Visual Source Safe

[irasmith]

I know Visual Source Safe is supposed to help change control in team environments, but if you are in a solo environment is there still advantages to be gained from using it?

Sorry if the question seems a bit entry level, but Ive never used the product before, never had my hands on a copy of it, and have only VS.NET 2003 Professional which does not have Visual Source Safe with it. Just checking on things to see if it would be worth upgrading to whatever level has it with it.

 

[Joe Mamma]

I use CVS. . .

but yes. . . source control is great to have even in a solo environ.

You dont know how many times it has saved me.

 

[Nerseus]

Check out this thread.

-ner

 

[PWNettle]

I know Visual Source Safe is supposed to help change control in team environments, but if you are in a solo environment is there still advantages to be gained from using it?

VSS does versioning, so if you check out code, modify it, and check it back in, itll track history for you (you can compare versions, compare whats in VSS to what you have in your project, or even use VSS to compare two external files). The compare feature is nice for seeing differences in versions. You can "rollback" to previous versions if you need to. So, the history and versioning are a nice feature no matter how you develop (solo or team).

VSS can also act as a backup. For example, if you check out code from VSS, modify it, and decide youve completely screwed up your project all you have to do is go to VSS and do a "get latest" to restore you last good version (assuming you always check your most recent "good versions" into VSS). Also, VSS is a database seperate from your project(s) - and if you backup your VSS files to another medium/drive or have VSS on another machine, you have a nice level of backup protection in case something happens to the drive/machine your code is on. When you know you have a complete, safe copy of your project in VSS you dont have to worry about completely pillaging a project to experiment or make major changes - because if you totally screw up the project you have a way to recover.

You can do manual versioning and backups, storing copies of your files and/or projects in folders littering your drive(s) - but VSS probably does it a little cleaner and provides for a lesser margin of error.

[edit]I was writing/posting this while Nerseus posted his link - but Ill keep my repetitive drivel here...and add, after reading that thread, that VSS isnt the only source control program out there, and its sometimes a little clunky, but it seems to work well enough (we use it where I work). We also use it to store some non-code stuff, like project tracking spreadsheets, server/db server listings (we have tons of both), programming standards docs, etc)[/edit]

Paul

 

[Denaes]

Is VSS the only one to allow you to backup other files as well? I like the idea of backing up word, excel, access, text, html, etc; as well, but Im not looking for the spending of money so much right now. Down the road in the next year Ill get the MSDN subscription which comes with stuff like that, but I dont have that yet.

So is there a good "single developer" source control that provides these features as well?

 

[irasmith]

VSS isnt the only source control program out there, and its sometimes a little clunky, but it seems to work well enough (we use it where I work). We also use it to store some non-code stuff, like project tracking spreadsheets, server/db server listings (we have tons of both), programming standards docs, etc)

Would you care to elaborate any on how it is a little clunky or from your view how it fits that description? I am not trying to put anything down or make fun of anything, I am just asking those who are more experienced in this area what their thoughts and experiences are so that I might learn a bit.

I had wondered about what tool to use to deal with version and changes to non-program docs like programming standard docs and such. Sounds like it will work with any doc format (basically meaning any doc format in the MS family of products like Word and such)?.

Also, say I were to use VSS, will it recognize an existing version number on a project I am about to inherit from another person or when I place it in VSS the first time will it just start out at the base starting version number and being to increment from there?

 

[Nerseus]

VSS versions dont really have anything to do with other file versions (DLLs, VS projects, Word files, etc.). The version in VSS is just sequential - the first time a file goes in, its version "1". The next check-in is version "2", etc.

Unless something is recognized as "text", VSS wont give you the ability to compare versions or see differences. Luckily, most MS Office files have their own internal ability to track changes. You can turn that on in Word, for example. Through Word you can View the changes visually or clear the change history.

As for backing up files, VSS has backup/restore tools but theyre far from perfect.

VSS was meant to store any kind of file, keep track of its history, and "label" versions of files. Again, a version being VSSs version. If your project is 2.0 then you would have to name the label something like "Ver 2.0". The "2" version number wont really be anything that VSS shows or recognizes.

VSS is ideal if youre a Visual Studio developer as it gives you the ability to check in and out from within the IDE and its "smart" about the files it checks out. I cant speak for other source control systems but I would guess that many support Visual Studio as its one of the more popular development environments.

Ive been reading some *really* cool things about the new source safe thats due out with the new .NET. I hope they fix a couple of the more glaring issues with the current sourcesafe.

-ner

 

[irasmith]

Thanks so much for the clarification on the questions I had. This does sound like a promising path for me to explore so I will certainly look into it further. It might be some time before I get to the VS.NET 2005 version of VSS since the projects that I am inheriting are done in VS.NET 2003, but this is a starting point for sure

 

[PlausiblyDamp]

In the next VS release they are fixing some of the issues with Source Safe but only for compatabilty reasons.
There is actually a completely new version control system being included - far more useful for a corporate environment as it supports things like access over HTTP (great for remote users) and the ability to have certain requirements met before code can be checked in (e.g. must have unit tests written, must achieve a certain % code coverage, x amount of peple must have peer reviewed the code and approved it kind of thing).

 

[Derek Stone]

Just in case anyone would like further reading on what PlausiblyDamp mentioned, you can search for "Team System".

Secondly, SourceGear Vault offers a compelling option: a free, single-user license to its product.

 

[irasmith]

Wow, the new version control system sounds really cool. Seems it will be something I will need to investigate for sure when VS.NET 2005 is officially out.

 

[irasmith]

Secondly, SourceGear Vault offers a compelling option: a free, single-user license to its product.

Ooohhhh, that does sound like a nice deal, especially for a solo developer or for use here at home with my VS.NET 2003 Professional package, which by default does not have VSS included with it. Ill certainly check that out