Graduating from microsoft visual sourcesafe to ... - PVCS - Synergex

G R A D U ATING FROM MICROSOFT ® VISUAL SOURCESAFE TO MERANT ® S C M
Promotion Models
PVCS Version Manager solves the promotion model dilemma of SourceSafe. You can
set up milestones to reflect the various lifecycles your software may pass through. For
example, after the first baseline is created you may want to lock the associated code and
start testing it.
You would “promote” the baselined code (all revisions) to a milestone level entitled
“QA_Test1.”
You can restrict a user’s actions at specific points in the promotion model. For example,
you may restrict a user’s actions such that they are not allowed to add labels, promote a
file or delete files from “QA_Test1.” Visual SourceSafe does not offer the option to set
this type of protection or restriction to user actions, based on the promotion level — t h e
milestone — the code has attained.
The Version Manager promotion system is based on a logical association between a revision
of a file and a stage in the development cycle. These stages represent processes
that normally occur in the development of a software application, such as development,
testing, and production. There is no need to keep separate copies of files in different
locations. Visual SourceSafe does not offer this type of functionality.
Branching and Merging
Being able to create separate threads of development — a c c u r a t e l y, automatically
and without file corruption — is key to enabling parallel development. Parallel development,
in turn, is mandatory for managing large development projects with any hope
of achieving a competitive time to market.
The limited capability of Visual SourceSafe in these areas can lead to lengthy development
schedules, which in turn can cause dissatisfied customers, features falling
behind those of competitors, loss of revenue, escalating project costs, project backlog
and developer frustration.
Archive File
Trunk
1.4
1.3
1.2
Merge
1.1.1.1
1.1.1.0
Branch
1.1
1.0
Revision
PVCS Version Manager supports branching and merging of files to enable parallel development. There is no need
to create separate project folders when branching files.
But with PVCS Version Manager, users can branch their development so they can create
a special release if they need to, and can later merge these changes with the original
development path to create the next main release. Teams can make multiple enhancements
in parallel without corrupting files or creating new, separate project databases.
M E R A N T
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