"Already checked out by another user" notice is mi

axinom · Post by **axinom** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:55 am

Hello,

Following Situation:

- a user has checked out the file "test.cs"
- now I'm going to check out the file "test.cs", too

Now the problem:

Using Visual SourceSafe, we've got a dialog saying something like:
"This file is already checked out by another person, do you really want to check out?"

Now we are using Vault and we do not get this dialog any longer. Is there a setting to reactivate this feature?

thank you!

Post by **jclausius** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:15 am

Due to Vault's multiple checkout handling, this dialog does not exist.

axinom · Post by **axinom** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:06 am

Source Safe also supported multiple checkout and bringing up the dialog was only to inform the user that another user already checked out the file.

Checking out the file was still possible after the dialog appeared.

So why isn't that possible in Vault? We only want to get an information that a file is already checked out by another user before checking it out ourselves.

So we have a chance to speak to the person who checked out the file. To avoid big merging-actions.

lbauer · Post by **lbauer** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:21 am

Although Vault is very much like SourceSafe, it's not an exact clone. Vault's merge capabilities are more sophisticated than SourceSafe's so you can work more efficiently without having to consult on checkouts.

If you're concerned about merges, it would be best to use exclusive checkouts. Another option is to refresh the file list in the GUI client before a checkout, so you can see if the file has been checked out.

axinom · Post by **axinom** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:41 pm

We try to prevent merging as far as possible. So we would like to know if the file is already checked out before checking it out twice.

Exclusive locks are not good choice, because Solution or Project-Files are often checked out twice, this cant be prevented. And with exclusive checkouts activated checking out a project or solution-file twice isn't possible.

So, can't you include a feature like this? Is it that difficult to realize? It would be nice if you could include this.

Thanks a lot.

Post by **jeremy_sg** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 5:31 am

You've actually pointed out another place where Vault is superior to VSS in handling multiple checkout. In Vault, only certain files (*.txt, *.cs, *.c, etc) are considered mergable. All other files are considered binary, and must be exclusively checked out. This means that *.doc, *.csproj, and *.sln are always checked out exclusively. With Vault, you will never have a merge problem with a binary file, because only one person can check out a binary file, no matter what the repository settings are.

We worked really hard on auto-merge in Vault. In the 2 or 3 years since I've been using it (pre 1.0, even), I've never encountered a place where Vault lost my changes on a auto-merge. Either the other person's changes weren't on the same line, and the merge succeeded fine, or the other person's changes were on the same line, and Vault forced me to use the Show Merge dialog to manually merge the file. Auto-merge just works.

I understand that you are only asking for a warning dialog, and that it wouldn't be hard to do. Conceptually, though I have a hard time warning a user about multiple checkouts, when multiple checkouts work fine, and there is no danger. I understand where the wariness of merge comes from; I used to use VSS too. I'm not wary of merge anymore.

axinom · Post by **axinom** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 2:47 am

Is it possible to include a message in the logging-pane that a file is already checked out? I know inlcduing it as normal message before checking out the file is not that easy to implement, but adding the info to the message-pane after checking out. Would be nice.

For example:

old:
---- Operation started at time 10:37:19 ----
[04.08.2005 10:37:19] Checking out file $/AxCMS_werbewoche/Resources_werbewoche/Configuration/PROD/Publish.Web.config

[04.08.2005 10:37:19] Checking out file $/AxCMS_werbewoche/Resources_werbewoche/Configuration/PROD/Publish.Web.config (already checked out by user "max")

Is this possible? It would be nice

Thanks!

lbauer · Post by **lbauer** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:08 am

We can certainly log it as a feature request. Thanks for posting.

GregM · Post by **GregM** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 10:26 am

There is also a "check outs" column in the file list that will show you if it is checked out. I don't remember if it's turned on by default or not, but I have it displayed right next to the file column. Of course, I don't use it much, since I rarely check out files first, and don't really care who else has it checked out.