Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ncar!gatech!udel!rochester!rit!news From: news@cs.rit.edu (N) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer Subject: INFO REQUEST: Source Control/ Version Control Systems Keywords: source control, version control Message-ID: <2195@cs.rit.edu> Date: 14 Mar 91 18:05:53 GMT Organization: Printer Products Division, Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY Lines: 52 INFO REQUEST: Source Code Control\ Version Control Systems I'm looking for any information you may have regarding the management of source code on the Macintosh. I've noticed this topic pops up every couple of months, but I've never come across a satisfactory answer. WHAT IS SOURCE CONTROL: Background: A source control system will typically store the original file and only the subsequent sets of changes to it on disk. Features: - Mechanism for storing,updating and retrieving any version of a text file. - Control access to that file, either locally or across a network. - Identify version of retrieved file. - maintain a record of changes, why they were made and by whom. - The ability to branch to diverge from main releases. QUESTIONS: 1. What Macintosh source control (SC) programs exist, either commercial or 'public domain'/shareware/freeware? 2. If you are not using any special Macintosh SC program then: a) how are you handling an environment where multiple programmers are working on the same set of code? b) How are you handling the release of different software version? What about branching, i.e. diverging from the main versions to produce specialized versions? c) What about a combination of (a) and (b)? WHAT I (think) I KNOW: 1) Projector Program- This is a program that is bundled with MPW and provides a degree of functionality of a source control system. 2) Multiple Copies - I call this the brute force method. It requires keeping complete multiple copies of the software/documentation for each version/release. This quickly becomes unmanageable and wasteful for any reasonably sized project especially when you consider question (2c) above. 3) Another computer system's source control facility - I use the source control system of a Sun workstation, called SCCS for those who are familiar. It provides the features described above. I'm sure it exists, in some form or the other, on other UNIX systems. This is inconvenient since I must use Telnet to transfer the files and it tends to be slow for larger projects, not to mention that I must be done frequently. Most of you probably don't have access to (or don't want to learn) other systems. 4) ??? ??? ******* - Tell me about your favorite source code control system? - Are you satisfied with it? I will summarize to the net! Send ALL responses to : uunet!sisd.kodak.COM!ahc OR use amc4023@ma.rit.edu as a last resort OR Aleck Che-Mponda,35810,Rochester NY 14653-5810 SnailMail ******* -- Aleck Che-Mponda ahc@sisd.kodak.com Software Engineer amc4023@ma.rit.edu Eastman Kodak Co. Disclaimer: "If Eastman Kodak Co. wanted me to be their spokesman, they would have hired me as such." "Read my lips.."