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CS-RCS / SCC API Application Notes
CS-RCS implements the Microsoft Common Source Code Control API. (Also called the SCC API or SCCI.) This API enables seamless integration of CS-RCS with many leading development tools for Windows,
including:
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Microsoft Visual Studio products (including
Visual C++ and Visual Basic)
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CA Visual Objects
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Allaire ColdFusion
- Sybase PowerBuilder
- Rational Rose
- VisualAge for Java
- MERANT Micro Focus Net Express
- Forté C++ Application Environment
- Programmer’s editors: Multiedit,
Codewright, Zeus
- Bug Tracking Tools: SeapineTestTrack
Below
you will find application notes for integration of CS-RCS. Please refer to your development environment documentation for a detailed explanation on SCC API support implementation.
Click here for add-on packages for environments that do not support the SCC API.
Click here for information on MS-Word integration.
Table of Content:
General
MS Visual Studio
Visual Basic
HomeSite 4.0
Rational Rose
IBM VisualAge for Java (VAJ)
Sybase PowerBuilder

General
Q: What is the difference between Check-out and Get latest version ?
A: Get latest version is used to get a read-only copy of Updated and New files. Check-out is used to lock an Archived file.

MS Visual Studio
You should apply Project | Source control | Add to source control within Visual Studio. This will create a CS-RCS project and will add to the repository all files within DevStudio projects that are not already within the repository. Then, you may activate CS- RCS commands:
1. Right-click on any file within the File View tree. (Basic commands only)
2. Apply the Project | Source control menu.
3. Activate the Source control toolbar.
Known issues:
Clicking on a DSW file to activate Visual Studio, sometimes results with an "CS-RCS server can not be loaded" error. To avoid this you can either:
- Activate the CS-RCS Document Explorer prior to the activation of Visual Studio. OR:
- Load the CS-RCS ActiveX server at system startup. (To do so, add "csrcs.exe ver" to the Windows Startup group.)

Visual Basic
Please verify the VBADDIN.INI file (within the Windows folder) contains the following definitions:
[Add-Ins32]
vbscc=3
Then, have a look at the Tools | ComponentSoftware RCS menu.

HomeSite 4.0
To activate the CS-RCS support, please follow these steps:
- Right-click on the project icon within the Projects tab. Then, apply:
- Source Control | Choose Source Control Provider and select ComponentSoftware RCS
- Source Control | Map Project to Source Control and create a CS-RCS project that match your HomeSite project.
- Apply Project | Reopen Project and re-open your project. (this is a workaround...)
- Right-click on the project icon within the Projects tab. Then, apply:
Source Control | Add Project File to Source Control
- Right-click on any file icon and apply Source Control |
Add Project File to Source Control
- Right-click on any file icon and apply source-control operations as desired.

Rational Rose
Below please find user comments for CS-RCS integration with Rational Rose: (Thanks to Andrew Willshire!)
Here are some notes that I've compiled regarding my experiences integrating Rational Rose with CS-RCS. I hope they can be useful to your organization.
CS-RCS is automatically detected by Rose once the RCS installation is fully completed. Following this, all of the Rose version control features are
activated & ready to use. Rose implements version control by allowing the users to separate the Rose model into separate files known as "Controlled Units". Both the controlled unit files, and the main model file that references them, are then able to be placed into version control.
Therefore, the user could, say, place all of the use case diagrams into a
controlled unit called "Use Case Analysis", and the sequence diagrams into a "Sequence Diagrams" unit. These files, along with the main model file, can be checked into RCS, and subsequently locked, unlocked, checked out, checked in and so on.
The user's view of the OO model doesn't change, simply the underlying storage procedure that manages the files. Following this step, the RCS version control features can then be utilized. This includes all of the features provided by RCS.
I've found that the integration between RCS and Rose, as an SCCI compatible system, is excellent. This could be very helpful in the documentation of RCS. However, certain points could be documented which would also clear up some issues I had when first integrating the two systems. I've worked as a tech writer, so this stuff is one of my bugbears!
For starters, it would be good to explicitly mention, in a "Rose Integration"
section (or some such thing) that the Project Work Root MUST correspond to the directory where the Rose model is stored. The documentation on Project Work Roots is a little unclear. If the directories clash, then problems will occur within Rose when attempting to version control one's model.
In addition, there is some work to be done in Rose, that is required to use RCS effectively. When first attempting to version control an element of a Rose model, an RCS project must be specified. This is referred to within Rose as the Version Control Project. A Rose dialogue box called the "Add to or Associate Dialog Box" contains an option for specifying the Version Control Project. When this is selected, RCS displays a list of it's available projects (this is another neat feature that takes advantage of the SCC API). Select the project that you have created, and away you go! Note that there is some documentation in Rose that pertains to version control, and it is often pertinent to systems such as RCS, even if it is talking about ClearCase or MS Visual SourceSafe, since RCS follows the standard.
The "Add to or Associate Dialog Box" will display any model element that CAN be set up as a controlled unit, which is helpful if the user is a newby who is unsure of the exact rules of version control.
Anyway, that's about it for the time being. I'll post any additional discoveries as they occur. Thanks for an excellent product!

VisualAge for Java (VAJ)
We've worked hard with IBM and finally managed to activate the CS-RCS SCC integration with VisualAge for Java version 3.5. To apply this integration, please perform the following steps:
- Activate VisualAge for Java.
- Right-click on a project and select: "Tools |
External Version Control | Add to Version Control..."
- Select "Microsoft SCCI" and then "ComponentSoftware RCS".
- Specify the "Project work root" value. This value is the root folder of your project files.
- If you get the "Select local directory" dialog, specify again the same value as for "Project work root".
- Refer to the VisualAge for Java documentation for further explanation on Version Control commands.

Sybase PowerBuilder 8.0
To activate the CS-RCS integration with PB, follow these steps:
- Create the workspace
in a local disk folder, e.g., C:\Projects\PB1. This will grant
every user a local workspace (sandbox) for performing and testing
his changes.
- Right click on the workspace icon (tree root in the PB
Browser window) and select Properties.
- Switch to the Source Control tab and set the following:
- Select ComponentSoftware RCS as the SCC provider.
- Leave the User ID field blank. (CS-RCS uses the Windows
login id.)
- Click the ellipsis button next to the Project field to
display the CS-RCS Edit Project dialog box. Specify the desired
CS-RCS project name. Make sure the Work folder field contains
the path of your workspace folder and click OK. (Leave all the other
project settings with their defaults.)
- Make sure that the Local Root Directory contains the path of
your workspace folder.
- Click Connect to make sure the project can be
accessed by CS-RCS.
- It is recommended to check the Delete PowerBuilder Generated Object
File option. Otherwise, PB will issue spurious warning messages when
activating the Show Differences command.
- If you need to work off-line, you may set the This project
requires that I sometimes work offline option.
- For other options in this tab, refer to the PB online help and User
Guide.
- Right-click again on the workspace icon and choose Add to Source
Control... this will add the complete project to the RCS.
- You may consider to add the PBW & PBL files to the RCS as well. (This is
done from the CS-RCS Document Explorer.) This provides additional
archiving and makes workspace sharing easier.
- You may activate the PB source-control commands by right-clicking on a
specific file or project.
Note: If another user needs to work on the same PB project, the
easiest method to start is by coping the workspace folder, e.g.,
C:\Projects\PB1, to the user's workstation. You may also open the
project with the CS-RCS Document Explorer and execute
Project | Update. Then, perform steps 2 & 3 above.
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