User Guide - Mks.com

Change
Package
Commands
Change Package Feature Overview
completion phase in which the associated problem is addressed. All
changes relating to a given issue must then be associated with the correct
change package. Once the problem is addressed, or the feature added, that
change package can be closed.
It is equally important that issues are clearly delineated so that each change
package addresses only one problem area or feature. Certainly, one
problem area or feature may require many files to address it, but if you
create a change package that is too wide in scope, it becomes difficult to
extract specific changes later on.
With accurate and consistent logging, Source Integrity can clearly identify
the specific member revisions (or files) that address the identified problem
or complete the required feature. Without this type of tracking, applying a
change package may not have the desired results and manual reviews may
become necessary.
Consider the following scenario at abcBusiness: A major customer
purchased version 2.0 of abcBusiness’ Aurora software. The customer now
wants a new feature—data compression—that they can use with Aurora
2.0. The development team at abcBusiness has already completed work on
a data compression feature, but the feature has been engineered only as
part of the upcoming Aurora 3.0 release.
To address the customer’s needs, abcBusiness would normally have to
assign a separate development team to create the new feature for Aurora
2.0. But how can abcBusiness take advantage of the work already
completed on the data compression feature and provide it to the customer?
If the development team has been using change packages, they can isolate
the files that relate to the new data compression feature. However, without
the functionality of Apply CP and Resync CP, the buildmaster at
abcBusiness would have to search the required change package(s)
manually and individually review all of the associated files to isolate the
changes related to the feature. The buildmaster would then have to add
and drop files manually, update file revisions, merge around unwanted
revisions, merge in required changes, and merge out any unwanted
changes.
Using the functionality of Apply CP and Resync CP, this complicated
process becomes largely automated. In Source Integrity, the Apply CP
operation works directly in the project to add and drop files, and update
file revisions as required to create the desired change. Source Integrity
presents you with a list—the backfill list—including all change packages
required to capture the issue. In the Apply CP operation, you must either
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