Below you'll find a list of frequently asked questions and
answers (or at least apologies).
If you have questions not listed below send your mail to freevcs@thensle.de .
A: | Default Answer: Read the on-line help file that comes with FreeVCS. I try to include all necessary information's in this file. |
Q: | Is there a way to assing a 'real' shortcut to FreeVCS's main menu (ALT & V is already used in the English version) ? |
A: | Currently not. I'm working on this, but at the moment I don't know how to do it. (Suggestions are welcome.) |
Q: | I get an access violation if running the xxxExpert when FreeVCS is installed. |
A: | There are problems reported (and reproduced) with
Delphi experts if they are browsing trough the IDEs
main menu structucture (e.g. Expert Tool Kit by Tempest
Software). When trying to get the names and captions of
the FreeVCS menu items they will raise an access
violation. Other experts in this context dont raise
an exception but may not work properly (e.g. ShortCut
Expert from GExperts - you cannot apply a shortcut to one
of FreeVCS's menu items). Because FreeVCS menu items are created by Delphi via the VCSInterface (I deliver only the caption & the state) I dont know how to fix this problem. I'm investigating further, but don't expect to find much. |
Q: | Sometimes the message receiver (FVCSNotify) does not start automatically with FreeVCS? |
A: | If the message receiver was not terminated normally (e.g. if the OS crashed) the registry flag holding the information wether the application is running was not cleared. In this case the application must be started manually. |
Q: | Can you send me an e-mail if a new version becomes available? |
A: | No, currently not. I will announce new version at the Delphi Super Page (you may subscribe to the mailing list there), Torry's Delphi Pages & comp.lang.pascal.delphi.announce. |
Q: | I share many source files between related projects but once they are checked in by project A, I cannot make changes or check out the file using Project B. |
A: | You may check in such files in more than one project
(no problem on checking in read-only files), you can
check them out in project A and work on it but you must
check them in later in project A AND in
project B before checking them out from B to have both
archives on the same state (this is possible, you can
check in a file without checking it out before). This is really not a good or handy solution, I know, but it works. (Should be changed in the future, but at the moment I'm not sure about how I do this). (Fixed in V 1.2.0) |
Q: | I have created (and saved) a new application, but the menu item 'FreeVCS | Open archive' is not available. |
A: | Select 'File | Reopen | <The new application>' in Delphi and 'FreeVCS | Open archive' should be available. |
Q: | I get the message 'Archive is empty' although I had checked in a file? |
A: | Ver 1.1.5 checks for an empty archive by the size of
the .DB file (quick & dirty: DB < 2048K = empty).
I assume that the BLOCK SIZE (Drivers | Native | Paradox
in BDE Admin) is set to 2048K (default). The next version will use a different way to check for empty archives . (Fixed in V 1.2.0) |
Q: | I get the error message 'No index for field FNAME' if I try to open a new created (network) archive (in Windows NT)? |
A: | It seems as if the BDE has a problem with long
archivenames on Win NT (I get the same error on an
archive created with the database desktop). Do not use
projectnames (=archivenames) longer than 8 chars. (Fixed in V 1.2.0) |
Q: | What about FreeVCS & Y2K? |
A: | Should be not a problem. All dates are handeld as
float (TDateTime). (This pertains only to my application, I assume that your computer deals right with Y2K.) |
Q: | How can I set (change) my user name? |
A: | FreeVCS gets the user and machine names directly from the OS by 'WNetGetUser()'. You cannot change this value in FreeVCS. |
Q: | Can I use FreeVCS with other versions of Delphi or another language? |
A: | No. You must work with Delphi 4.x to use FreeVCS.
