Visual Source Safe Office of the Accountant General (A&E),Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad

Source Code Integrity In VLC like vast systems the source code integrity plays an important role Before changing the component by way of defect fixing, it is imperative to keep a copy of old version as a safety measure The new component if found to be meeting the requirement of the user, it can be copied onto all the client systems

Source Code Integrity (contd.) We should always be in a position to rollback to the old version in case of any problems during defect fixing. It is very cumbersome to maintain various versions manually on a system It is also difficult to identify as to which version of the component is the latest.

Visual Source Safe To overcome the above problems, the Microsoft VSS software enables to keep the different versions of the component at one place. It is possible to get all the latest components at one go. This software also provides for archiving of entire project.

Steps to implement VSS Install the VSS software on a client machine where it is not accessed by the users other than EDP staff. All the baseline versions of the components relating to VLC application has to be copied into VSS. While copying the components can be organized into directories representing the modules. Under each module sub directories can be created for copying Forms, Reports, Menus etc. for easy identification.

Steps to implement VSS (contd.) Create a folder on the hard disk ‘VSS’ and create a sub-directory ‘Checked out’ under the directory VSS. Set the default working directory to VSS\Checked out. Whenever a component is required for defect fixing the component should be checked out first.

VSS (Contd.) From checked out folder the component can be copied onto any system for defect fixing. When the component is through, copy it onto the VSS system in the checked out folder. This changed component can then be checked in to the VSS.