Archive-name: sw-config-mgmt/cm-tools
Last-modified: 2002/09/10 Version: 9.0 Posting-Frequency: monthly See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge Configuration Management Tools Summary Introduction This is the newsgroup comp.software.config-mgmt "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) posting of a Software Configuration Management tools summary. This is part 2 of the 3 part FAQ. Please review all parts before submitting suggestions or questions to the FAQ editor. The information contained in this summary is a consolidation of data obtained from a variety of sources around the Internet, but primarily from articles and comments posted on the comp.software.config-mgmt newsgroup. Additional information occasionally is emailed to the FAQ editor. Check the date above to see how recent the information you are reading might be. Sharing Of Information This document, as a collection of information, is Copyright 1995-2001 by Dave Eaton. It may be freely redistributed in its entirety provided that this copyright notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the copyright holder. This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and contributors, and does not necessarily represent the position of their employers nor an official position or opinion of any company. Please contact the FAQ editor regarding changes. Other Information Various products mentioned in this FAQ are the trademarks of their respective companies. All parts of this FAQ are posted to this newsgroup on or about the 22nd of each month. (This is done manually and sometimes work interferes with this posting, please excuse any delays.) Like most FAQ lists, these parts are archived at rtfm.mit.edu (and various other sites which archive FAQs.) The parts are named: * cm-tools = Configuration Management Tools Summary (this document) * faq = General Questions * prob-mgt-tools = Problem Management Tools Summary and may be found in directory pub/usenet-by-group/comp.answers/sw-config-mgmt. Those new to the newsgroups should read news.announce.newusers for general information. For those with World Wide Web access, hyperlinked HTML versions of these documents are available via: http://www.daveeaton.com/scm/ (If you type in this URL, remember that it is case sensitive.) These are updated throughout the month as changes come in. A letter is added to the version number and the date is changed with each edit to help you determine if you've already seen it. What this is not. If you are not sure what we mean by CM (or SCM), please see our definition in question [1.2] of FAQ section 1. If you still think this will help you with your PC hardware or application configuration, you are mistaken. Please see question [1.10] of FAQ section 1 for some suggestions of other more appropriate newsgroups for your question -- do not post it to comp.software.config-mgmt. Thank you. Similarly, this FAQ is intended for tools which address the configuration management needs of the software development process. This does not include hardware configuration tracking or software distribution. This is not a definitive list of all available tools, nor is it intended to be. It is not a recommendation or endorsement of any of the tools mentioned. As noted above, it is a composit of opinions from the comp.software.config-mgmt newsgroup. If you have a tool you would like others to know about, please join the discussion. _________________________________________________________________ ** What's New this Month? ** 1. Changes to Serena company name and address and its product names. 