Microsoft Visual SourceSafe

2016-03-18T19:31:25Z

2001:4898:80E8:D:0:0:0:54D: /* Microsoft in-house use */

{{Infobox software
| name = Visual SourceSafe
| logo =
| screenshot =
| caption =
| developer = [[Microsoft]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1994}}
| latest release version = 2005 (8.0.50727.42)
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2005|10}}
| latest preview version =
| latest preview date =
| operating system = [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]
| platform =
| programming language =
| genre = [[Revision control]]
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]] [[commercial software]]
| website = {{url|http://www.microsoft.com/}}
}}
'''Microsoft Visual SourceSafe''' ('''VSS''') is a discontinued [[source control]] [[computer program|program]], oriented towards small software development projects. Like most source control systems, SourceSafe creates a ''virtual library'' of computer files. While most commonly used for [[source code]], SourceSafe can handle any type of file in its [[database]], but older versions were shown<ref>{{cite web
| last = De Smet
| first = Alan
| authorlink =
| title = Visual SourceSafe: Microsoft's Source Destruction System
| date = 2009-04-15
| url = http://www.highprogrammer.com/alan/windev/sourcesafe.html
| accessdate = 2010-09-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| last = Bolton
| first = Michael
| title = Visual SourceSafe Version Control: Unsafe at any Speed?
| date = 2003-01-28
| url = http://www.developsense.com/testing/VSSDefects.html
| accessdate = 2010-09-19}}</ref> to be unstable when used to store large amounts of non-textual data such as images, and compiled executables.

==History==
SourceSafe was originally created by a North Carolina company called One Tree Software. One Tree SourceSafe had gone through several releases in their 1.''x'' to 2.''x'' cycles, supporting [[DOS]], [[OS/2]] (with a [[Presentation Manager]] [[GUI]]), Windows, Windows NT, Mac, and Unix. When Microsoft bought OneTree in 1994,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE4DB1231F935A25752C1A962958260 |title=Company News; Microsoft Says It Has Acquired One Tree Software |publisher=The New York Times |date=November 16, 1994 |accessdate=2007-11-21}}</ref> they immediately ceased development on all versions except for Windows. Microsoft SourceSafe 3.1, Windows 16-bit-only and Macintosh,<ref>{{cite web|title=MICROSOFT SHIPS SOURCESAFE SOURCE-CODE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICROSOFT+SHIPS+SOURCESAFE+SOURCE-CODE-MANAGEMENT+SYSTEM-a016514393|publisher=The Free Library by Farlex|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref> rebranded One Tree 3.0 versions, were briefly available before Microsoft released a Version 4.0. With the acquisition of One Tree Software, Microsoft discontinued its source code control product at the time, Microsoft Delta.<ref>{{cite web|title=MICROSOFT CORPORATION ACQUIRES ONE TREE SOFTWARE|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICROSOFT+CORPORATION+ACQUIRES+ONE+TREE+SOFTWARE-a015862138|publisher=The Free Library by Farlex|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gross|first=Daniel|title=Go Configure|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=pgcAAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA86&ots=klJZU8CXE4&dq=%22microsoft%20delta%22&pg=PA80#v=onepage&q=%22microsoft%20delta%22&f=false|accessdate=21 May 2014|newspaper=CIO Magazine|date=November 15, 1995}}</ref> After the acquisition, Mainsoft Corporation developed SourceSafe for UNIX in cooperation with Microsoft.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mainsoft to ship Visual SourceSafe for UNIX|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mainsoft+to+ship+Visual+SourceSafe+for+UNIX.-a017983649|publisher=The Free Library by Farlex|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref>
Later, Metrowerks, Inc. developed Visual SourceSafe for Macintosh in cooperation with Microsoft.<ref>{{cite web|title=Metrowerks Signs Exclusive License for Microsoft Visual SourceSafe on Mac OS|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Metrowerks+Signs+Exclusive+License+for+Microsoft+Visual+SourceSafe+on...-a018995298|publisher=The Free Library by Farlex|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref>

