Question re VSS import

[jstarbird]

I am about to begin an eval of Vault and have been going over docs here on the site and have come across something that is a bit confusing. There is a reference on this post "Tips for performing a handoff from VSS" http://support.sourcegear.com/viewtopic ... 13&t=11526 about needing to keep your VSS database so that Vault can access it for historical data. I thought the import process imported all of the historical data, is this not true?


Thanks,
J

[lbauer]

The new Handoff is a streamlined import.

We import the latest version of your code from VSS. You can see earlier VSS versions in history, and you can view or diff them, but not perform transactions on VSS historical items. To be able to see VSS history you need to keep your VSS database for the Vault server to connect to.

More details here:

http://download.sourcegear.com/Vault/5. ... urces.html

We will still have the more complex VSS Import Tool. Note that it can take days to do a full import, and there are sometimes errors in the import if there is minor VSS database corruption. Contact support at sourcegear.com if you want to try it.

[jstarbird]

Thanks for the info.
I don't think that would work for us, leaving the VSS server around isn't the desired result after moving to Vault.
We're just entering into eval right now so we'll see how things go.



Thanks,
J

[lbauer]

If you do want to try the full import, let us know.

[jstarbird]

After your earlier reply I came across another post that said that new format was only in the Vault 5 beta and even the link you provided was for that, if so then we're ok going forward with our Eval as it is 4.1.4.
If the new format is in 4.1.4 then yes I would like to get the full import version.
By the time we end up actually implementing Vault you'll probably be up to 5 but I'll cross that path when the time comes.

Thanks,
J

[lbauer]

For Vault 4.1.4, the VSS Import tool is on the Previous Version Downloads page:

http://www.sourcegear.com/vault/downloads2.html

[jkonline]

Is the full Import available for version 5 anywhere? And can I just Import the files with no history and just preserve the dates?

[jeremy_sg]

The full import can only import all historical data. It does not import just the latest. Handoff is the feature which imports just the latest VSS versions. You can start a Handoff by going to the Handoff Sources page in the Admin Web Client.

If you do want the full import, you can find it using the instructions here:

http://support.sourcegear.com/viewtopic ... 13&t=12240

[joe_sg]

A couple of comments:

I don't think that would work for us, leaving the VSS server around isn't the desired result after moving to Vault.

For Handoff, all you need is a copy of the VSS database. It can be a local copy on your Vault server with no outside access. If you currently use a server to provide VSS, that won't be needed any more.

And can I just Import the files with no history and just preserve the dates?

Handoff actually imports the files with no history. It then remains available to retrieve history (on request) by dipping into the VSS database.
You could, for example, have your VSS database on removable media, and after the Handoff is completed, take the VSS database offline. You will then have only the latest versions of your files. If you try to look into the VSS history for a file you will get an error, but no damage is done. Any time you want to access the VSS history, you can re-mount the VSS database.

Note, however, that the VSS history provided by Handoff is available for viewing and diffing against, but you cannot perform transactions on historical VSS versions.

[jstarbird]

Thanks for that additional info.

Note, however, that the VSS history provided by Handoff is available for viewing and diffing against, but you cannot perform transactions on historical VSS versions.

This is actually what may be a problem for us to use the Handoff but taking a week to import isn't exactly good either so I'm weighing the differences.

Perhaps a feature request for Import/Handoff would be to date range the import so only grabbing so much history or for handoff having the ability to Get files from the old VSS thru Vault. No checking in and such but at least getting the files would be nice.
I know there are ways to get your VSS db down to a range of history but combine that with how long it takes to import and you don't save anytime.


Thanks,
J

[jeremy_sg]

What do you mean "getting a file"? Handoff can view and diff old file versions from VSS. What operations are you looking for?

[jstarbird]

Actually getting the version of the file you are viewing in history. I think this would be rare but my developers are saying it is needed.

Thanks,
J

[jeremy_sg]

You want to put the VSS version into your Vault working folder?

At the moment, there are two workarounds:

In the Vault history dialog, diff the VSS version against your working folder. Copy the text from the VSS version and paste into the Vault version.

or

In the Vault history dialog, View the VSS version, and in the program that is Viewing, do a Save As... to put the file in your working folder.

I'm not against adding a Get menu item to the context menu that would place the VSS version into the Vault working folder, but the one caveat is that the file in the working folder would get its status changed to Renegade or Edited.

[jstarbird]

Thanks for the info, some comments:

You want to put the VSS version into your Vault working folder?

Exactly. Since we want to move to a new source control system we don't want to require going back to VSS to get historical versions of files. Being able to view the history of VSS thru Vault is great but not being able to actually interact with those versions as if they were in Vault will be problematic with users.

In the Vault history dialog, diff the VSS version against your working folder. Copy the text from the VSS version and paste into the Vault version.
or
In the Vault history dialog, View the VSS version, and in the program that is Viewing, do a Save As... to put the file in your working folder.

I'm not against adding a Get menu item to the context menu that would place the VSS version into the Vault working folder, but the one caveat is that the file in the working folder would get its status changed to Renegade or Edited.

I do think that your caveat would be acceptable.
The only issue I really see, overall, is when you've got several versions in Vault so you sort of have two histories to look at. Then based on the version you're looking at you have to "get" that version a different way, that will be confusing to users.


Thanks,
J

[jeremy_sg]

The only issue I really see, overall, is when you've got several versions in Vault so you sort of have two histories to look at. Then based on the version you're looking at you have to "get" that version a different way, that will be confusing to users.

That's a good point, but we're working to make the VSS history feel integrated, by keeping VSS history in the same dialog, and including VSS versions in Line History.