Working in a Source Control System

An additional benefit of creating projects is that you can manage project files in a source control system.

Why use source control?

Version source control for Web site content is an essential for coordinating team development of complex projects. A source control system does add a layer of file management responsibility, but it offers clear advantages for developers, managers, and support staff, including:

Source control systems really are about control; they are designed to control file management in application development and related work. Common terms such as check-in, check-out, lock, and unlock accurately describe the security procedures required for an effective source control system.

Supported source control systems

HomeSite uses the Microsoft-published interface called the Source Code Control (SCC) API to connect with a wide range of standard source control products. HomeSite can work with both client-based and server-based systems.

HomeSite will automatically generate a list of source control applications detected on your system when you first select the Choose Source Control Provider command for a project. You can then select the appropriate provider from the list.

The interface and command structure for source control applications varies from vendor to vendor, so check the product documentation of your source control software for specific procedures and options.

Setting up a project in source control

The following procedure takes you through the steps of creating Microsoft Visual SourceSafe project, and then adding HomeSite project files to source control. You can adapt this procedure to work in your particular development environment.

Visual SourceSafe uses the term "project" to refer to a distinct set of files stored in its database, so this procedure uses the term "VSS project" to distinguish it from a HomeSite project.

All the source control commands are available by right-clicking in a project.

Note To access project files from Visual SourceSafe:
  1. Create a VSS project.
  2. Use the File > Set Working Folder command set the root folder for editing project files.
  3. Open the project that you want to add to source control.
  4. Right-click on the project root in the Projects tab and select Source Control > Choose Source Control Provider.

    A list of source control application detected on your system appears.

  5. Select from the Provider dialog box.
  6. Right-click the project root and select Source Control > Map Project To Source Control.

    You might be required to login to VSS at this point.

  7. Use the VSS File > Add Files command to add the contents of your work directory to the VSS project folder.

    Use the VSS Tools > Options dialog box to set file handling rules, views, and other commands.

Once the relationship between the source control application and your project is established, you can right-click in the project files list to manage check-out, check-in, and other operations without having to open the source control application.

Sharing projects files in Visual SourceSafe

Allaire Knowledge Base article number 14856 covers the steps required to setup multiple user access to project files in source control.