==Overview==
SourceSafe was initially not a client/server [[Source Code Management]], but rather a ''local'' only SCM system. Architecturally, this serves as both a strength and weakness of design, depending on the environment it is used in. It allows a single user system to be set up with less configuration than that of some other [[Source Code Management|SCM]] systems. In addition, the process of backing up can be as simple as copying all of the contents of a single directory tree. For [[multi-user]] environments, however, it lacks many important features found in other [[Source Code Management|SCM]] products, including support for [[atomic commit]]s of multiple files ([[Concurrent Versions System|CVS]] has the same problem as it is built upon the original [[Revision Control System|RCS]]). SourceSafe inherits its ''shared'' functionality using direct remote file system access to all the files in the repository. This, together with historic bugs in the codebase, occasionally led to SourceSafe database corruption, a problem noted by Microsoft.<ref>{{cite web|title=SourceSafe database corruption|url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb509342%28v=vs.80%29.aspx|publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=18 Dec 2014}}</ref>

Starting with VSS 2005, Microsoft added a [[client–server]] mode. In this mode, clients do not need [[write access]] to a [[Server Message Block|SMB]] share where they can potentially damage the SS database. Instead, files must be accessed through the VSS client tools - the VSS windows client, the VSS [[command-line]] tool, or some application that integrates with or emulates these client tools.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}}

=== Versions ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Version
! Date
|-
| 3.1
| February 14, 1995<ref>{{cite web|title=MICROSOFT SHIPS SOURCESAFE SOURCE-CODE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICROSOFT+SHIPS+SOURCESAFE+SOURCE-CODE-MANAGEMENT+SYSTEM-a016514393|publisher=The Free Library by Farlex|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref>
|-
| 4.0
| September 12, 1995<ref>{{cite web|title=MICROSOFT ANNOUNCES VISUAL SOURCESAFE, AN INTUITIVE CODE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICROSOFT+ANNOUNCES+VISUAL+SOURCESAFE,+AN+INTUITIVE+CODE-MANAGEMENT...-a017409497|publisher=The Free Library by Farlex|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref>
|-
| 5.0
| October 7, 1996<ref>{{cite web|title=Microsoft Announces Visual SourceSafe 5.0,An Intuitive, Project-Oriented Version Control System|url=http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1996/oct96/vss50pr.aspx|publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref>
|-
| 6.0
| June 3, 1998 <ref>{{cite web|title=Microsoft Support Lifecycle- Visual SourceSafe 6.0 Standard Edition|url=http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3036|work=Microsoft Support|publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref>
|-
| 2005
| January 27, 2006 <ref>{{cite web|title=Microsoft Support Lifecycle - Visual SourceSafe 2005 Standard Edition|url=http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=10433|publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref>
|}

==Criticism==
Visual SourceSafe's stability is criticised due to the way Visual SourceSafe uses a direct, file-based access mechanism that allows any client to modify a file in the repository after locking it. If a client machine crashes in the middle of updating a file, it can corrupt that file.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181079(VS.80).aspx|title=Best Practices for Preventing Data Corruption|publisher=MSDN}}</ref> Many users of Visual SourceSafe mitigate this risk by making use of a utility provided by Visual SourceSafe that checks the [[database]] for corruption and, when able, corrects errors that it finds.

==Microsoft in-house use==
Although "[[Eating your own dog food|eating their own dog food]]" is often said to be part of [[Microsoft#Culture|Microsoft's culture]] <ref name="dogfood">{{cite web|title=Microsoft tests its own dog food|url=http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5047467.html| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108214545/http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5047467.html| archivedate=January 8, 2007|work=[[ZDNet]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]|date=July 21, 2003| accessdate=October 9, 2005}}</ref>, VSS appears to be an exception; it is widely rumored<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.subversionary.org/node/71 |title=Why Not VSS |publisher=Subversionary |accessdate=2012-04-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://weblogs.asp.net/jdennany/archive/2003/07/15/10130.aspx |title=It's all Hype. - Jerry Dennany's Occasional Clue |publisher=Weblogs.asp.net |date=2003-07-15 |accessdate=2012-04-13}}</ref> that very few projects within Microsoft relied on Visual SourceSafe before the product was discontinued, and that the predominant tool at the time was [[Perforce|SourceDepot]]. According to Matthew Doar:<ref>{{cite book
| last = Doar
| first = Matthew B.
| authorlink =
| title = Practical Development Environments
| publisher = O'Reilly
| year = 2005
| page = 73
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = 0-596-00796-5}}</ref>
{{quote|Microsoft itself used an internally developed version of RCS named SLM until 1999, when it began using a version of [[Perforce]] named SourceDepot.}}

The Microsoft Developer Division is now using [[Team Foundation Server]] for most of its internal projects,<ref>{{cite book
| last = Guckenheimer
| first = Sam
| authorlink =
|author2=Neno Loje
| title = Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2012: Adopting Agile Software Practices: From Backlog to Continuous Feedback (3rd Edition) (Microsoft Windows Development Series)
| publisher = O'Reilly
| year = 2012
| page = 241
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = 0-321-86487-5}}</ref> although a VSS transcript{{Citation needed|date=January 2014}} implied that other large teams use "a mix of customized in-house tools."

