<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Actually, it's a pretty darn good software program.
Review: (...) Microsoft does in fact use VSS in-house for their production. I know this, because I worked there.
VSS is an excellent program to use as long as you have the staff (which any decent IT department should have) with the know-how to use it. We didn't have any problems incorporating it into part of our daily routine, and we used it to produce the entire Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit, both online and print versions. We also used it for Windows 2000 Help, and we used it for the Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit as well.
Since moving on from Microsoft, I've found other such production tools to be clunky, and I heartily recommend VSS. Obviously you need someone in your IT department to have the know-how to implement it, but that's the same with *any* such software program. The time and money you save by eliminating human error in the writing and editing process for any style of development is huge, and VSS is absolutely indispensable for professional-level development of product. Once you get everyone accustomed to using it, it becomes second nature and a seamless part of the normal production process.
Rating:
Summary: Actually, it's a pretty darn good software program.
Review: (...) Microsoft does in fact use VSS in-house for their production. I know this, because I worked there.
VSS is an excellent program to use as long as you have the staff (which any decent IT department should have) with the know-how to use it. We didn't have any problems incorporating it into part of our daily routine, and we used it to produce the entire Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit, both online and print versions. We also used it for Windows 2000 Help, and we used it for the Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit as well.
Since moving on from Microsoft, I've found other such production tools to be clunky, and I heartily recommend VSS. Obviously you need someone in your IT department to have the know-how to implement it, but that's the same with *any* such software program. The time and money you save by eliminating human error in the writing and editing process for any style of development is huge, and VSS is absolutely indispensable for professional-level development of product. Once you get everyone accustomed to using it, it becomes second nature and a seamless part of the normal production process.
Rating: 
Summary: Great if you are starting from ground zero
Review: I have used Source Safe on two occassions. The first was a consulting project where we created all the web pages from day one. In this situation, Source Safe is great. You have fewer worries. The second instance is now, where I am currently migrating legacy code into source safe, and it is a little more difficult to deal with. There are not enough resources on how to use this product. The basics of using the product are fairly intuitive and pretty well documented on MSDN online or CD. Unfortunately, the intermediate to advanced (i.e. tips, tricks, etc.)information is a little more difficult to come across. The only thing I have been able to find on Source Safe training is a three video series (about $250 for the set), which I am still trying to find more information about before I purchase it, and even it that was not all that easy to find. I cannot believe that someone has not written about this application. Overall, I think Source Safe is a great tool, especially if you are starting from scratch. However, just keep in mind that you must plan well if you are implementing it into an environment that already exists.
Rating:
Summary: Great if you are starting from ground zero
Review: I have used Source Safe on two occassions. The first was a consulting project where we created all the web pages from day one. In this situation, Source Safe is great. You have fewer worries. The second instance is now, where I am currently migrating legacy code into source safe, and it is a little more difficult to deal with. There are not enough resources on how to use this product. The basics of using the product are fairly intuitive and pretty well documented on MSDN online or CD. Unfortunately, the intermediate to advanced (i.e. tips, tricks, etc.)information is a little more difficult to come across. The only thing I have been able to find on Source Safe training is a three video series (about $250 for the set), which I am still trying to find more information about before I purchase it, and even it that was not all that easy to find. I cannot believe that someone has not written about this application. Overall, I think Source Safe is a great tool, especially if you are starting from scratch. However, just keep in mind that you must plan well if you are implementing it into an environment that already exists.
