Starting a Project

5

1. Ensure that all SCCS history files (s-dot files) are in directories named SCCS and that these files are directly beneath directories containing source files.

Configuring works only on files under SCCS version control.

2. Be sure that your project directory structure is current and organized.

3. Execute the Create Workspace command item in the File menu, specifying the top-level directory as your workspace. The Create Workspace command creates the Codemgr_wsdata directory under the top-level directory.

4. Begin using the Bringover Create transaction to form a workspace hierarchy. See "Configuring a Workspace Hierarchy" on page 44 for guidelines regarding workspace hierarchies.

If your project requires files to be grouped for transfer operations in special ways, you will have to write your own FLP(s).

1. Use the Create Workspace command item in the File menu to create your project's top-level directory (with its Codemgr_wsdata directory)

2. Traverse to the directory where the existing development files live.

3. Start Workshop Versioning and select Check In New.

Select the files you want to include in the development project, and enter an initial comment.

rcs2ws operates on RCS files under the parent directory and converts them to SCCS files, then puts the resulting SCCS files into a workspace. If a workspace doesn't already exist, it will be created. The parent directory hierarchy is unaffected by rcs2ws.

To convert files, rcs2ws invokes the RCS co command and the SCCS admin, get and delta commands. These commands will be found using the user's PATH variable. If the SCCS commands can't be found, then they will be sought in the /usr/ccs/bin directory.

How to Use rcs2ws

1. Type rcs2ws -p [parentdir] -n [files or directory] at the prompt.

The the -p option is required to name the RCS source hierarchy , the -n option allows you to see what would be done withouut actually doing anything. This will specify the value of the shell environment variable as CODEMGR_WS. If the current directory is contained within a workspace, the containing workspace is used as the child workspace. If workspace does not exist, rcs2ws will create it.

If you wish to designate the child workspace, use the -w option. See man rcs2ws (1). If all is as you wish, go on to Step 2.

2. Reenter the rcs2ws command using only the -p option.

Normally, SCCS gets (g-files) are extracted after the files are converted from RCS. If you want to halt the process, do the conversion using the -g option. (rcs2ws -g)

• The "." directory may be used to specify that every RCS file under parentdir should be converted.

• Relative files names are interpreted as being relative to parentdir.

• Directories are searched recursively.

• rcs2ws does not convert RCS keywords to SCCS keywords. Keywords are treated as text in the SCCS delta.

• CODEMGR_WS variable contains the name of a user's default workspace. The workspace specified by CODEMGR_WS is automatically used if the -w option is not specified.

1. Use the Create Workspace command item in the File menu to create your project's top-level directory (with its Codemgr_wsdata directory)

2. Proceed as you would to set up an SCCS-based development hierarchy. Ensure that all SCCS history files ("s-dot-file") are in directories named SCCS located directly beneath directories that contain source files.

3. Begin using the Bringover Create transaction to form a workspace hierarchy. See "Configuring a Workspace Hierarchy" on page 44, for guidelines regarding workspace hierarchies.

4. The default Configuring FLP groups files recursively by directory; if you intend to use that FLP, be sure to arrange files in compilation units accordingly. If your project requires that files be grouped differently during transfer, be sure to arrange your project hierarchy in such a way that it works well with the FLP(s) you will create.

A workspace hierarchy is a chain of parent and child workspaces that is two or more layers deep. The number of layers in a hierarchy bears no relation to the number of workspaces comprising it. A parent workspace and its child comprise two layers. A parent workspace and three children also comprise two layers. A parent workspace and its child and grandchild comprise three layers. Figure 5-1 depicts a "flat" (three-tiered) hierarchy, and Figure 5-2 shows a "multitiered" (four-tiered) hierarchy.

File System Accessibility

Flat Hierarchy vs. Multitiered Hierarchy

Advantages of a Flat Hierarchy

Disadvantages of a Flat Hierarchy

Advantages of a Multitiered Hierarchy

Whenever a developer puts back work to an integration workspace, there is some chance that the next developer to do a Putback transaction will not be able to put back their changes until they bring over the earlier changes, rebuild the modules, and test the new changes with their own--the more Putbacks that occur the higher the potential for conflict.

When many developers work on a project, the Bringover, rebuild, test cycle can become onerous and time consuming. If smaller groups of developers working on related portions of code integrate into a subintegration workspace, that workspace will be more stable and require fewer builds and less testing. Of course when the subintegration workspaces are themselves put back to their common integration area, changes made in the other development workspaces will have to be integrated. Experience has shown, however, that doing larger integrations, less frequently, is more efficient.

Disadvantages of a Multitiered Hierarchy

• Each new workspace consumes disk space.

• Developers who ought regularly to be looking at one another's work may find it harder to do so because they do not put back to the same integration workspace

• Integration of the subintegration workspaces to the higher integration workspace can become more complicated than more frequent, smaller integrations.

You should consider dedicating a workspace as a product release staging area for each release. "Hang" the release workspace off a top-level "product" workspace. The product workspace should be located hierarchically above the workspaces in which normal development integration is done. Locating the product workspace this way permits you to begin development of your next release without corrupting the current release.

After the files are transferred to the product workspace, you use the Bringover transaction to transfer the files down to the release workspace. The release workspace can be used to make masters and can serve as an area in which to save work for subsequent releases if necessary.

Figure 5-3 shows a hierarchy that contains a product workspace and release workspaces for six different releases.

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Note - You can use the reparenting feature to transfer data between release workspaces directly. See "A Reparenting Example" on page 68 for details. Refer also to the Sun WorkShop TeamWare: Solutions Guide for workspace hierarchy strategies.

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The source code control system (SCCS) allows you to control write access to source files and monitor changes made to those files. The SCCS allows only one user at a time to update a file, and it records all changes in a history file.

Versioning is a GUI to SCCS. Versioning allows you to manipulate files and perform most of the basic SCCS functions without having to know SCCS commands. It provides an intuitive method for checking files in and out, as well as displaying and moving through the history branches.

With Versioning, you can do the following:

• Check in files under SCCS
• Check out and lock a version of the file for editing
• Retrieve copies of any version of the file from SCCS history
• Visually peruse the branches of an SCCS history file
• Back out changes to a checked-out copy
• Inquire about the availability of a file for editing
• Inquire about differences between selected versions using Filemerge
• Display the version log summarizing executed commands

Branches

It may be necessary to create an alternative branch on the tree. Branches can be used to keep track of alternate versions developed in parallel, such as for bug fixes.

The SID for a branch delta consists of four parts: the release and level numbers and the branch and sequence numbers, or release.level.branch.sequence. The branch number is assigned to each branch that is a descendant of a particular trunk delta; the first branch is 1, the next 2, and so on. The sequence number is assigned, in order, to each delta on a particular branch. Thus, 1.3.1.1 identifies the first delta of the first branch derived from delta 1.3. A second branch to this delta would be numbered 1.3.2.1 and so on.

The concepts of branching can be extended to any delta in the tree. The branch component is assigned in the order of creation on the branch, independent of its location relative to the trunk. Thus, a branch delta can always be identified from its name. While the trunk delta can be identified from the branch delta's name, it is not possible to determine the entire path leading from the trunk delta to the branch delta.

For example, if delta 1.3 has one branch, all deltas on that branch will be named 1.3.n. If a delta on this branch has another branch emanating from it, all deltas on the new branch will be named 1.3.2.n. The only information that can be derived from the name of delta 1.3.2.2 is that it is usually the second chronological delta on the second chronological branch whose trunk ancestor is delta 1.3. In particular, it is not possible to determine from the name of delta 1.3.2.2 all of the deltas between it and its trunk ancestor (1.3).