Feature Request: Branch comments

DanielSchaffer · Post by **DanielSchaffer** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 12:25 pm

Hi,

My team uses Vault for source control on several interdependent projects, all of which share a single "trunk" directory. We have recently started doing development on each project separately, even though they are still interdependent.

On some occasions, it may be necessary to push more than one project at a time, and as such, our naming convention for branches in Vault is simply "r_YYYY-MM-DD". I was hoping to be able to use the folder's comments to store information about which projects were being released in the push, but getting a comment on the branch folder is harder than one would think it should be. I couldn't find any way to edit a comment on a folder once it was created, and any comments added in the branching process didn't make it to the actual folder in the end. So, the only way I can put a comment on a branch folder results from a very tedious process:

1. Do the branch as normal, using the name r_YYYY-MM-DD for the folder name
2. Get latest
3. Delete the folder in vault
4. Recreate the folder in vault as an empty folder (create folder command)
5. Before committing, right click the folder in the pending change set window and select "Set Item Comment". This is where you type in the branch info. For example:
Branch for release pushed on 2007-01-25:

Project 1 v1.0
Project 2 v1.1
6. Commit the folder, use the same branch info for the check-in comment
7. Add the content of the folder from your local computer and commit, also using the branch info for the check-in comment

It should also be noted that the difference between item comments and change set comments isn't clearly discernible in the UI.

Ideally, it would be great to have an editable comment field for folders (one that supports line breaks, as the current comment field doesn't). It would be very nice if the comment popped up as a tooltip when you moused over a folder, or even was displayed next to the title of the folder in the folder tree.

At the least, simply being able to edit the existing comment field would be advantageous.

Thanks!

Daniel Schaffer

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:11 pm

I have a feature request logged for editing comments that I can add your "vote" to.

You could add comments by checking out what needs the comment and checking it back in as well.

You may wish to take a second look at labels to assist you in remaining organized. If you labeled a release, you'd be able to do a search on that label and see what's all included.

DanielSchaffer · Post by **DanielSchaffer** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:29 am

Beth wrote:You could add comments by checking out what needs the comment and checking it back in as well.

Thanks, where can I do that?

Beth wrote:You may wish to take a second look at labels to assist you in remaining organized. If you labeled a release, you'd be able to do a search on that label and see what's all included.

I did actually, but since labels only apply to a "snapshot", they aren't really what I'm looking for.

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:16 pm

If you have Vault configured to show the check-in options window, there will be an area there to type in a comment.

DanielSchaffer · Post by **DanielSchaffer** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:50 pm

Beth wrote:If you have Vault configured to show the check-in options window, there will be an area there to type in a comment.

Oh, I misread what you wrote originally... I'd prefer to not check out the entire folder... that would mean checking out 100s or even 1000s of files

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 3:36 pm

That's fine. You will still get a comment field. Basically, even on a single file, or a group of files, you will have the opportunity to do perform a change set comment.

dist0rti0n · Post by **dist0rti0n** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:35 am

Beth wrote:I have a feature request logged for editing comments that I can add your "vote" to.

You could add comments by checking out what needs the comment and checking it back in as well.

You may wish to take a second look at labels to assist you in remaining organized. If you labeled a release, you'd be able to do a search on that label and see what's all included.

Will this feature be implemented in Vault 4? We're looking to switch from VSS and we use the comments feature to track which branches in our source coincide with our project planning

Beth · Post by **Beth** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:18 am

Sorry, Edit Comment is there. Go to View History, and on the Comments tab, either have it show the comments or filter by the one you are looking for. Once the history appears, select the item you want to edit the comment on and select Action - Details. In there is the Edit Comment button.