Rating: 
Summary: a frustrating tool, but the industry standard
Review: I think it's time to set the record straight on Visual SourceSafe. This is a product badly in need of updating, but it doesn't seem to have any direct competitors (nobody wants to be Borlanded or Netscaped), so it probably won't happen any time soon.If you're creating non-web applications with a programming tool that supports SourceSafe integration, then you probably won't mind SourceSafe. You will have to work around a few frustrations: the lack of drag-and-drop, the amazingly dated look to the client app, and the fact that a lot of discipline is required to use it properly and safely. If you don't train a developer new to SourceSafe, you can count somebody writing code referencing a wrong relative path, and having to merge lots of changes people made because they didn't check files out properly. However, if you're trying to develop a web application with others in an integrated programming tool, then there will be times you want to tear your hair out until you sit down and really learn how the thing works (without any aid from the skimpy online help), because the interaction between the web files, the local files (if an ASP app), and the SourceSafe files is poorly documented and very finicky. Hint: whatever you do, don't remove the SourceSafe binding inside Visual Studio .NET and attempt to put it back again later -- instead delete all the local files and do "Open from Source Control" inside Visual Studio. I should also mention that it networks very poorly. This is because there is no server component; clients just grab files via ordinary network shares. If you are trying to use SourceSafe from a remote site, then you will need patience, because doing a large operation such as a recursive "get latest" takes a long time even if you are telecommuting from the same city over a high-speed internet connection. Please note though that another company makes an inexpensive product called SourceOffSite that works with SourceSafe to overcome the networking deficiencies. In general, SourceSafe is a whole lot better than collaborating without help, and it is priced relatively reasonably, which is why it's still around. It's just long in the tooth, and is missing obvious features such as viewing all the check-in comments for a file at the same time. It really should come with printed manuals for end users detailing best practices to use and pitfalls to avoid. Instead, the online help makes it seem as if a child could use the product and everything is always sunny when using it. I know there are competing products, but I've never had the opportunity to try them, because for better or worse the market has chosen Visual SourceSafe as the standard.
Rating: 
Summary: Lackluster tool: Consistent with Microsoft overall design.
Review: If all you ever want of your revison-control software is ``check-in'' and ``get latest version'', then perhaps this is the tool for you. If you want to have branching for separate development paths, tools for merging contributions from separate sources, and abilities to affix attributes and labels in non-trivial ways then you are out of luck. To get these features, try ClearCase by Rational Software. There is no comparison with the config-spec methadology of ClearCase, which allows one to specify exactly which file/directory elements are assembled into your ``view''. If Microsoft truely believed in their product Visual SourceSafe, then wouldn't they use it themselves? No. They use ClearCase.
QED.
Rating:
Summary: Buggy, Unreliable, Frustrating, Scary
Review: Source Code Management, no doubt, is a vital part of any development shop. Any team based development effort needs a centralized repository in which to store their work. That being said, I would implore you to choose another product - such as the open source CVS (which can hook into VS.net with the right plug-ins). VSS is a buggy, unreliable, unbearably slow...and fundamentally unuseable product. This is *not* the sort of system you should use hold vital data that ammounts to months and months of hard work. For your sanity and your time, DO NOT buy this product. As each version seems to bring very little in the way of rethinking this disaster, Microsoft has made it very clear that they could care less about source control. (by the way, MS doesn't even use this product in-house).
Rating:
Summary: Buggy, Unreliable, Frustrating, Scary
Review: Source Code Management, no doubt, is a vital part of any development shop. Any team based development effort needs a centralized repository in which to store their work. That being said, I would implore you to choose another product - such as the open source CVS (which can hook into VS.net with the right plug-ins). VSS is a buggy, unreliable, unbearably slow...and fundamentally unuseable product. This is *not* the sort of system you should use hold vital data that ammounts to months and months of hard work. For your sanity and your time, DO NOT buy this product. As each version seems to bring very little in the way of rethinking this disaster, Microsoft has made it very clear that they could care less about source control. (by the way, MS doesn't even use this product in-house).
Rating:
Summary: Decent, but no more
Review: Source control is critical, and for small scale operations this app works great. Occasionally there's some db corruption, but in general you should do alright. But it really doesn't scale, lacks many features, and hasn't had any significant feature additions, or development effort in years. Sometimes I think there are no developers currently working on this app at all. There's got to be a better way.
Rating:
Summary: To be used by anyone!
Review: This is an execellent product. It helps a lot to keep the SW-development clean. Different versions of the code can easily be managed. Older versions can be recalled, compared (side-by-side) and even the restore works pretty well. If multiple programmers work in the same project, SS locks files against multiple-edit. SS can even been used for Word Documents (documentation of the code), but SS does not support the compare function then. You must use the compare function of MS Word in that case. Bugs of the Version 5 have mostly been removed.
<< 1 >>
|
