Hi there. I am new to these forums - decided to try to ask you about this issue I have. 
I am working on integrating Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 into an organization along with additional programmed features. What the organization needs a new system for is for document management, information sharing and communication. They had heard of SharePoint, and were inspired, as it neatly covers all of these demands.
Here's how they version-identify their documents:
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When a project is being developed in the organization, they use a development method which focuses on quality. It works like so: A deparment gets an assignment with specific requirements. The departments forms a project group from the organization's employees and starts working on the project. At this point, the project is yet to receive a version.
When the project group has run through the requirements in a waterfall-way, the resulting document received a version called "AA". This version of the document then goes to a review. If the board is displeased with the document (and thereby the product), they will point out what they would like to see different, and the project group re-iterates through the demands and fixes the errors. The result: a document with the version "AB". Then that document goes to a review and so on.
Whenever a document doesn't pass a review, the later character in the two-letter version number increases (AA, AB, AC). When the document passes a review, the document gets a nummeric version number - "1.0".
If, at a later point, something comes up where the product needs to be worked on again (perhaps they would like to add features, perhaps the client discovered something missing/invalid...), the board calls the project grouop for a review and then explains what they would like to see different. The project group re-iterates through the collection of requirements - fixing what needs to be fixed - and then compiles a document: version BA. Document "BA" goes to a review. If it fails, the project group iterates again, produces a document called "BB" etc. If the board accepts the document, the product/document gets a new version: "2.0"
And so on.
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Now, what's the problem?
In SharePoint, I have been unable to find a way to get a version-id to automatically refresh when a document is saved, or when its status has been changed to "released", or "in review".
When searching, I have found loads of places where they describe that "SharePoint can manage versions by use of check-out/check-in" and that "when you save/checkout a document, a new version is generated and the old ones saved" ... that's all nice and well, but when you then Print the document, how will the reader know which version he has in his hands??
I have been playing with the thought of making document templates with a formatted number in the documents' footer, and somehow get that number to update by a click of a button or each time the document is saved / checked-in / status-set-to-released... but I don't really know how. I would have thought that since this portal solution has been praised to the clouds (its descriptions by users make it sound as if they worship the thing ;P )that it would be able to manage something that simple on its own...
The format of the version-numbers doesn't have to stay AA-AB-AC-1.0-BA-BB-2.0-CA ... - just as long as the version number is identifiable as being "released" or where different released versions can be distinquished (I am thinking something in the lines of v1.00.00, v1.01.56, v2.00.00 etc, like one sees so many places around)
Any suggestions would be well appreciated, since I have been looking into this for weeks from time to time, and I sense that this requirement is a growing decisive factor which affects if the organization really will integrate SharePoint into their system.
Thanks for reading this long read, hope I didn't bore you
I am working on integrating Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 into an organization along with additional programmed features. What the organization needs a new system for is for document management, information sharing and communication. They had heard of SharePoint, and were inspired, as it neatly covers all of these demands.
Here's how they version-identify their documents:
---------------------------------------------------------
When a project is being developed in the organization, they use a development method which focuses on quality. It works like so: A deparment gets an assignment with specific requirements. The departments forms a project group from the organization's employees and starts working on the project. At this point, the project is yet to receive a version.
When the project group has run through the requirements in a waterfall-way, the resulting document received a version called "AA". This version of the document then goes to a review. If the board is displeased with the document (and thereby the product), they will point out what they would like to see different, and the project group re-iterates through the demands and fixes the errors. The result: a document with the version "AB". Then that document goes to a review and so on.
Whenever a document doesn't pass a review, the later character in the two-letter version number increases (AA, AB, AC). When the document passes a review, the document gets a nummeric version number - "1.0".
If, at a later point, something comes up where the product needs to be worked on again (perhaps they would like to add features, perhaps the client discovered something missing/invalid...), the board calls the project grouop for a review and then explains what they would like to see different. The project group re-iterates through the collection of requirements - fixing what needs to be fixed - and then compiles a document: version BA. Document "BA" goes to a review. If it fails, the project group iterates again, produces a document called "BB" etc. If the board accepts the document, the product/document gets a new version: "2.0"
And so on.
------------------------------------------------
Now, what's the problem?
In SharePoint, I have been unable to find a way to get a version-id to automatically refresh when a document is saved, or when its status has been changed to "released", or "in review".
When searching, I have found loads of places where they describe that "SharePoint can manage versions by use of check-out/check-in" and that "when you save/checkout a document, a new version is generated and the old ones saved" ... that's all nice and well, but when you then Print the document, how will the reader know which version he has in his hands??
I have been playing with the thought of making document templates with a formatted number in the documents' footer, and somehow get that number to update by a click of a button or each time the document is saved / checked-in / status-set-to-released... but I don't really know how. I would have thought that since this portal solution has been praised to the clouds (its descriptions by users make it sound as if they worship the thing ;P )that it would be able to manage something that simple on its own...
The format of the version-numbers doesn't have to stay AA-AB-AC-1.0-BA-BB-2.0-CA ... - just as long as the version number is identifiable as being "released" or where different released versions can be distinquished (I am thinking something in the lines of v1.00.00, v1.01.56, v2.00.00 etc, like one sees so many places around)
Any suggestions would be well appreciated, since I have been looking into this for weeks from time to time, and I sense that this requirement is a growing decisive factor which affects if the organization really will integrate SharePoint into their system.
Thanks for reading this long read, hope I didn't bore you