Microsoft Visual SourceSafe
Original author(s) | One Tree Software |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Microsoft |
Initial release | 1994 |
Final release | 2005 (8.0.50727.42)
/ October 2005 |
Operating system | Windows |
Type | Version control |
License | Proprietary commercial software |
Website | msdn |
Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (VSS) is a discontinued
History
SourceSafe was originally created by a North Carolina company called One Tree Software. One Tree SourceSafe had gone through several releases in their 1.x to 2.x cycles, supporting
Overview
SourceSafe was initially not a client/server
Starting with VSS 2005, Microsoft added a
Versions
Version | Date |
---|---|
3.1 | February 14, 1995[4] |
4.0 | September 12, 1995[10] |
5.0 | October 7, 1996[11] |
6.0 | June 3, 1998 [12] |
6.0c (Build 9350) | 2001[13] |
2005 | January 27, 2006 [14] |
Criticism
Visual SourceSafe's stability is criticised due to the way Visual SourceSafe uses a direct, file-based access mechanism that allows any client to modify a file in the repository after locking it. If a client machine crashes in the middle of updating a file, it can corrupt that file.[15] Many users of Visual SourceSafe mitigate this risk by making use of a utility provided by Visual SourceSafe that checks the database for corruption and, when able, corrects errors that it finds.
Microsoft in-house use
Although "eating their own dog food" is often said to be part of Microsoft's culture,[16] VSS appears to be an exception; it is widely rumored[17] that very few projects within Microsoft relied on Visual SourceSafe before the product was discontinued, and that the predominant tool at the time was SourceDepot. According to Matthew Doar:[18]
Microsoft itself used an internally developed version of RCS named SLM until 1999, when it began using a version of Perforce named SourceDepot.
The Microsoft Developer Division was using
Microsoft has since moved on to using Git.[20]
Updates
An updated version called Visual SourceSafe 2005 was released in November 2005, promising improved performance and stability, better merging for Unicode and XML files, as well as the ability to check files out over HTTP. It was included with Visual Studio 2005 Team System editions,[21] but is not included with Visual Studio Team System 2008.
At the same time,
With
The final version of the product, Visual SourceSafe 2005, retired from mainstream support on 10 July 2012 with extended support ending on 11 July 2017.[24]
Further reading
- Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice (Packt Publishing, 2007)
- Real World Software Configuration Management (Apress, 2003)
- Essential SourceSafe (Hentzenwerke Publishing, 2001)
See also
- Revision control
- Configuration management
- Software configuration management
- Change management
- List of software engineering topics
- Comparison of revision control software
References
- ^ De Smet, Alan (2009-04-15). "Visual SourceSafe: Microsoft's Source Destruction System". Retrieved 2010-09-19.
- ^ Bolton, Michael (2003-01-28). "Visual SourceSafe Version Control: Unsafe at any Speed?". Retrieved 2010-09-19.
- ^ "Company News; Microsoft Says It Has Acquired One Tree Software". The New York Times. November 16, 1994. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
- ^ a b "MICROSOFT SHIPS SOURCESAFE SOURCE-CODE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM". The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "MICROSOFT CORPORATION ACQUIRES ONE TREE SOFTWARE". The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ Gross, Daniel (November 15, 1995). "Go Configure". CIO Magazine. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "Mainsoft to ship Visual SourceSafe for UNIX". The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "Metrowerks Signs Exclusive License for Microsoft Visual SourceSafe on Mac OS". The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "SourceSafe database corruption". Microsoft. Retrieved 18 Dec 2014.
- ^ "MICROSOFT ANNOUNCES VISUAL SOURCESAFE, AN INTUITIVE CODE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM". The Free Library by Farlex. Archived from the original on 2014-05-21. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "Microsoft Announces Visual SourceSafe 5.0, An Intuitive, Project-Oriented Version Control System". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 2014-06-10. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "Microsoft Support Lifecycle- Visual SourceSafe 6.0 Standard Edition". Microsoft Support. Microsoft. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ Microsoft Corporation (2001). "Visual SourceSafe 6.0c Readme" (
Readmess.htm
). Microsoft Visual SourceSafe 6.0c [CD-ROM]. - ^ "Microsoft Support Lifecycle - Visual SourceSafe 2005 Standard Edition". Microsoft. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "Best Practices for Preventing Data Corruption". MSDN.
- CBS Interactive. July 21, 2003. Archived from the originalon January 8, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2005.
- ^ "It's all Hype. - Jerry Dennany's Occasional Clue". Weblogs.asp.net. 2003-07-15. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
- ISBN 0-596-00796-5.
- ISBN 978-0-321-86487-1.
- ^ Richard Chirgwin (2017-05-25). "Windows is now built on Git, but Microsoft has found some bottlenecks". The Register. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
- ^ "VS 2008 and SourceSafe Q&A - BUGBUG: poor title - Site Home - MSDN Blogs". Blogs.msdn.com. 2007-12-03. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
- ^ Krill, Paul (2009-09-30). "Microsoft looks to move SourceSafe users to newer technology | Developer World". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
- ^ "Visual SourceSafe Road Map". Msdn2.microsoft.com. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
- ^ "Search Product and Services Lifecycle Information - Microsoft Lifecycle".