stamps

• Last Modifed Tag:  a simple javascript that writes the version change date on the document.  Here is the javascript code you need:

<!-- Begin Last Modified Section  -->
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">

dateMod=document.lastModified;
document.write(" Last modified on ");
document.write(dateMod);

</script>
<!-- End of Last Modified section -->

• Document history:  a revision table showing date, author, and description of change made to the document.