Book Image

Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice

Book Image

Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice

Overview of this book

Why is Software Configuration Management important?Software Configuration Management (SCM) is the discipline of managing the building and modification of software through techniques including source-code control, revision control, object-build tracking, and release construction. SCM involves identifying the configuration of the software at given points in time, systematically controlling changes to the configuration, and maintaining the integrity and traceability of the configuration throughout the software development lifecycle.Software Configuration Management is one of the first skills a serious developer should master, after becoming proficient with his or her development tools of choice. Unfortunately, this does not always happen because the subject of SCM is not commonly taught in either academic or company training.When developing software, you need to have a manageable team development effort, track and maintain the history of your projects, sustain parallel development on multiple product versions, fix bugs, and release service packs while further developing the application. This is where the concepts of Software Configuration Management come into play; SCM is about getting the job done safer, faster, and better.Visual SourceSafe has a long history behind it. The previous versions were either loved for their ease of use and integration with other Microsoft products, or hated because the headaches caused by using them improperly. This book will help you to avoid such problems.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Preface

The SourceSafe Integration with Visual Studio .NET


Visual SourceSafe 2005 has a deep integration with Visual Studio .NET, allowing for easy operation with projects and files. Visual Studio integration is achieved with the help of two compatible source control plug-ins that use the source control adapter package in the IDE.

The two Visual SourceSafe plug-ins for Visual Studio are:

  • SourceSafe LAN: This is the standard plug-in for accessing the SourceSafe database over a Local Area Network connection. This plug-in has the capability of using the LAN booster service on the SourceSafe server for improved performance.

  • SourceSafe Internet: This plug-in is used by remote users to access the SourceSafe database over the Internet using the XML Web service on the SourceSafe server.

Plug-In Selection in Visual Studio .NET

From within Visual Studio .NET we can only work with one source control provider at a time. Selecting the appropriate source control plug-in is done by using the Options dialog...