2. Added SCons. 3. Changed Bras Web address. _________________________________________________________________ Still Needed Some tools have been mentioned in the newsgroup, but contact information (company name, address and phone or ftp location) as well as user comments are needed so they may be included in the report below. If you are a user of such a tool, please send a paragraph or two containing your comments and experiences as well as supplier contact information to the FAQ editor. _________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1. Summary 2. Abbreviations Used 3. Process versus Configuration Management 4. Commercial Vendor Contact List 5. Version Control Systems Generally Available Free 5-b. Tools to "make" or "build" Software 6. Commercial Configuration Management Tools 7. Tools Related To Configuration Management 8. CM Tools with World Wide Web sites 1. Summary History The first posting of this FAQ was in April, 1994. Since the newsgroup was relatively new at that time, the early FAQ was 'jump started' with information obtained from the following sources: * the Usenet newsgroup comp.software-eng * the InterWorks (HP Workstation Users Group) CASE SIG mailing list * various printed matter Since then, it has been updated and changed substantially as readers have supplied additional information to the comp.software.config-mgmt newsgroup and directly to the editor. Contributions In addition to some of the vendors themselves, most information summarized here comes from newsgroup posts and email received from end users. Our gratitude is been extended to all who have contributed. Instructions for adding or changing information in this FAQ may be found in section 1.8 of part 1, the general FAQ for the comp.software.config-mgmt newsgroup. Not Official Statements Please use the summary below in the spirit with which it has been supplied: for information only. These statements are composites and do not represent official positions by any particular responder's company. Remember that these users may not be commenting on the current version of a product. It is recommended that you do your own research before making a tool decision for your company. 2. Abbreviations Used CM The abbreviation "CM" will be used throughout this document to mean "configuration management", and in particular, software configuration management or "SCM". FTP The user interface to the ARPANET standard File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The program allows you to transfer files to and from a remote network site. PC Personal Computer - Intel-based IBM or compatible. 3. Process versus Configuration Management Vendors Don't Always Differentiate Some products noted in this FAQ provide configuration management, not development process management, others provide both but to varying degrees. The vendors marketing configuration management tools do not always distinguish the difference nor do they always explain which services their tool is actually trying to provide for you. Briefly, these two concepts are: * Traditional Configuration Management - checkin/checkout control of sources (and sometimes binaries) and the ability to perform builds (or compiles) of the entities. Other functions may be included as well. * Process Management - control of the software development activities. For example, it might check to ensure that a problem report existed and had been approved for fixing and that the associated design, documentation, and review activities have been completed before allowing the code to be "checked in" again. While process management and control are necessary for a repeatable, optimized development process, a solid configuration management foundation for that process is essential. You Choose Be certain to determine what form of management is most important to your project, then be certain the tools you consider provide that function. 