Coordinating Access to Source Files

Coordinating write access to source files is important when changes will be made by several people. Maintaining a record of file updates allows you to determine when and why changes were made.

The source code control system (SCCS) allows you to control write access to source files and monitor changes made to those files. The SCCS allows only one user at a time to update a file, and it records all changes in a history file.

Versioning is a GUI to SCCS. Versioning allows you to manipulate files and perform most of the basic SCCS functions without having to know SCCS commands. It provides an intuitive method for checking files in and out, as well as displaying and moving through the history branches.

With Versioning, you can:

• Check in files under SCCS

• Check out and lock a version of the file for editing

• Retrieve copies of any version of the file from SCCS history

• Visually peruse the branches of an SCCS history file

• Back out changes to a checked-out copy

• Inquire about the availability of a file for editing

• Inquire about differences between selected versions using Merging

• Display the version log summarizing executed commands

Versioning helps you perform these tasks and expedites the progress of concurrent development projects.