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My company uses ClearCase, which also works by checking files in and out
(accompanied by comments, if desired) and preserving all earlier
versions. I find it easy to use.
>Gwyneth Runnings told us:
>
>> >I'm wondering if anyone has used specific software
>> >programs that track code changes-
>>
>> My last company used Visual Source Safe, which I think many others
>> use as well. In order to change a file, the programmer or other user
>> has to check it out. This prevents people from working on the same
>> document at the same time and also preserves the earlier versions.
>> You can view the previous version and the new version side by side
>> and it highlights the changes.
>
>That or CVS, but how does anyone ELSE know that somebody has made
>any changes, and what the changes ARE. Most such version control
>tools offer a comparison between two versions of a file, but just
>requesting the difference report, let alone interpreting that report,
>can be tricky. I'm dealing with a team of about 5 engineers who are
>making changes across 6 versions of an API. Each has his/her own
>idiosyncratic style for commenting what the changes they made were.
>Some are excellent, but others report things like "changed some
>constants."
>
>--Guy K. Haas gkhaas -at- usa -dot- net aka ghaas -at- selectica -dot- com
> Software Exegete in Silicon Valley
>
In VSS the whole history of who has worked on the file is available
to every user, and you can compare any two files in the history, but
you have to be able to read the code and have an idea of what the
changes mean. Or you have to get your programmers to write comments
in the comments field of VSS. You can look at the history and say,
Hey Bob was working on that file. I can see he changed this line of
code, although I don't see any comments.
Yes, you're right it does still require interpertation.
g ..
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