4 ms·

I desperately want git-style DVCS for complex contract drafting with multiple contributors. It needs to handle a Word docx file natively, so it'll me do blame o

I desperately want git-style DVCS for complex contract drafting with multiple contributors. It needs to handle a Word docx file natively, so it'll me do blame on a line, merge changes, all that good stuff, as well as retain proper version control so I have one file on my drive instead of a hundred variants of v1_changes_final.updated.doc.

baldfat 10y ago
There is no reason why plain text wouldn't work. You have something like Pandoc (with a markdown type text) convert the text to your format (Word docx for example or a PDF).
- neohaven 10y ago
  The multiple contributor bit is the painful part for this guy. Forget asking a few other law offices to use a system like this. It would at best only be useful for him, and then wouldn't track changes properly.
  - baldfat 10y ago
    If it was a "web" app and people approved of PDF files that are of a certain version it could track changes based on responses back from the PDF approval process. Through git and pandoc in the background and put a UI on top that is idiot proof and boom.
- scrumper 10y ago
  Difficulty there is collaboration with various groups that are completely set on Word. Some of those groups are external: in most cases contract format is dictated by the client and that invariably means a Word document laid out in their specific structure with tables for deliverables and subheadings and boilerplate and the rest. Reverse-engineering hundreds of those things into something Pandoc can spit out is a giant challenge and likely a bit fragile. Then you have internal legal function which uses Word and various workflow plugins to do their job of sense-checking all of it. The obvious suggestion would be to have internal groups (excluding legal) collaborate on some common plaintext markdown format where DVCS tools would provide an advantage, then publish to docx and hand over to legal for review. Unfortunately what always happens is that major changes to the contract are needed after legal has done their work, and it's easier (and acceptable) for all groups to work on the final paper together. That's where it breaks down. I really feel that in 2016 having some poor bastard do clerical coordination of this stuff is just wrong. It's a mechanical task that's highly both error prone and a major source of operational risk, and it should be doable by the computer. I actually kind of want to build this. Word (and the rest of office, I have the same problems with spreadsheets and powerpoints) plus plugins as the IDE, solid version control in the backend.
  - wocram 10y ago
    Why exclude legal? Understanding a commit graph isn't too technical. As far as I know, passing docx files back and forth is more similar to working with git than a google doc, so the workflow also wouldn't be dramatically different.
  - codedokode 10y ago
    It is still possible to generate diffs. You can convert doc files to plain text or HTML with openoffice and compare text versions. Or, even better, new .docx format is actually XML so it can be diff'ed too. You just need a good UI to display diffs.
JoBrad 10y ago
The funny thing here is that, if people wouldn't rename the document, Word handles change control natively (including comparison of versions). You can also do it with documents named differently, but the bad habit of baking each file differently really makes that a mess.

baldfat 10y ago

There is no reason why plain text wouldn't work. You have something like Pandoc (with a markdown type text) convert the text to your format (Word docx for example or a PDF).

neohaven 10y ago
The multiple contributor bit is the painful part for this guy. Forget asking a few other law offices to use a system like this. It would at best only be useful for him, and then wouldn't track changes properly.
- baldfat 10y ago
  If it was a "web" app and people approved of PDF files that are of a certain version it could track changes based on responses back from the PDF approval process. Through git and pandoc in the background and put a UI on top that is idiot proof and boom.
scrumper 10y ago
Difficulty there is collaboration with various groups that are completely set on Word. Some of those groups are external: in most cases contract format is dictated by the client and that invariably means a Word document laid out in their specific structure with tables for deliverables and subheadings and boilerplate and the rest. Reverse-engineering hundreds of those things into something Pandoc can spit out is a giant challenge and likely a bit fragile. Then you have internal legal function which uses Word and various workflow plugins to do their job of sense-checking all of it. The obvious suggestion would be to have internal groups (excluding legal) collaborate on some common plaintext markdown format where DVCS tools would provide an advantage, then publish to docx and hand over to legal for review. Unfortunately what always happens is that major changes to the contract are needed after legal has done their work, and it's easier (and acceptable) for all groups to work on the final paper together. That's where it breaks down. I really feel that in 2016 having some poor bastard do clerical coordination of this stuff is just wrong. It's a mechanical task that's highly both error prone and a major source of operational risk, and it should be doable by the computer. I actually kind of want to build this. Word (and the rest of office, I have the same problems with spreadsheets and powerpoints) plus plugins as the IDE, solid version control in the backend.
- wocram 10y ago
  Why exclude legal? Understanding a commit graph isn't too technical. As far as I know, passing docx files back and forth is more similar to working with git than a google doc, so the workflow also wouldn't be dramatically different.
- codedokode 10y ago
  It is still possible to generate diffs. You can convert doc files to plain text or HTML with openoffice and compare text versions. Or, even better, new .docx format is actually XML so it can be diff'ed too. You just need a good UI to display diffs.

JoBrad 10y ago

The funny thing here is that, if people wouldn't rename the document, Word handles change control natively (including comparison of versions). You can also do it with documents named differently, but the bad habit of baking each file differently really makes that a mess.