Using Visual SourceSafe?

What's happening with Visual SourceSafe?

Visual SourceSafe has been a major source control product since Microsoft bought One Tree in 1994 and released the SourceSafe product. There are many companies out there who have been using VSS for a decade; if you're one of them you may be wondering, Why doesn't Red Gate's SQL Source Control support VSS?

Microsoft is discontinuing support for VSS; mainstream support will end on July 7 2012 (see Microsoft's Product Lifecycle page). This means Microsoft is no longer developing VSS and will not be providing any more upgrades. As support for VSS draws to an end, this might be an ideal time to look for a suitable replacement.

What are my options?

There are a number of alternatives to VSS currently on the market to consider, including: Team Foundation Server, Subversion, Vault, Perforce, Mercurial, and Git, though this list is by no means exhaustive.

However, if you want or need to continue using VSS, another option is to try Red Gate's SQL Connect, which is an add-in for Visual Studio and supports any source control system, including VSS.

Further Reading

Database Source Control- The Crib Sheet
William Brewer provides a summary of what's involved in putting database development under source control. He writes about clients, models, advantages, challenges, and more.

Source Control HOWTO
SourceGear founder Eric Sink has a full series on the introduction to centralized source control. This is a nine-chapter series on the shared model of source control. Sink has also written a book which focuses more on the dedicated model.

Subversion and TortoiseSVN Cookbook
Michael Sorens provides a three-part roadmap to using Subversion and, specifically, TortoiseSVN. This is a great introduction for anyone new to Subversion as well as just plain new to source control.

The answer to your Visual SourceSafe dilemma.
Red Gate and Collab.net have put their heads together to create this webinar on making the transition from VSS.

Hg Init: a Mercurial tutorial
Joel Spolsky dives into a six-part tutorial on making the move from older systems to Mercurial; subjects discussed include his skepticism, obstacles, and the case for DVCS development.

Any questions?

If you have any questions regarding technical specifications, please contact us.