(Without Delphi you can do really nothing, just reading
the on-line help). From Delphi you may add and maintain any file in any format to your 'FreeVCS project' (i.e the C sources for a DLL). |
Q: | Is there a way to get source files? |
A: | No, currently not. Sorry. |
Q: | Are there plans for a C++ Builder version? |
A: | No. I do not have a C++ Builder version available and I do not plan to get one in the future, still C is not my language. |
Q: | Opening a FreeVCS form will give me the error message: 'Invalid Keyword' (or 'Invalid Use of Keyword')? |
A: | Most of the table operations in FreeVCS are done by queries, for that reason I had to use the name of projects or modules as a parameter in some SQL strings. Be sure that you have not used a word reserved by local SQL as the name for a project or a module. If so, you must remove the module from the archive and rename it. |
Q: | What about packages and FreeVCS? |
A: | A package is handled by FreeVCS like any 'normal' project in the usual way. You can create archives for packages, check in and out the modules, add other modules and so on. The only difference concerns the included core Delphi packages like VCL40.DCP: These packages can not check into a FreeVCS archive and you will get an error message. (Anyway it makes no sense to check in compiled files). |
Q: | When I'm canceling the Windows Open file dialog or the Windows Print dialog the FreeVCS dialog and the Delphi IDE will be hidden behind another window. Selecting the dialog in the task bar will do nothing. |
A: | I am working on a solution, but I really do not now
what is going there. (It seems to be a problem with the
'parent' of the dialog.) I have tested several different
methods of calling them (with different parent-handles),
but it was all the same.Workaround: Do not cancel the
dialogs ;-) Use theFreeVCS internal Open dialog (set
under properties). Use ALT & TAB to bring the FreeVCS
dialog to the front. Does anyone know what's going on here? Please let me know! (Fixed in Ver 1.1) (really fixed in V 1.2.0) |
Q: | How do I get modules out from the compressed backups? |
A: | The backups (and the modules in the archive) are
compressed by TZipmaster. The compressed files are
compatible to PKZip V2.04g and can be extracted with any
PKZip compatible program (e. g. Winzip). (As from Ver 1.1.5 FreeVCS has a build-in restore methode) |
Q: | I want to check out more than one file at one time. |
A: | This is not possible (for now). You must check out file per file. |
Q: | Check In shows 20k as the size of my module although the file size is only 15k? |
A: | If the module has an associated form file Check In shows the sum of both files. |
Q: | The Check In form does not show all the modules from my project list? |
A: | Be sure that file exists in the given path. In contrast to 'Project Admin' Check In shows only existing files. |
Q: | After checking in some modules on a network archive 'Archive size' does not reflect the correct value? |
A: | There is a 2 second delay before I check the new
values. If it takes longer to write the changes to the
servers disk FreeVCS will show the old values. Close and reopen the dialog and you will get the correct values. |
Q: | After overwriting the changes of an already checked out module the new copy is write protected. What should I do to get write access? |
A: | This is a known bug. Check in the new copy and check it out once more to get write access. (Fixed in Ver 1.1.5) |
Q: | Is there a way to get the form (.dfm) file without the .pas file (or vise versa)? |
A: | No. Units and associated form files are handeld as one file by FreeVCS. |
Q: | Can I modify the comment of a module after checking in/ out? |
A: | No. |
Q: | When I checked in a whole project (Batch) all files will be left read only except for the project (*.dpr) file? |
A: | The *,dpr file will be changed from Delphi itself each time you change anything to your project (adding/deleting forms or units). If I set this file to read only you may not be able to change anything to your project. |
Q: | I have checked in a module with the wrong version or revision. (I want to modify the version or revision of a checked in module). What can I do? |
A: | Clear the read only flag of the module (right mouse button in Projectadmin), check it in with the correct version and revision and remove the wrong module from the archive (in Check Out). If the module is currently checked out you have to check it in (with the equal version and revision) before it can be removed. (Due to seriously version controlling this is no longer possible.) |
Q: | Which effects has the 'type of version' (trial, intern....)? |
A: | That is only a piece of information showing later in the Check Out dialog with no other effects. |
Q: | I have checked in & out several modules as 'Default User'. Now, a network is installed (or the login name has changed) and I'm no longer the 'Default User' and not able to check in the recently checked out modules with my new name. What should I do? |
A: | The only way in this case is to open the archive with
Delpi's database interface and to change the owner (field
'LOCKEDBY') of the checked out modules manually to your
current user name. Note that user names are case
sensitive! Warning: This is an exception! Do not change any other values found in the archive! Usually it is strictly forbidden to modify anything in the archive outside from FreeVCS! |
Q: | Every time I try to check out a module the message [File xxx already exists! You are about to overwrite the existing file] appears? |
A: | Maybe I'm a little paranoid on overwriting existing
files. This message should only say that there is a file
with the same name in your working directory, but the
file has an equal or older date to the one in the
archive. If the file on disk is newer than the file in the archive (in this case you should be carefull with Check Out!) you will get a message saying this exactly. (Fixed in Ver 1.1, select 'Don't show again' in the message dialog.) |