4. Commercial Vendor Contact List Vendors Platform availability and products are continually changing, please check vendors for current information and trade publications for new entrants. As of this writing, these vendors could be contacted as shown in this table. Commercial CM Products Product Vendor Address Platforms +1CM +1 Software Engineering Sun (SunOS and Solaris) 2510-G Las Posas Road, Suite 438 P.O. Box 6041 Camarillo, CA 93011 tel.: 805-389-1778 info@plus-one.com AccuRev/CM AccuRev Inc. Solaris, Compaq Alpha Unix, 62 Harvard St. HP-UX, IRIX, RS/6000, FreeBS D, Brookline, MA 02445 Linux (Intel and PowerPC), tel: 617-566-3914 WinNT Win2K client/server, W indows fax: 617-566-5035 9X clients. info@accurev.com Mac, more Unix, Java "soon" Aldon/CMS Aldon Computer Group AS/400 1999 Harrison Street Suite 1500 Oakland, CA 94612 tel.: 510-839-3535 (US) +44.1932.355711 (UK) info@aldon.com AllChange Intasoft Ltd. PC (MS-WFW, MS Windows Tresco House Win95/98, WinNT), Sun Solari s Westpoint Court Exeter EX5 1DJ UK tel.: +44 (0) 1392-447780 FAX: +44 (0) 1392-447781 sales@intasoft.net Andromede Jean-Francois Combes Many Unix platforms, Eslog Linux, LynxOS, VMS 2 bis, BUROSPACE 91571 Bievres CEDEX Client avail. on MS Windows France Tel:00 33 1 69 85 51 51 eslog@club-internet.fr CM Synergy Telelogic AB Tru64 Unix, HP-UX, (World headquarters) IBM RS/6000, SGI, Siemens, S un PO Box 4128 PC (MS Windows, Win95/98, Kungsgaten 6 SE-203 12 WinNT client, WinNT server) Malm, Sweden tel: +46 (40) 174700 FAX: +46 (40) 174747 info@telelogic.com US headquarters Telelogic North America Inc. 9401 Jeronimo Road Irvine, CA 92618 USA Tel: +1-949-830-8022 Fax: +1-949-830-8023 Change and Configuration Computer Associates IBM RS/6000 AIX, Control (CCC/Harvest) 1 Computer Associates Plaza HP-UX, Sun (SunOS and Islandia, N.Y. 11788 Solaris), Digital UNIX, tel.: 1-800-225-5224 PC (OS/2, Win, Win/NT) 1-516-342-5224 ClearCase Rational Digital Unix, HP-UX, RS/6000, 20 Maguire Road SGI, Sun, PC (Red Hat Linux, Lexington, MA 02421 Solaris, UnixWare, WinNT, tel.: 781-676-2400 Win98) 800-728-1212 Attache provides client FAX: 781-676-2420 functions for MS Windows. email: info@rational.com or resold by DEC, SGI, Sun Germany Code Co-op Reliable Software PC (Win95, WinNT) 1011 Boren Ave Suite 106 Seattle, WA 98104 tel.: 206-361-6679 Code Management System Digital Equipment Corp. DEC (OpenVMS/VAX, (CMS) and Module DECdirect OpenVMS/alpha) Management System (MMS) Continental Blvd. Merrimack, NH 03054 tel.: 800-344-4825 Configuration Management IBM Corp. IBM RS/6000, Sun, HP-UX Version Control (CMVC) 1133 Westchester Ave. White Plains, NY 10604 Client only: PC (DOS, tel.: 602-217-2025 OS/2, MS Windows) CMVision and Expertware DEC (VMS, Ultrix, Unix), Configuration Management 12901 Alcosta Blvd. Ste2A HP-UX, IBM RS/6000, PC Facility (CMF) PO Box 1847 (SCO UNIX), Sun San Ramon, CA 94583 tel.: 510-867-0315 CMWin Expertware, Inc. 130 Ryan Industrial Court Suite 210 PO Box 1847 San Remon, CA 94583 Tel: 510-820-7020 510-867-0315 214-357-1485 FAX: 510-820-4123 CMZ CodeME s.a.r.l. PC (DOS), Win/NT 14, Rue de l'Eglise (on ALPHA/PC), DEC/Ultrix, F-01630 St. Genis-Pouilly Digital Unix, VAX/VMS & France Alpha/OPENVMS, Silicon tel.: +33 50420914 Graphics IRIX, SUN (OS4 @amp ; FAX: +33 50 42 09 14 Solaris), HP9000/700 HPUX, distributed via CERN: Apollo, IBM RS/6000 AIX, IBM codeme@cernvm.cern.ch VM/CMS, MVS/TSO, MVS/NEWLIB, CRAY XMP/YMP UNICOS, NeXtStep, LINUX, Alliant, Convex, Gould CONTROL-CS Network Concepts, Inc. Server: Compaq (Tandem) 9 Mt. Pleasant Turnpike NSK, HP-UX, Linux, SCO, Denville, NJ 07834-3612 SGI, Sun Solaris, MS WinNT tel.: 973-285-0202 nci@nci-sw.com Client: PC (MS Win95/98, WinNT) Corporate RCS Thompson Automation HP-UX, Sun (Solaris), Software PC (DOS, MS Windows, WFW 5616 SW Jefferson Win95, WinNT, OS/2) Portland, OR 97221 tel: 800-944-0139 503-224-1639 FAX: 503-224-3230 Disciplined Software Saint Mavris Technology most major UNIXes, Management 15 Wardell Dr Windows Lucas Heights Sydney, NSW 2234 Australia tel: 61-0403206586 FAX: 61-295410840 info@mavris.com DRTS ILSI Sun (SunOS), PC (DOS, 6235 E. Monte Carlo Ave MS Windows, Win95, Scottsdale, AZ 85254 SCO UNIX) tel.: 602-991-8281 FAX: 602-991-6324 ilsi@enet.net Endevor Workstation Computer Associates 1 Computer Associates Plaza Islandia, N.Y. 11788 1-800-225-5224 1-516-342-5224 ExcoConf Excosoft AB DEC OpenVMS, HP-UX, Electrum 420 IBM AIX, Sun, 164 40 Kista Sweden PC (MS Win3.1, Win95, NT) tel.: +46 8 703 9190 FAX: +46 8 703 9490 info@excosoft.se FtpVC Gregory Nisnevich PC (MS Win95, NT) (FTP Version Control) gregnis@yahoo.com Human-Oriented Aladdin Knowledge PC (MS Win95, NT) Programming Environment Systems, Inc. (Sun Solaris in progress) (HOPE) tel.: 800-223-4277 tel.: 212-564-5678 FAX: 212-564-3377 hope.sales@us.aks.com Software Manager Vertical Sky PC (MS-DOS, MS Windows, 2500 S Highland Ave Win/NT, OS/2, SCO UNIX), Lombard IL 60148 Most UNIX's (H-P, IBM RS/6000, Sun. tel.: 1-800-633-1235 See writeup or 1-630-495-2108 for others.) FAX: 1-630-495-3591 sales@VerticalSky.com NeumaCM+ Neuma Technology Inc. 1010 Polytek Unit 2 HP-UX, Solaris, AIX, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada SGI, Linux, SCO SunOS, K1J 9H8 OpenVMS, Win95, WinNT tel.: 613-749-9450 FAX: 613-749-1416 support@neuma.com Perforce Perforce Software 50+ including 2320 Blanding Ave most Unix vendors, plus Alameda, CA 94501 FreeBSD and Linux), tel: +1-510-864-7400 Windows/95, Windows/NT, FAX: +1-510-864-5340 Macintosh, OS/2, info@perforce.com VMS, BeOS, IBM OS/390 Open Edition Product Configuration Tesseract Technologies PC (DOS) Management (PCM) (Pty) Ltd (Windows / Win95 in dev.) P.O. Box 9 Irene 1675 South Africa tel.:+27-12-997-2427 415-981-1800 FAX: +27-12-997-1082 tesseract@pixie.co.za PVCS MERANT HP-UX, IBM AIX RS/6000, 701 East Middlefield Rd Sun Solaris, PC (SCO, Mountain View, CA 94043 Win3.1, Win/NT, Win95) tel.: 800-872-6265 FAX: 650-404-7217 Corporate Headquarters: The Lawn 22-30 Old Bath Road Newbury Berkshire, England RG14 1QN tel.: +1635 32646 FAX: +1635 33966 (PVCS) Synergex Linux, SCO UNIX, SCO 2330 Gold Meadow Way UnixWare, QNX, Apple Gold River, CA 95670 Macintosh System 7.x, MIPS tel.: 916-635-7300 ABI, DG AViiON, Digital info@synergex.com UNIX, OpenVMS/AXP, NCR, AlphaNT, SVR4 iAPX, Sequent's Dynix/Ptx, and Sun OS. QEF QEF Advanced Software Inc. Digital VMS with Posix Toronto and Kitchener, HP-UX, IBM AIX, MS WinNT, Ontario, Canada Solaris, UnixWare, IRIX, info@qef.com Linux, Lynx PrimeCode Data Design Systems, Inc. Server: Tandem Himalaya 5915 Airport Blvd. Suite 625 Clients: Unix, Mississauga, ON L4V 1T1 PC (Win, Win95, Win/NT, Canada OS/2) tel.: 905-677-6666 FAX: 905-677-6671 sales@datadesign.com Razor Visible Systems Sun (both Solaris and 248 Main Street SunOS), HP, SGI, Oneida, NY 13421 RS/6000, Digital Unix tel.: 315-363-8000 Linux, PC(Win95/98, FAX: 315-363-7488 WinNT) razor_sales@visible.com Revision Control Engine DuraSoft, GmbH MS Win3.x, Win95, WinNT, (RCE) Breslauerstr. 