Source Code Control

[Vincent Demers]

Hello,

I would like to know if anyone ever used the SCC tools in LabView. Is it
working well or should I consider using another tool ?

I am also having problem setting-up the the SCC tool to use it. I think I
have been able to set-up the Admin, Local Configuration and Project, but I
am unable to Check-In and Check-Out. It seems like nothing is really
happening when I Check-In or Check-Out. I am working in my working
directory.

Thank for any help and have a great day!

Vincent

[Kevin_work]

Vincent Demers wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I would like to know if anyone ever used the SCC tools in LabView. Is it
> working well or should I consider using another tool ?
>
> I am also having problem setting-up the the SCC tool to use it. I think I
> have been able to set-up the Admin, Local Configuration and Project, but I
> am unable to Check-In and Check-Out. It seems like nothing is really
> happening when I Check-In or Check-Out. I am working in my working
> directory.
>
> Thank for any help and have a great day!
>
> Vincent

Vincent,
I use the SCC and it functions properly.
It is a rather decent tool unless you need some SERIOUS control.
If you are using the Builtin portion of SCC it may not appear to
do anythin. Here is a quick check to make sure.

Create a test pr
oject
Check in the VIs.
In the working directory open a VI and check
Windows->Show VI Info.
If the VI has been checked in the Dialog Box should show
that the VI is locked. Check the VI out and check again
it should show that the VI is unlocked.

If this all looks right then the SCC is functioning properly.

If you have more questions I will try to answer them.
Kevin Kent

[Milan]

Vincent & Kevin,

Though SCC is the only tool that I know of that calculates differences
in vi's (which visual source safe will not), it is otherwise pathetic;
particularly with large projects.

I've been using SCC with LV5.x for over a year now and am very
dissapointed with the following:

- Poor project management; you can't tell which project(s) a vi belongs
to.
- SCC is very slow in doing compares / retrieves (even over a 100mb
switched network).
- The dynamic actions of the pull-down & list boxes for project & vi
lists cause unnecessary thrashing of the machine, network and SCC server
while just looking for a project or vi. Our company re-wrote part of
SCC to overcome this
- SCC is unreliable. I have experienced vi's not showing the proper
checked out state & "stranded" in SCC where your only option is to
manually edit the files in SCC. Also retrieves are flakey; certain
additional files such as cin's, rtm (menu) files are not handled
properly.
- SCC fails to identify LV compiles (for version / location) correctly
so when a new LV version comes out; you have to check everything out;
compile and check it all back in.
- SCC uses the vi's lock/unlock mechanism which hinders one from
troubleshooting the software without constantly unlocking it manually.
Now even if you didn't "change" the vi, but had to trace an
control/indicator or something really simple, if you happen to save that
vi a SCC mismatch would be generated since the vi was unlocked.
- SCC does not use a database to keep track of versions, check out
state, etc. This is performed dynamically which is very slow.
- SCC does not keep track of which physical machine a vi is checked out
on. This can be a big problem when working with a team of programmers
who are constantly working on different machines. If a vi shows up in a
checked out state you don't know which machine has the current version.
You can overcome this somewhat by using login names which correspond to
the machines instead of the programmers, but now you lose the ability to
track who made the changes.

My experience with SCC has been with a very large project (source code >
0.5 GB) so some of these issues may not apply to you. But in general
I've been very dissapointed with this tool which NI passes off as a
"professional" software development tool (and charges quite a bit extra
for it). As an Alliance member, we have pointed out these shortcomming
to NI for quite some time and are still waiting for some improvements.
In fact we forwarded our modifications to the SCC vi's as a place to
start.

I would recommend not buying the FDS / PDS version if you're getting it
for SCC, as I honestly don't believe it provides the value that you
expect.

- Milan




In article <38CE9DDB.52F5B0C8@usa.alcatel.com>, "Kevin B. Kent"
wrote:

> Vincent Demers wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I would like to know if anyone ever used the SCC tools in LabView. Is
> > it
> > working well or should I consider using another tool ?
> >
> > I am also having problem setting-up the the SCC tool to use it. I think
> > I
> > have been able to set-up the Admin, Local Configuration and Project,
> > but I
> > am unable to Check-In and Check-Out. It seems like nothing is really
> > happening when I Check-In or Check-Out. I am working in my working
> > directory.
> >
> > Thank for any help and have a great day!
> >
> > Vincent
>
> Vincent,
> I use the SCC and it functions properly.
> It is a rather decent tool unless you need some SERIOUS control.
> If you are using the Builtin portion of SCC it may not appear to
> do anythin. Here is a quick check to make sure.
>
> Create a test project
> Check in the VIs.
> In the working directory open a VI and check
> Windows->Show VI Info.
> If the VI has been checked in the Dialog Box should show
> that the VI is locked. Check the VI out and check again
> it should show that the VI is unlocked.
>
> If this all looks right then the SCC is functioning properly.
>
> If you have more questions I will try to answer them.
> Kevin Kent
>
>

[Kevin_work]

Milan,
I agree with most of the statements you made. I did not intend to
endorse SCC as the cure all, I simply wished to help vincent get going with
the tool.
I will say that I use it for a small (200-300 VIs) project with just 2
programmers.

Milan wrote:

> Vincent & Kevin,
>
> Though SCC is the only tool that I know of that calculates differences
> in vi's (which visual source safe will not), it is otherwise pathetic;
> particularly with large projects.

Yes for large projects another tool would probably be more suitable.
NI does have a graphical differencing tool "Compare Hierarchies"
I have only passing use of it but it wokrs fairly well.

>
>
> I've been using SCC with LV5.x for over a year now and am very
> dissapointed with the following:
>
> - Poor project management; you can't tell which project(s) a vi belongs
> to.

Under the Advanced menu, you can look at all files and see thier Project(s)
Version, Platform, Checkout status, and info on files.

>
> - SCC is very slow in doing compares / retrieves (even over a 100mb
> switched network).
> - The dynamic actions of the pull-down & list boxes for project & vi
> lists cause unnecessary thrashing of the machine, network and SCC server
> while just looking for a project or vi. Our company re-wrote part of
> SCC to overcome this
> - SCC is unreliable. I have experienced vi's not showing the proper
> checked out state & "stranded" in SCC where your only option is to
> manually edit the files in SCC. Also retrieves are flakey; certain
> additional files such as cin's, rtm (menu) files are not handled
> properly.

I have not experineced any of the above

> - SCC uses the vi's lock/unlock mechanism which hinders one from
> troubleshooting the software without constantly unlocking it manually.
> Now even if you didn't "change" the vi, but had to trace an
> control/indicator or something really simple, if you happen to save that
> vi a SCC mismatch would be generated since the vi was unlocked.

Yes this is true, I only use the builtin portion , but it may work better
(or worse) using SCC as a front end for other tools (Source Safe, or RCS).

> - Milan
>

I agree that SCC needs some serious improvement before this becomes a
major selling point (at least for me). It has done the job for me but again
it was a relatively small project. SCC is VERY quirky and I will either find
another tool or bang on NI to fix SCC when I start my next BIG project.
The FDS and PDS offer other things that add value (for me) so I would
buy them with or without SCC.
I am by no means an NI cheerleader, they have some problems certainly,
but I am more than pleased with Labview.

Sorry about the rant
Kevin Kent

[52vincent]

It�s painfully slow. If more than one user accesses system at one time it can hang up. I'm looking for something better. If the speed is not an issue and the size and complexity of your project is about medium the system does work. It�s not a professional tool like MS Source Safe.