This screen lets you initiate an entry in COMPAS for a document or code. The COMPAS Assistant: Add New Document will guide you through this operation.

A COMPAS entry is a set of attributes that describe a document or code. Each entry is automatically assigned a unique identification number called a COMPAS ID. You define each entry attribute by filling in the fields on this form.

When creating a new document entry, enter values for all required fields. When you have finished entering values, select the "Add" command button. COMPAS creates a new document entry in the database. The system will remind you of the new COMPAS ID number and then a window will be displayed to obtain the copy of the document text.

Once an entry has been created, then it is tracked and managed by the system. You can query and retrieve information about the entry or retrieve the associated text. Additional attributes are produced for the entry automatically as reviews and inspections are scheduled and held, MRs are written, and modifications are made to the source.

COMPAS accepts only one document source file per document entry. The types of files that can be delivered to COMPAS are: ascii, cpio, frame, frame_book, gif, html, mif, msexcel, mspwpt, msproj, msword, pdf, postscript, roff, and rtf . COMPAS detects the type of document and prints or browses it accordingly.

A general practice that has become popular is to append the COMPAS ID number to the title of the document. An example for a document is as follows:

Subject: COMPAS Enterprise 1.0 Release Notes

COMPAS ID 62897

Controlled Documents

A controlled document must follow a specific state-flow and has versions stored when the document is updated. To create a controlled document, the attribute called "controlled" must be set to the value of "yes".

Notification Lists

A document author should prepare a list of electronic mail addresses of the people who use their document. The list will automatically be used to notify those people when the document is entered into COMPAS and each time the document is updated. To enter the list into COMPAS, select the Notification option after querying for this document.

Follow this reference to definitions of the fields for the Document Detail Window