Version Control And Xara

[james_frost]

Greetings all,

I've been mulling over the idea of writing a simple single-user version control system designed particularly for binary files (like Xara images and other graphics) for the last few weeks (freeware of course - not looking to make money out of it).

What prompted this was the posts we seem to be getting here about XaraX crashing and work getting lost, and my first thought was that people should be using version control systems especially when the graphics they create are important client work that has taken ages to create.

I use version control software at work (since I'm primarily a web/application developer) and can't live without it. At home I just use naming conventions for diff versions of files (ie every significant change I make gets saved as a new version) - the problem with a lot of the enterprise level packages is that they are v. expensive.

I wondered whether people here do use this kind of software for Xara files, or simply use carefully named files. If anyone has any suggestions they'd be gratefully received (currently thinking along the lines of simple check in/out, backup to disk or ftp site, simple history features etc)

If anyone's interested I might get on and write it!

James

[james_frost]

Greetings all,

I've been mulling over the idea of writing a simple single-user version control system designed particularly for binary files (like Xara images and other graphics) for the last few weeks (freeware of course - not looking to make money out of it).

What prompted this was the posts we seem to be getting here about XaraX crashing and work getting lost, and my first thought was that people should be using version control systems especially when the graphics they create are important client work that has taken ages to create.

I use version control software at work (since I'm primarily a web/application developer) and can't live without it. At home I just use naming conventions for diff versions of files (ie every significant change I make gets saved as a new version) - the problem with a lot of the enterprise level packages is that they are v. expensive.

I wondered whether people here do use this kind of software for Xara files, or simply use carefully named files. If anyone has any suggestions they'd be gratefully received (currently thinking along the lines of simple check in/out, backup to disk or ftp site, simple history features etc)

If anyone's interested I might get on and write it!

James

[jclements]

I hope I am interpreting your posting correctly in what you thinking of developing.

Coming from a situation where my workplace has been in a networked environment and files were available to many people (since way back in the early 90's/late 80's), version control has always been a big issue. Therefore, I have always tried using file-naming as a solution (ie., JonesAccount Layout v-1.xar).

I wouldn't mind having an automated, simple, easy-to-use/maintain means of doing this (asking too much ? [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]). One thing that I might suggest is this: somehow include the DATE of the file version into the file name as well the REVISION LEVEL WHY?? Because in a network environment files being copied across drives can have their file dates automatically changed, leading to situations where "xara-file-version1.xar" would have a date which is MORE RECENT than file date of "xara-file-version2.xar", obviously causing confusion.

My recommendation would be for your app to use a renaming convention similar to: "FileName_001_MM-dd-yy.Xar" This would not only document the date of the revision but enable the files to automatically be SORTED IN ORDER when viewing files in Windows Explorer. Of course the drawback is the length of the file name (could be a problem when archiving file to CD ROM as some CD programs truncate long file names).

Another aspect of version control is archiving files. If your application could generate an index of xar files in a directory (and/or its subdirectories) at least in a "column" delineated ascii file or, better yet, also as a delinated file that could be opened in Excel or a database application, that would be very helpful.

That's my two cents worth, as based on my past experience as an engineering change control/documentation manager.

[juergen]

Don't reinvent the wheel James.

Both cost effective and professional solution would be FreeVCS, an either single user or C/S version control you can use for everything ...

As the name implies it is Freeware even accompanied by source. Check at

http://www.freevcs.de

juergen

[james_frost]

Hi Juergen,

Yes I am aware of CVS and the like (although I am most familiar with MS SourceSafe) but I've always found these products to be a little too much for the normal potentially non-technically minded.

What I'm proposing is a simple (less feature rich, simpler to use, targetted at a single user) just for managing a small set of files initially that need to be backed up regularly and need to be recoverable.

Perhaps what I should be writing is a wrapper around a CVS app, but one thing I'd like to be able to do is keep the "database" as file-based and familiar as possible (ie version structures are always visible to the user etc)

One thing that got me going with this one was a graphics designer who recently joined our company who was introduced to SourceSafe and never used it for 6 months 'cos he didn't really understand what it did for him.

Anyhow, after a bit of searching I came across a couple of smaller apps (one called The FILTR) that may be similar to what I'm proposing.

James

[wfcentral]

Check the WebXealot issue for May 2000

http://www.xaraxone.com/webxealot/xe...tml/page_6.htm

I posted a tip there for file naming conventions that I use...it's saved me more than once...

Robert Steflik's Top the Last Tip, TIP: Robert continues: I save my files frequently, but when a file is corrupted the file is trash. So, on real important projects, I save a new file each day so that I have a series of backups.

I use a system like this, chevy0508.xar (project chevy / may / 8th), chevy0509.xar (same project next day), chevy0509a.xar (same project later that day after intense revisions).

This has saved my sanity (not to mention my work) a number of times. And another benefit of this is when I find a client really liked something better from last week, after all, and wants to go back to that version. I just open the appropriate backup file and I'm in business.


Robert