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Groups > comp.lang.basic.visual.misc > #216

Re: VB project backup utility

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On 06/06/2011 16:52, ralph wrote:
> On Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:11:36 +0100, Dee Earley
>> Personally, I use Mercurial and swear by it after the POS that is
>> SourceSafe :)
>
> I would likely have let that last comment go if you hadn't used the
> grossly unwarranted term "POS" - after all different strokes for
> different folks - 	and the OP is obviously in dire need of a
> SCM/SCCS of some kind - thus anything would be an improvement.<g>

Yes, it was a bit strong, my apologies.

> VSS 6 has one ultimate feature that makes it superior to all other
> SCM's, it is fully and seamlessly integrated with VB6. It understands
> the VBIDE's management of source files and allows the developer to
> manage his projects directly from the toolbar or from the menu, or
> automatically. (As well as externally like other SCM tools.) With all
> other tools the developer must exercise a level of additional
> management and discipline.

I have to admit that I rarely used the integration as I found it a pita 
when files were not checked out, and the explorer was a bit more usable 
for most of the things I used.
This has carried on into mercurial (for which there is also a plugin 
iirc, but never used it)

> VSS's major wart is it was originally designed to be a 'local' file
> based storage. It is not a 'server'. This means it was subject to
> client failures as the clients are reading and writing directly to
> storage. However, the store is remarkably redundant in how it manages
> its keys and indexes. Little short of a massive hardware failure can
> make its store totally unrecoverable.

I have had individual entries/files become unusable a few times in the 
past. Nothing short of forgetting about it and readding the file got it 
usable again. Unfortunately, this also crippled the project IDE plugin 
at the time.

> [In this you'll find it quite comparable to a file-based database
> solution vs. a database server, eg. Jet and SQL Server.]

(Yeah, I've also had pains with Access :p)

> It the User keeps the following in mind, VSS can be used for years
> with out any problems.
> 1) Avoid chewing on the same Project store from the VBIDE and
> externally at the same time.
> 2) Always perform a weekly cleanup on the store using the utilities
> provided.
> 3) Never perform incremental backups on the store, always use full
> back-ups.
>
> I do not recommend VSS 6 for projects other than for VS 6, nor for any
> large distributed enterprise or 'remote' environment. There has been a
> great deal of improvements in other SCM/SCCS's that make them a better
> option, but for VB in a 'local' environment there is nothing better.

I still prefer Mercurial (I only have experience of mercurial and VSS) 
here as it allows for very easy branching for testing of ideas, as well 
as releases.

The few times I've had to do this in VSS have always left me scratching 
my head over the exact sequence of calls, the different folders and left 
me having to do some manual adjustment of project paths, both in the 
user ss.ini and the mssccprg.scc files.

I've also got used to the queues functionality which means I can test a 
few changes, create a patch and back them out if I need to go back to 
the "latest" version.

> As the OP has expressed a desire to use convenient add-ons, likes a
> degree of transparency, is working in a 'local' environment, and wants
> to keep it simple and 'cheap' - VSS is far from a "POS" and in fact
> the prefect solution for him.

If they get on the with integration then fine :)

In short, I've had far too many problems/niggles with VSS, even on its 
own that makes me never want to use it again :|

(My comments above are purely my opinion based on the experiance I've 
had with both and are not legally binding, to be applied to my employer, 
next doors dog or anyone else, etc)

-- 
Dee Earley (dee.earley@icode.co.uk)
i-Catcher Development Team
http://www.icode.co.uk/icatcher/

iCode Systems

(Replies direct to my email address will be ignored.
Please reply to the group.)

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VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-04 22:00 -0400
  Re: VB project backup utility "Nobody" <nobody@nobody.com> - 2011-06-04 23:10 -0400
    Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-04 23:41 -0400
  Re: VB project backup utility ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2011-06-04 22:13 -0500
    Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-04 23:54 -0400
  Re: VB project backup utility "Mayayana" <mayayana@invalid.nospam> - 2011-06-05 10:02 -0400
    Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-05 20:20 -0400
      Re: VB project backup utility ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2011-06-05 23:51 -0500
      Re: VB project backup utility Dee Earley <dee.earley@icode.co.uk> - 2011-06-06 10:11 +0100
        Re: VB project backup utility ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2011-06-06 10:52 -0500
          Re: VB project backup utility Dee Earley <dee.earley@icode.co.uk> - 2011-06-06 17:09 +0100
            Re: VB project backup utility ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2011-06-07 09:41 -0500
              Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-07 23:04 -0400
                Re: VB project backup utility ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2011-06-07 23:06 -0500
                Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-08 10:43 -0400
                Re: VB project backup utility "Nobody" <nobody@nobody.com> - 2011-06-08 10:49 -0400
                Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-08 11:24 -0400
                Re: VB project backup utility "StrandElectric" <Strand@dummyspit> - 2011-06-09 06:51 +1000
                Re: VB project backup utility Dee Earley <dee.earley@icode.co.uk> - 2011-06-09 09:42 +0100
                Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-08 10:44 -0400
                Re: VB project backup utility ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2011-06-08 14:05 -0500
          Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-06 12:52 -0400
            Re: VB project backup utility ralph <nt_consulting64@yahoo.net> - 2011-06-06 14:09 -0500
  Re: VB project backup utility "Tim Rude" <timrude.nospam@nospam.hotmail.com> - 2011-06-06 10:40 -0500
    Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-06 13:28 -0400
      Re: VB project backup utility "Tim Rude" <timrude.nospam@nospam.hotmail.com> - 2011-06-06 13:27 -0500
        Re: VB project backup utility -mhd <not_real@invalid.com> - 2011-06-07 01:07 -0400

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