Source Control technique question

[reedcom]

Our team has used VSS for a long time. Source control techniques have changed over the years.

Using Vault, what is the best method to help with this problem:

I have 2 student developers who make changes for website work. They check in their changes so I can review the file differences in VSS at will. But sometimes I have to deploy the website before I can review their changes and their changes go "live." I don't want to use VSS pinning because it's too easy to forget to unpin a file or the students forget to pin certain files. I can't think of an easy way to review their code without having it checked in and using Diff and being able to step through the code. Should each developer have their own "branch" then "merge" to the deployed area? Or is pinning better in Vault such that it can be used reliably? Or is there a better technique?

Thanks
RC

[Beth]

Which version of Vault are you on? If you are able to get to Vault 5.0, then we have a great new feature called shelve where the developers can place their code on the server, but it's not actually checked in. Others can retrieve the shelved code to review it or test it, and then once that part is finished, the shelved code can be checked in, or set back to the shelf, or deleted from the shelf.

If you don't have the option of going to Vault 5.0, then using branches would be the best way to go. You would create a branch for coding to happen in, and then once the code is approved, you can merge either all or just some of the changes to the trunk where the production code is.

[reedcom]

We are evaluating...have not purchased. I had trouble installing the server software to test things but I will try again. Your suggestions sound good gotta see how efficient they are in practice.

[Beth]

If you have any problems with installing, you can feel free to either contact support or post here. I'd be happy to help.