About PVCS Version Control

See also

Why Use Version Control?

Accurate tracking and recording of changes to project files is critical. Using the PVCS Version Manager Interface to track these changes gives you access to them at any time. You can also manage multiple versions of your projects and control access to files by locking.

How It Works

PVCS Version Manager stores your files in archives which make it easy for you to reconstruct any revision of a file. When you add a file to your project, you'll check the file into an archive to store a complete copy. (You can choose to check in all files automatically when you create a project.) You can then check out the file from the archive, make changes, and check the file back in. Each time you check in a new variation, your changes are stored and another revision is added.

How Version Manager Assigns Revisions

Version Manager assigns the first revision you check in number 1.0, unless you specify otherwise. When you check in a new instance of the same file, it becomes the tip revision, and is assigned the next highest number in sequence.

Using Version Labels

As you check out files, you can make them read-only, writable without a lock, or writable with a lock. You can also assign version labels during the check in/check out process to identify a release of a product. Version labels are particularly useful when you want to perform actions on multiple files simultaneously.

Reporting

There are two reports to assist you in version control:

pvcs00000000.gif The Archive Report contains creation and summary information for an archive file.

pvcs00000000.gif The Difference Report shows the differences between two workfiles or revisions.