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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.

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Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice
Feb, 2007 | 404 pages
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Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice
Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Controlling the Evolution of Software Products
Controlling the Evolution of Software Products
What is Software Configuration Management?
The Software Development Lifecycle
Software Configuration Management Concepts
Conclusion
Summary
2
The SourceSafe 2005 Architecture
The SourceSafe 2005 Architecture
The Visual SourceSafe Server
The Visual SourceSafe Database
The Visual SourceSafe Clients
The SourceSafe Integration with Visual Studio .NET
Network Configurations
Summary
3
Creating a Service-Oriented Application
Creating a Service-Oriented Application
Specifications—Project Architecture
Designing the System
Summary
4
Adding Solutions to the SourceSafe Database
Adding Solutions to the SourceSafe Database
Setting up the Database
Connecting to the Database
Adding the Database to the Database List
Opening the Database
Adding the Solution to the Database using Visual Studio
What Happens after Adding the Solution to the Database
How SourceSafe Represents the Solution—the Data Model
Summary
5
Developing Solutions under Source Control
Developing Solutions under Source Control
Setting up the Workspace
Adding New Project Files
Checking In to the Database
Versions and History
Getting the Latest Versions
Team Cooperation
The Exclusive Check-Out Model
Comparing Versions
Undoing Version Changes
The Multiple Check-Out Model
Pinning Files
Searching for Files in the Database
Sharing Files
Moving Projects and Files
Deleting, Recovering, and Purging Files
Summary
6
Working from Remote Locations
Working from Remote Locations
Working Online
Working Offline
Reconnecting to the Database
Summary
7
Managing the Software Development Lifecycle
Managing the Software Development Lifecycle
The Evolution of Software Products
Milestones
Building
Testing
Releasing
Parallel Product Development
Summary
Installing Visual SourceSafe 2005
Installing Visual SourceSafe 2005
SourceSafe Installation
Configuring SourceSafe for Remote Access
Summary
Creating and Configuring SourceSafe Databases
Creating and Configuring SourceSafe Databases
Creating Databases
Securing the Database
Setting the Time Zone
Sharing the Database
Managing the Database Users
Configuring the Services for Visual Studio
Summary
Database Maintenance
Database Maintenance
Undoing User Checkouts
Changing the Team Version Control Model
Locking the Database
Archiving the Database
Restoring the Database
Analyzing the SourceSafe Database
Summary

Configuring the Services for Visual Studio

Visual SourceSafe 2005 contains two server components used by the Visual Studio SourceSafe plug-ins:

  • Local Area Network booster service: this accelerates operations on the local network using the Visual Studio SourceSafe LAN plug-in.

  • Remote Internet access service: the enables access to the SourceSafe database from the Internet using the Visual Studio SourceSafe internet plug-in.

These services are configured using the Visual SourceSafe Administrator on the database server with the Server | Configure menu command.

Configuring the Local Area Network Service

To configure the Local Area Network booster service, select the LAN tab in the Server Configuration dialog.

To enable or disable the service, use the Enable LAN service for this computer option.

Configuring the Remote Internet Access Service

To configure the remote internet access service, select the SourceSafe Internet tab in the Server Configuration dialog.

To enable the SourceSafe internet service for the local database server computer, select the Enable SourceSafe Internet for this computer checkbox. This will install an XML web service named SourceSafe in the Internet Information Services (IIS) on the local database server computer.

The service is always installed in the default website (or the website having ID 1) in IIS.

Check the Require secure communication using SSL option to enable secure communications over Secure Sockets Layer.

Note

To enable SSL you must first install an SSL certificate in IIS. For more information on creating and installing an SSL certificate consult Appendix A.

To enable internet access for the current database, select the Enable SourceSafe Internet for this database option. You must specify the Internet domain name for the server or its IP address in the Web Server Name text box.

When using SSL you must specify the same name used in the SSL certificate otherwise you will see the following error message:

To apply the configuration, click OK in the Server Configuration dialog.

Click Yes to configure the required server components.

After the configuration is applied, the SourceSafe web service will be configured to access the SourceSafe database. Two new folders are created in the database, VssWebDownload and VssWebUpload.

These folders are used to download and upload files over the Internet. They are configured as virtual folders in the SourceSafe web service.

As a result, to allow remote users to use the internet service, you must grant Modify security permissions on these two folders for the users in the Windows Users group.

After setting the security permissions for these folders, remote users can log in to the database using the SourceSafe remote internet service.

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