Version Control System Support

Overview

Version Control Systems, as tools offering a lot of advantages in work and keeping files, are of great importance today in every software project. However, using VCS`s on the project, apart from many benefits, brings developers additional duties. These duties consist of carrying out additional VCS commands before, that is, after updating project files.

DA-C VCS support enables you to have all VCS commands at hand, thus making the work with VCS smooth, and the benefit of using VCS even greater. You can access VCS functionalities from the DA-C Project Explorer or Editor. There you can see the VCS information you need, and carry out the basic VCS commands. You have to keep in mind that DA-C VCS support is designed only to help you in your work on the project, and not as a help with administrative VCS operations, which is the job of VCS tools.

Plug-in Integration

DA-C, through its Plug-In system, supports several most important VCS`s today, and also supports all VCS`s that have the provided support for the Microsoft SCC interface.

In order to use the VCS support in DA-C, first you have to select your VCS in the Options > Version Control dialog box. After you have selected the VCS for which you want support, you need to additionally configure that support. The configuration procedure and parameters are described in the Technical Note for the selected VCS. You can open the Technical Note in the help form by clicking the Help button in the Options > Version Control System dialog box, after you have selected the VCS. The latest version of the Technical Note for each supported VCS is at RistanCASE`s web site: https://www.RistanCASE.com.

If you work with VCS, we suggest that you use the option Options > Editor / General / Auto reload on file alert, because it is a common case that the content of a file in the Editor is changed during the execution of the VCS command.

If DA-C does not support the VCS you work with, and the VCS has its own command-line interface, DA-C enables you to, with somewhat fewer functionalities, use your own VCS (see User Manual / VCS Command Line actions).

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Version Control System (VCS) represents a database on projects and their versions (look for basic terms further below).

The basic VCS functions are:

Saving project revisions (changes) and accessing/retrieving them easily when needed.

Locking system Check In - Check Out notifies that the document is currently in use, which promotes team work on the Intranet.

Project branching, working on post-release maintenance, and potential later merging of documents.

Representing differences between revisions, as well as between the current version and a revision contained in the VCS database.

Version Control System helps workgroups manage file changes in a shared environment (Engineering, Quality Assurance, and Documentation). Since there is a general tendency for VCS support from integrated environments and specialized editors to be built-in, it is natural that DA-C support such functionality as well.

DA-C does not have a built-in VCS, but offers support for connecting with the most popular VCS products. Please have in mind that descriptions of VCS products and their features is not among the subject of this manual. Refer to your VCS product manual instead.

To follow is a description of the more important terms relative to Version Control Systems:

Project

The basic VCS process unit. Chiefly analogous to the concept of folder in operating systems, so it contains a list of documents (mostly files, source and similar).

Revision

Revertible project sate marked by the revision number. When creating a new project, each document gets a main version, usually 1.0, though it can be configured to another number. This number is incremented with each revision: 1.1, 1.2 and so on. The same suffix is added for project branching, for example 2.3.1.0, 2.3.1.1. and so on.

Label

Textual revision label, for example "Release 4.1" and the like.

Delta

The difference between two revisions.

Check In, Check Out

In order to change a document in the VCS base, a Check Out must be performed. The read-only attribute is then usually changed in the local workspace (read: hard disk). After the change has been enacted, if one wants to keep it, a Check In is performed in the VCS document base.

Lock

It informs other team members the that the document is currently undergoing changes. In this way the possibility of different team members changing the document simultaneously is reduced.

Version Control Support

Overview

Command Line Integration

Plug-in integration

Supported Version Control Systems

Overview

Command Line Integration

Plug-in Integration

Supported Version Control Systems