Q: | 'Project Admin shows some modules as 'Member of the Delphi project' although they are not a member? |
A: | This is a known bug. If the first char of the module name is a number FreeVCS will show it as 'Member of...' (Fixed in Ver 1.1.5) |
Q: | The report 'Projectfile' does not show all the units and forms associated with my project. |
A: | The report 'Projectfile' shows only the 'user defined' modules of a project (the content of the file <projectname>.prl), not the files directly associated with the project by Delphi. I will correct this in the future. (Fixed in Ver 1.1) |
Q: | Some modules in the list are shown in upper-case some in lower-case. Whats the difference? |
A: | Modules in upper-case are directly associated with the project by Delphi. They cannot be removed. Modules in lower-case are manually added by the user. |
Q: | If changing the active project in a project group Delphi asks if it should reload xxx.bpg or not? |
A: | It is not necessary to reload the file. Choose No. |
Q: | Is there a way to clear a given keyword (for the complete archive)? |
A: | No. You can alter the text of a keyword but you can
not delete it. To remove an assigned keyword from a single module go to 'Check Out'. |
Q: | What does the field 'Status: OK/Corrupt' means in a report? |
A: | Every record has a field named 'error'. If there are faults on checking in, out or compressing the module I'll set this value to true. Status: OK says that all is OK with the associated module. (Changed to 'Error: true/false' in Ver 1.1) |
Q: | The report shows 'Corrupt' as the state of a module but it seems to be ok? |
A: | It seems that sometimes the value was invalid. If all works with the module just ignore this value. (Fixed in Ver 1.1) |
Q: | Starting Reports will give me the error message: 'Invalid Keyword' ? |
A: | Be sure that you have not used a word reserved by local SQL as the name for a project or a module. |
Q: | When I select 'Currently Checked In' the report shows 'Currently Checked Out'? |
A: | Only the header of the report is wrong. The report shows the correct modules. (Fixed in Ver 1.1) |
Q: | How can I move already created archives to a new folder? |
A: | Close the archive in FreeVCS. Copy the archive (with all files!) to the new folder. Goto 'Properties|Page folders' and point the default folder to the new folder. (NET DIR must also be updated if sharing the archive over a network.) |
Q: | I have done all settings requested by the on-line help for sharing the archives over a network, nevertheless I get the error 'Can not open table'? |
A: | Start the BDE Configuration utility (BDE Administrator) and select the Drivers|Native|Paradox entry in the Drivers & Systems page. Set the definition NET DIR to the same folder as in 'Properties'. |
Q: | Is there a way to get the modules out from the archive without using FreeVCS? |
A: | The FreeVCS archive is a paradox database. If you have Paradox there may be a way to extract the BLOB fields, but I have not tested this. |
Q: | The Archive Admin form shows 'Packed' behind the size, but if I try to pack it nevertheless the size will be less then before? |
A: | I'll show 'Packed' while there are no modules deleted from the archive. If you check in a checked out module who is smaller than before the BDE will not free the difference automatically. |
Q: | Is there a way to compare one module in the archive to another module in the archive? |
A: | No, currently not. I will try to implement this in a later version. |
Q: | Starting Compare will give me the error message: 'Invalid Keyword' ? |
A: | Be sure that you have not used a word reserved by local SQL as the name for a project or a module. |
Q: | I have made the automatic backup function active. Sometimes the backup form is showing if I closed the project, sometimes not? |
A: | The backup form will only come up if an archive had been opened. |
Q: | I have set a password for my backups. As I open the archive there are some files not protected? |
A: | If you set a password for an archive already
containing files, only the files currently updated are
protected. Select all files for the next backup. |
Q: | The backup shows '1 file changed since...' although I'm sure that I've changed nothing? |
A: | The changed file is 'complist.fvc'. I rewrite this
file every time the 'Project Admin' or the 'Check In'
form is opened. I will exclude this file from backup in a later version. |
Q: | The backup shows 'file xxx changed' although I'm sure that I've changed nothing? |
A: | Maybe the file was checked out? On checking out the 'archive' bit of a file was ever set to true. |
Q: | In the installation section sometimes you refer to FreVCS.dll and sometimes you refer to FreeVCS.dll? |
A: | This is a spelling mistake by me. The correct writing is always FreeVCS.dll. (Fixed in Ver 1.1) |
Q: | Topic Component list: (Choose "Components" in the form 'Project Admin' .) Where is "Components"? |
A: | This function is not available in the current version. Sorry. (Fixed in Ver 1.1) |
Q: | 'Sharing archives over a network'. I have set all parameters exactly like shown in in the on-line help, but I get the error 'Can't open table'? |
A: | The topic is incorrect! Instead of setting the NETDIR
to: (Usually the same as <Default folder>) this is
correct: (Do not point the NETDIR to the same location as
the <Default folder>!) If have also forgotten to say that you must set 'Local Share' to true! (Fixed in Ver 1.1) |
Q: | The context menu item 'Import Delphi's MRU' does not add any files to the MRU list? |
A: | This is a known bug. At the moment there is no known
workaround. (Fixed in V 1.2.0) |
Q: | The caption of the 'Recent Projects' form shows 10 projects but I can see only 9 projects in the list? |
A: | Deleted ore moved projects will not be shown in the
list. (Fixed in V 1.2.0) |
Copyright © 1998-1999 Thomas Hensle. ( freevcs@thensle.de
)