What would be a good version control system for a small Delphi team? [duplicate]

Asked 10/12, 2009 at 11:32 Answered 10/12, 2009 at 18:4

Possible Duplicates:
Source control system for small database dev team
good version control software for Delphi 2009

We are a small team of 4 developers and need a good version control system for use in-house. 2 of the developers work remotely from home and 2 mostly in the office.

We are Delphi developers so would like something that has a proven track record with Delphi code. It also must be able to keep track of things like database structure and other related files.

I have had a look at SVN and CVS but I'm having trouble finding either an add-in or easy to use client for use with Delphi 7 on WinXP.

Any suggestions?

Quintain answered 10/12, 2009 at 11:32 Comment(6)

Dupe of #217334 among many, many others. – Underdone 10/12, 2009 at 11:52

For databases structure take a look at my comments here: https://mcmap.net/q/1630324/-sql-server-2008-auto-backup/… – Sinistral 10/12, 2009 at 11:58

CVS is obsolete and should not even be taken into consideration. – Menthol 10/12, 2009 at 12:15

i realise it was a slight duplication but i am specificaly asking for anything that works with delphi e.g. good addons etc. There isn't a great deal of info out there for people wanting a source code management system for delphi. – Quintain 10/12, 2009 at 12:21

Thankyou for all your comments. I have visualsvnserver installed on our server. Will trial tortoise and jedi add in for delphi and see which one works best for everyone in the team. – Quintain 10/12, 2009 at 14:15

CVS is not obsolete because CVSNT is as good as SVN - and have better ACLs. – Horney 10/12, 2009 at 16:11

I swear by TortoiseSVN, which is an svn client that integrates very smoothly into Windows Explorer.

I realise that won't give you IDE integration, but it will keep you off of the command line (if that's the way you prefer to work).

I would definitely advise choosing svn over cvs. svn could have been called "cvs 2" - it's basically cvs but with a whole lot of pain points removed. For example, you can rename files in svn, but you have to delete them and re-add them in cvs.

As a general point, I am not a fan of relying completely on IDE integration for your version control. There are all sorts of activities (merging, branching etc) that are better done outside of the IDE where you have tighter control over what you are doing.

Flypaper answered 10/12, 2009 at 11:43 Comment(4)

The rename feature in CVS is really missed! – Bly 10/12, 2009 at 11:57

easy/cheap branching and mergetracking also – Cellini 10/12, 2009 at 12:48

CVSNT has rename, atomic commits and far better branching/merging (i.e. mergepoints). – Horney 10/12, 2009 at 16:13

Subversion integration for Delphi IDE comes in two easy to use flavors: 1. in future it will be included in Delphi 2010, we are told, by an add-on that should be published Real Soon NOw. 2. Download the JEDI JCL, the latest version includes IDE-integration for Subversion. – Hurdygurdy 10/12, 2009 at 18:27

Have a look at Mercurial or Git, will help with the remote users, and there are client apps that integrate with Windows Explorer, so you shouldn't have language dependent issues. There is a Tortoise client for Mercurial, too.

Gascon answered 10/12, 2009 at 11:40 Comment(1)

I found that GIT and Mercurial were not very handy for forced-centralization (the model that Subversion supports). A sea-change in that department would cause a ripple effect throughout our corporate development processes. – Hurdygurdy 10/12, 2009 at 18:34

I also prefer Subversion, if you are hosting on windows server VisualSVN server is very easy to setup.

Speedy answered 10/12, 2009 at 11:44 Comment(2)

Yes. Visual SVN Is a very very easy to install subversion server. – Hurdygurdy 10/12, 2009 at 18:28

VisualSVN is very good (we use it) but be aware that it has a few querks when compared to a "vanilla" Apache SVN server (VisualSVN is essentially a "shrink wrapped" Apache+SVN distro) especially when using Windows integrated authentication. These don't amount to major problems but can make it tricky when trying to integrate tools/extensions where the instructions/community experience assumes "vanilla" Apache (e.g. WebSVN). – Mosley 10/12, 2009 at 19:19

For a central server system, check out Subversion, which is easy to use as well. TortoiseSVN integrates Subversion nicely into Windows Explorer.

If you are looking for a distributed version control system, there is Git (and many others like Mercurial, Bazaar, et cetera). TortoiseGit integrates into Windows Explorer.

Photolysis answered 10/12, 2009 at 11:43 Comment(1)

Distributed version control system is an attractive choice when part of the team works remotely. – Menthol 10/12, 2009 at 12:11

JCL has a Delphi IDE version control plugin (CVS + SVN): http://jcl.delphi-jedi.org/

Not free, but a very nice (!) system is "PlasticSCM": http://www.plasticscm.com/demos/plastic28/index.html Works with branches, which works very good for parallel development ("branch per task pattern"). For every task (ticket, bug, issue, whatever) you make a child branch. Plastic will update your "workspace" on disk, so all files have the right version. You can make as much changes and checkins as you want, because you work in your own branch, so nobody else get troubles if you checkin something that does not compile! This works LOVELY!

