How to NOT save versions of large binaries

blefler · Post by **blefler** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:31 am

Is there a way to mark a file in the repository so that only the latest version is kept - in other words, not version history is saved?

We have a largish binary file (a database) that we want to check in, but we don't want versioning on it because of the size.

Thanks,
Bill Lefler

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:33 am

Currently that isn't an option.

When it comes to working with databases, users will work with them through VS or some other tool with IDE integration capabilities so that the files that create the database are saved and versioned instead of checking in the final database.

Some good suggestions for working with databases are also present in this thread: Client IDE / Add-In for DB Object Mgt.

blefler · Post by **blefler** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:41 pm

Ok, forget that I mentioned that it was a database file. I wasn't looking for commentary on my development methods.

How does Vault handle binary check-ins? Is it unwise to check in a large binary file that will be changed frequently?

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:03 pm

With binary files, a delta representing the changes is uploaded, but it tends to be larger than with non-binary files. It doesn't upload the whole file again. It can't be merged though, so it must have an exclusive check-out.

If there's a concern about how it will react, if that database not necessarily tied to any of the other files in the repository, then you could make it its own repository, and then if you don't get the results you want to see, it's very easy and non-harmful to anything to delete an entire repository.

I could take a feature request for the kind of functionality you are seeking, but it wouldn't help you immediately. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, so it would need some discussion.