==Updates==
An updated version called Visual SourceSafe 2005 was released in November 2005, promising improved performance and stability, better merging for [[Unicode]] and XML files, as well as the ability to check files out over HTTP. It was included with Visual Studio 2005 Team System editions,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.msdn.com/b/richardb/archive/2007/12/03/vs-2008-and-sourcesafe-q-a.aspx |title=VS 2008 and SourceSafe Q&A - BUGBUG: poor title - Site Home - MSDN Blogs |publisher=Blogs.msdn.com |date=2007-12-03 |accessdate=2012-04-13}}</ref> but is not included with Visual Studio 2008 Team System.

At the same time, [[Microsoft]] also introduced a source control and project lifecycle management product called [[Team Foundation Server]], which is part of [[Visual Studio Team System]]. This product addresses many of Visual SourceSafe's shortcomings, making it suitable for larger teams requiring high levels of stability and control over activities.

With [[Visual Studio 2010]], Microsoft no longer distributes Visual SourceSafe. Microsoft now offers Team Foundation Server Basic for smaller development teams.<ref>{{cite web|last=Krill |first=Paul |url=http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/microsoft-looks-move-sourcesafe-users-newer-technology-983 |title=Microsoft looks to move SourceSafe users to newer technology | Developer World |publisher=InfoWorld |date=2009-09-30 |accessdate=2012-04-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa302175.aspx |title=Visual SourceSafe Road Map |publisher=Msdn2.microsoft.com |accessdate=2012-04-13}}</ref> There is a [http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB976375 hotfix] so existing SourceSafe customers can use SourceSafe with Visual Studio 2010.

The final version of the product, Visual SourceSafe 2005, retired from mainstream support on 10 July 2012 with extended support ending on 11 July 2017.<ref>http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PN&alpha=sourcesafe&Filter=FilterNO</ref>

==Further reading==
*''Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice'' (Packt Publishing, 2007)
*''Real World Software Configuration Management'' (Apress, 2003)
*''Essential SourceSafe'' (Hentzenwerke Publishing, 2001)

==See also==
* [[Revision control]]
* [[Configuration management]]
* [[Software configuration management]]
* [[Change management]]
* [[List of software engineering topics]]
* [[Comparison of revision control software]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700907.aspx Product Overview]
*[http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700906.aspx Features Overview]
*[http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700908.aspx Microsoft SourceSafe 6.0 General Q & A]
*[http://msdn2.microsoft.com/vstudio/Aa700912 Microsoft SourceSafe 6.0 Technical FAQ]
*[http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/3h0544kx(VS.80).aspx Product Documentation]
*[http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa302175.aspx Microsoft VisualSourceSafe Road Map] This article gives an overview of Visual SourceSafe and provides a look at where this technology is headed in the future
* [http://blogs.msdn.com/checkitout/default.aspx SourceSafe Team's WebLog]
*[http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnvss/html/vssbest.asp SourceSafe Best Practices] Outlines recommended practices to help prevent data corruption in Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.
*[http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnbda/html/tdlg_rm.asp Team Development with Visual Studio .NET and Visual SourceSafe] Guidance and recommendations by the Patterns and Practices Team
*[http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181038(VS.80).aspx Visual SourceSafe 2005 at MSDN]
*[http://www.developsense.com/testing/VSSDefects.html Visual SourceSafe Version Control: Unsafe at any Speed?]
*[http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=a8494edb-2e89-4676-a16a-5c5477cb9713&displaylang=en Visual Studio 6.0 SP6 for Latest VSS Service Pack (6.0d)]
*[http://www.abstrakti.com/SourceSafe List of SourceSafe Problems]

{{Revision control software}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Microsoft Visual Sourcesafe}}
[[Category:Proprietary version control systems]]
[[Category:Microsoft Visual Studio|SourceSafe]]
[[Category:Discontinued version control systems]]

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Microsoft Visual SourceSafe