If you switch to another branch (because you must make a quick bugfix), all changes are "shelved" on the server, current workspace is automatically updated to that other branch, you can make some changes + checkin, switch back to your branch you were working on, and all files are unshelved again, so you can continue where you were before. Very very nice.

It has a very cool GUI client, works also on Linux, and we use a third party Delphi IDE plugin: http://www.epocalipse.com/scx.htm

Phinney answered 10/12, 2009 at 12:21 Comment(4)

I tried using the delphi ide plugin you mentioned but it kept causing errors in delphi 7. Which version of delphi do you use? – Quintain 10/12, 2009 at 12:44

We use D2007 What kind of errors? Files which are read-only? Delphi does not like that, but that's more a Delphi problem... – Visional 10/12, 2009 at 13:1

It wasn't read only files. Can't remember what the error was but it was mainly on shutting down delphi. I uninstalled it quite quickly. – Quintain 10/12, 2009 at 14:7

four years later & I just discovered PlasticSCM two months ago. I am using it with Delphi (plus C/C++, PHP, JS) - I am also using it for documentation. PlastiSCM is free for "small teams" - up to 15 users, but if your company likes it, why not make a donation. It works in traditional check-out/in mode, but (by default) it also works in "transparent mode", which means that it monitors your PC file system and detects if you change any files. Used this way, there is no need fro a plug-in, so it can be used with any IDE, including Delphi. Teh features are awesome, but I'm out of space. Try it ! – Tongue 28/9, 2013 at 5:31

Subversion is a good choice for a small team.

It is very easy to setup a subversion server.

Kalevala answered 10/12, 2009 at 11:38 Comment(0)

http://jedivcs.sourceforge.net/

JEDI VCS clients - The IDE expert version, from Delphi 5 ...-->> to RAD 2010 - The Stand-alone version. - The command line version.

JEDI VCS Servers. - Firebird - Oracle - MS-SQl - DBISAM - Informix

Stiltner answered 10/12, 2009 at 13:10 Comment(0)

Basically go for Subversion if you're looking for a CVS that has loads of tools and support (TortoiseSVN is quite good).

I myself have decided to go with Mercurial for projects with small teams because it's so easy to clone the repository and keep on checking in/submitting code even when you are offline. Also it's in python so it works with minimum hassle in Windows, Mac and Linux (I believe for Windows there's also a TortoiseHg UI application).

Pegeen answered 10/12, 2009 at 13:51 Comment(0)

You can use Tortoise SVN for Windows platforms

Campion answered 10/12, 2009 at 11:42 Comment(0)

If you want an easy to use client for cvs and svn on Windows take a look at Tortoise http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/ Its really nice and easy with right-click functions.

Bly answered 10/12, 2009 at 11:43 Comment(0)

I use SVN with TortoiseSVN, and use the Delphi AddIn For Tortoise SVN for IDE integration (Delphi 7 and 2007 - haven't checked it with 2009 and 2010 yet).

Lithesome answered 10/12, 2009 at 18:4 Comment(2)

Had not seen this before - I have been using Tortoise for a while now, this is a nice addition. Thanks for the tip! – Microphone 11/12, 2009 at 13:14

I don't remember how I originally found it, but it's pretty well done. I still drop back to TortoiseSVN directly once in a while, but not too often. – Lithesome 11/12, 2009 at 13:37

To integrate Subversion into Visual Studio (if you're working in that environment) look into AnkhSVN.

Marlette answered 10/12, 2009 at 12:9 Comment(1)

Since the OP specifically asked about VCS systems that integrate with Delphi, it's pretty obvious that Visual Studio is not the IDE being used. – Lithesome 10/12, 2009 at 13:50

If you are willing to spend money, perforce is well worth the money (about $800 a user) it is fast, works well over a network and after a bit of learning is very effective.

There is a good Delphi integration SourceConnexion

Dominus answered 10/12, 2009 at 17:56 Comment(3)

perforce seems like overkill for a small team like he mentions. Why spend 800*4 dollars for perforce on a small team when there are so many other options out there that work just as well for a team of that size. – Eyeleen 10/12, 2009 at 18:10

One reason might be that the team may well grow in future, and those free and easy solutions for small teams don't necessarily scale so well, even for a small increment in team size. I myself wouldn't consider SVN a "slam dunk" for a team of larger than 3, especially not one that is geographically spread. SVN could still work, but I would seriously consider paying for something at that point. – Mosley 10/12, 2009 at 19:22

I dont understand how using a high quality, robust, efficient, fast, simple SCC system could ever be overkill even for 1 person. – Dominus 10/12, 2009 at 19:26

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