Content Management - Version Control

[mattlight]

Hello everyone,

I hope you've all had a good weekend! Here I am back onto "Version Control" software! I thought I would start a new post so that hopefully I can explain what I've tried to do - after all, it may be interesting to many of you.

The ability to track the latest versions of a document created in any format and stored on a DATA server - catalogued through a Filemaker database.

This has obvious office cultural problems - forcing people to create, edit, modify, etc through an enviroment other than their operating system. But, there is nothing on the market worth it's weight that allows you to effectively tag documents with a version number and catalogue them without the program creating the version also creating the document!

Let's say, a Design Agency brings in some designers to work on a specific project. They should be introduced to the Cleint, Job Number, Status, List of Documents of any format (Illustrator, Photoshop, Word, Excel, etc) with their Author details, date, time, notes, etc. By having this information readily available as a way of sorting through Saved/Created Data, it will stop some designer editing some document all day and later find that there is a later version already created that he should have been editing! Infuriating stuff to big companies and small ones alike!

I started a simple database which had:

Client [text]

Job Number [text]

Document [container] - Inserted OBJECT which is saved as a LINK, displayed as an Icon to the program that created it

Document Location ** I want it to automatically fill in the location/path of the file on the server that the 'Document' field has the shortcut to

Author [text]

Date [date, Auto]

Time [time, Auto]

Now, with all those in place you can create a record, right click on the object field and go to

Insert Object

Then a window comes up asking whether you want to CREATE NEW or CREATE from FILE.

Create From File allows you to Browse the Server or hard Drive for an existing file. Once selected, you can tick the button that says "Link" which means it saves a shortcut into the Object window rather than the file which then saves on Database memory. Then tick on Display Icon will show the icon of the application that created it along with the name of the file.

PROBLEMS

Clicking on Create NEW only allows you to create a new IMAGE document or WORDPAD document even though it gives you the options to select Microsoft Word, Illustrator and whatever else is installed on your computer. Why is this?

2nd - when selecting WORDPAD or Imaging, you cannot create a linked file, just a file stored within the database.

3rd - if you have put a Link object (shortcut to file on Hard Drive) is there a way of creating a script or calculation that fills in a text field with the exact path/location of the file?

If anyone has any ideas, I would be grateful. I attach a ZIP file of the very basic db with which the trouble is found. Or you can create your own - the problem is in creating a new Object in another program and giving the new name a filename that the Filemaker database then records in the Document Path field.

Thank you all once again - I hope this is more useful to others as well as me!

DVC.zip

[mattlight]

PROBLEMS

Clicking on Create NEW only allows you to create a new IMAGE document or WORDPAD document even though it gives you the options to select Microsoft Word, Illustrator and whatever else is installed on your computer. Why is this?

2nd - when selecting WORDPAD or Imaging, you cannot create a linked file, just a file stored within the database.

3rd - if you have put a Link object (shortcut to file on Hard Drive) is there a way of creating a script or calculation that fills in a text field with the exact path/location of the file?

If anyone has any ideas, I would be grateful. I attach a ZIP file of the very basic db with which the trouble is found. Or you can create your own - the problem is in creating a new Object in another program and giving the new name a filename that the Filemaker database then records in the Document Path field.

Thank you all once again - I hope this is more useful to others as well as me!

[mattlight]

Nobody have any ideas? any interest?

Okay,

I found that on my laptop I was able to create a Word document by inserting an object into a container field with no problem. The only problem is that it is saved inside the database and it hasn't created a link between an outside file and the database. So, if I created a Photoshop file that was 15Mb, that would be 15Mb more added to the database instead of simply adding the link to it.

I would like to use FileMaker as a LIVE reference to all created documents and files- has anyone tried this before? Has it already been done successfully?

Does anyone know what I'm going on about?

Thanks for reading through!

[Lee Smith]

Hi Matt,

I wanted to let you know that I'm reading your posts (when posted), and only wish I knew the answers to your questions.

Usually when we post a question, and no one responds, it is because no one has an answer. We have Stumped the Experts.

Hopefully I'm wrong and someone can point you in the right direction.

Best wishes,

Lee

[mattlight]

Lee,

Sorry I haven't replied - I've been away - thanks for message. I just thought I'd say - love the replacement picture - looking pretty sharp in that picture!

In the end, I found an amazing solution for the problem called "Alienbrain" - absolutely amazing bit of software!

http://www.nxn-software.com/prod.php

absolutely worth a look at - they have three different products depending on what type of files people use. It is for animation studios, design companies or engineering. It is cross platform and works on a servr and all workstations.

It creates a library where people have to book in and out their files for use and allows you to create an indefinate amount of links, etc.

It's a MUST look at thing

I've been checking out all sorts of new software recently - like a program called Jump! by Corpora which kind of turns your entire network into a sort of Google - reads all your PDF's, Text/Numerical Docs, Image names and maps them all out into links and references so that everything is interelational - very clever - very simple as well I suppose.

http://www.heat-software.com/www/how.html

and three friends of mine in Auckland New Zealand, have developed an amazing interface for on-line examinations that has already had high profile testing with the MOE in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore. The company name is Aotea.co.nz and their product is called LAMP. They are definately switched on over there!

Well there you go - I will be at the Filemaker Reseller Grand Prix in London for the launch of Filemaker 7 - I've read everything there is to read and think it's going to be amazing!!! Especially the graphical maps of your relationships and a report of everything. Nothing worse that have a load of un-necessary bits left in your databases.

If you happen to know the name of the software program that already does that to databases, let me know.

Take care guys!

Not really a problem at all then - just thought I'd give you some clicking to do to widen your views from the paper paradigm (That's the corpora thing)