Here is the great thing for technical writers about Microsoft's Visual SourceSafe: once a file is checked into the SourceSafe, SourceSafe will not allow you to make changes to the LOCAL COPY of that same file and then save it.
First you need to check out the SOURCE FILE that you have saved earlier into the SourceSafe (and that's why it is called the Source-Safe).
If you open a local copy on your machine without first checking out the source file from SourceSafe, you'll be able to make all the changes you want.
But when it comes to SAVING the changes, your machine will refuse to do so because its behavior is controlled by SourceSafe.
When you try to save the changes, your machine will display the following ugly message: "Cannot lock file for your use because you do not have write permission.
" Ugh! That means all that time and effort spent editing your file will go to waste! You need to check out the source file first.
So why is this such a big thing? First off, it provides an excellent and secure backup to your documents.
If your client machine crashes and you lose everything on your hard drive, you can still retrieve everything from your SourceSafe project folder since SourceSafe is kept on the server side.
That's why you may even prefer to save all your images and multi-media files on SourceSafe too unless you've got hundreds or thousands of images that change constantly.
Secondly, SourceSafe allows only ONE writer to work on ONE file at a time.
And it prevents a writer from making changes to a file that someone is still working on.
It really controls the editing and review process and helps you keep your sanity while trying to figure out who did what to which document and when.
Control your documents and you'll be a more productive and happy technical communicator.
First you need to check out the SOURCE FILE that you have saved earlier into the SourceSafe (and that's why it is called the Source-Safe).
If you open a local copy on your machine without first checking out the source file from SourceSafe, you'll be able to make all the changes you want.
But when it comes to SAVING the changes, your machine will refuse to do so because its behavior is controlled by SourceSafe.
When you try to save the changes, your machine will display the following ugly message: "Cannot lock file for your use because you do not have write permission.
" Ugh! That means all that time and effort spent editing your file will go to waste! You need to check out the source file first.
So why is this such a big thing? First off, it provides an excellent and secure backup to your documents.
If your client machine crashes and you lose everything on your hard drive, you can still retrieve everything from your SourceSafe project folder since SourceSafe is kept on the server side.
That's why you may even prefer to save all your images and multi-media files on SourceSafe too unless you've got hundreds or thousands of images that change constantly.
Secondly, SourceSafe allows only ONE writer to work on ONE file at a time.
And it prevents a writer from making changes to a file that someone is still working on.
It really controls the editing and review process and helps you keep your sanity while trying to figure out who did what to which document and when.
Control your documents and you'll be a more productive and happy technical communicator.
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