Product Information

        Software Version Control is a multi-user package that will help developers keep track of software changes of several projects at once or just one system. This package tracks any binary file type and can report when changes have happened. Retrieve older version of programs that no longer exist that have been deleted. SVC has no size limitations of the files that you want SVC to track. Microsoft Access 2000 (Jet 4.0) is the default install, the database (.mdb) is included with the installation.

        SVC can check-in any file of any size.  exe, bat, cmd, bmp, pcx, jpg... The actual file can be for example 50GB and SVC will have no problem checking it in and keeping track this file. The only limitation is the back-end database systems used. SVC supports MS Access, MS SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 9i.  (Support for more databases will be added when the database manufacturers systems become robust enough).

        Ex. Microsoft Access has a physical database limitation of two gigabytes (2GB), while Microsoft SQL Server 2000's is one terabyte (1TB) and Oracle's limitation is several terabytes. This would mean that only small operations should use Access while larger ones should use a scalable database. Scalable databases would also help in the protection of the data by providing replication, fail-over clustering, automatic backup and rollback features that can not be done using simple flat file storage.
 
        SVC does not have to manage how much the database could hold; the database would handle this automatically.
        All your data is in one place, no matter how many managers or programmers have used the system.
 
        While "Source Control" systems just copy the imported file to a different location on the computer or network, which can become lost, damaged or worst infected with a virus. Using a database limits that possibility, because once you put the file inside the database viruses cannot get attached to it!   Portability is key to moving your data around in an organization. With a database you move basically one or two files as opposed to the hundred or thousands that you may generate in your SDLC cycle.

        Backups are generally done better in an organization using databases than large amounts of files.

        Projects that are checked into SVC can have the added benefit of not allowing all users to see all the projects that SVC holds. So if one user needs access to three projects and another user only needs access to one project, he will not see the other two, they do not even exist to this user.

        Security on the menu level is addressable in SVC. You can lock out certain functions that you would not want everyone to have access to.

        Ex. Certain users can copy systems, delete or add new systems while other users can only check filed in and out.

        SVC not only handles source code but by being able to check-in any type file, SVC can put a whole environment back onto a computer (except for registry information). All files and directory structures can be exported back to their original location from which they were imported.

        No copying of files to an import directory to get it into the system. The files can be checked-in from the exact location that they reside in the first place. Which makes getting it back to that location, should you need to, a snap!

        This system will not check-in a file into a project if the file already exists in the project and was not changed. The comparison is done on a binary level not on an ASCII character level.

        All operation can be handled on a transaction basis, so that if a failure occurs a rollback to a stable state can be achieved. This happens automatically.

        Store comments on the project level so that you know just what the project contains.

        Check-In and Check-Out whole projects at one time, not one file at a time (Unless you really want to!).



SQL Server Installation

        SVC 3.2 is not compatible with prior versions, to upgrade the database table data for SQL Server 2000. Please follow the following procedure (the procedure is similar for other supported databases). Steps 3 and 4 are not always required, you should try without these steps first.
  •         Uninstall prior version of SVC.
  •         Install SVC version 3.2
  •         Create a  SQL Server database in the name of SVC x.x.x  (x.x.x is the version of SVC you are installing ex. SVC 3.2).
  •         Give it user and owner rights for the script to be able to run.
  •         Run the SQL Server 2000 database Creation Script in the Query Analyzer to create the new database.
  •         Run SVC and give the users access to the projects (make sure ini file references the new database)


Product Requirements

        THESE ARE THE MINUMUM REQUIREMENTS!!!
        THEY MUST BE INSTALLED TO AVOID PROBLEMS WITH INSTALLATION AND USAGE


        
SVC needs video set to 1024 x 768 resolution and the following software should be installed in the following order:
  •         Windows NT/2000/XP.
  •         Windows NT Service Pack 6a / Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.
  •         Microsoft Data Access Components 2.6.
  •         Microsoft Jet 4.0 Components SP 6.

        You can download these components from our support page. We suggest that you run the Automatic OS Updater.


Basic Installation
  •         Login to computer as user with Administrator privileges
  •         Install SVC.
  •         Reboot.
  •         Login to computer as same user with Administrator privileges.
  •         Run SVC.
  •         Setup new users and user privileges (In Security Maintenance Menu you must checkmark active for each user).
  •         Logout of Windows.
  •         Login as an SVC user.
  •         Run SVC.

        If you are installing on a system that has Visual Basic 5.0 on it your VB system files will be overwritten with Visual Basic 6.0 system files and your Visual Basic 5.0 programs may not work. Your original system files will be backed up anyway in the common Files directory in a backup directory (Ex. c:\Program Files\Common Files\SVC VB Backup) and these files can be copied back to the Windows system directory if there is any problem (Ex. C:\Windows\System32).

        Note: When connecting using  ODBC for each users computer, you do not have to install SVC as the administrator. You only need to log in as the user to install and then connect to the ODBC Datasource that you have already set up. All user ID's and privileges will come from the central database that you setup for SVC.
  •         Basic Operational Procedure
  •         Create a project for the software that you plan to track.
  •         Give users access to the project.
  •         Check-In the files into the project that you created.
  •         Check-Out the files from the project that you plan to change.
  •         Check-In the changed files into the same project.
  •         SVC Setup Procedure:

 Contact Information

        All Support for this product is done via the support discussion board. If you have problems, question, comments or suggestions...  post your message there. We appreciate any detailed responses good or bad so that we may make this a better product.

Comments, Suggestions? Let us know what you think....

Randem Systems, Inc.
Support Message Board: http://www.innoscript.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi   Website: http://www.randem.com
Randem Systems
Your Installation Specialist