14 OS/2, D-76139 Karlsruhe AIX, HP-UX, IRIX, Linux, Germany SCO, SunOS, Solaris, tel.: +49 721 968-4664 Digital Unix FAX: +49 721 968-4665 marketing: DuraSoft@ira.uka.de support: RCE@ira.uka.de Software Configuration IBM Corp. A component of ISPF Library Manager (SCLM) for IBM MVS mainframes SABLIME Lucent Technologies (wide range of UNIX) Group 10 Independence Blvd. Room 3A-32 Warren, New Jersey 07059 tel.: 800-462-8146 or 908-580-6444 FAX: 908-580-6335 Europe: +45 43 42 13 42 Europe FAX: +45 43 42 23 42 Serena ChangeMan DS Serena Software Inc. HP/3000 (HP MPE/iX) 2755 Campus Drive, HP (HP-UX), HP NonStop, 3rd Floor IBM (AIX), Linux (Intel), San Mateo, CA 94403 OS/390, OS/400, SCO UNIX, tel.: 650-522-6600 SunOS/Solaris, AS400, FAX: 650-522-6699 PC (MS Windows NT, Windows 2 000) info@serena.com Serena Change Man ZMF Serena Software, Inc. IBM (MVS); Zos 2755 Campus Drive, interface available 3rd Floor San Mateo, CA 94403 tel.: 650-522-6600 FAX: 650-522-6699 info@serena.com SoftBench CM Hewlett-Packard HP-UX, Solaris 3404 E. Harmony Road Fort Collins, CO 80525 tel.: 1-800-738-4447 Dept. A225 Source Code Manager UniPress Software Inc Unix: HP, IBM, Sun, 2025 Lincoln Hwy SGI, SCO, DEC, Unixware, Edison, NJ 08817 Linux scm@unipress.com tel.: 908-287-2100 800-222-0550 FAX: 908-287-4929 SourceOffSite SourceGear Corporation PC (Win95/98, WinNT) Professional Edition 3200 Farber Drive Other clients: Linux, Solari s Champaign, IL 61822 tel.: 217-356-3213 support@sourceoffsite.com StarTeam StarBase Corporation PC (Win95, WinNT), 4 Hutton Centre Dr. UNIX command line support Suite 800 Santa Ana, CA 92707 USA tel.: 714-445-4400 FAX: 714-445-4404 TeamConnection IBM Corp. UNIX and PC 1133 Westchester Ave. White Plains, NY 10604 tel.: 602-217-2025 TeamSite Interwoven, Inc. Server: Windows NT, 1195 W. Fremont Ave.#2000 Sun Solaris Sunnyvale, CA 94087 Client: Any System tel.: 408-774-2000 with Web Browser FAX: 408-774-2002 (NFS+SMB) info@interwoven.com SPARCworks/TeamWare SunSoft Sun (SunOS, Solaris 2) ProWorks/TeamWare 2550 Garcia Ave. Intel (Solaris, UnixWare) Mountain View, CA 94043 HP (Early Access in 1994) tel.: 1-800-SUNSOFT (U.S.) +1 415-336-6848 FAX: +1 415-968-6396 sunpro-info@sun.com TLIB Burton Systems Software PC (DOS, Windows, P.O.Box 4157 Win/NT, OS/2) Cary, NC 27519-4157 USA tel.: 1-919-233-8128 FAX: 1-919-233-0716 TRUEchange TRUE Software DEC (VAX/VMS, Digital (formerly ADC/Pro) 300 Fifth Avenue UNIX), HP-UX, RS/6000 AIX, Waltham, MA 02154 Siemens/Pyramid, SGI UNIX, tel.: 781-890-4450 Sun (SunOS, Solaris, FAX: 781-890-4452 Solaris x86), Sequent info@truesoft.com DYNIX, IBM MVS, PC (MS Win95, Win/NT) Turnover SoftLanding Systems AS/400 84 Elm Street Peterborough, NH 03458 tel.: +1-603-924-8818 1-800-545-9485 FAX: +1-603-924-8508 webmaster@softlanding.com Visual Enabler Softlab Clients: PC (Win95, WinNT) 1000 Abernathy Rd, Servers: WinNT Suite 1000 (AIX, HP-UX, Digital UNIX Atlanta, GA 30328 planned 4Q97) tel.: +1 770 668 8811 FAX: +1 770 668 8712 Info@SoftlabNA.com Visual SourceSafe Microsoft Corp. PC (MS-DOS, MS Windows, One Microsoft Way Win/NT: Intel, Alpha, MIPS), Redmond, WA 98052-6399 tel.: 800-426-9400 FAX: 206-635-6100 Mainsoft UNIX (AIX, HP-UX, 1270 Oakmead Parkway, SPARC Solaris, Suite 310 SGI MIPS) Sunnyvale, CA 94086 tel.: 800-MAIN WIN (USA) tel.: 408-774-3400 FAX: 408-774-3404 Metrowerks Corporation Macintosh 9801 Metric Boulevard Austin TX 78758 tel.: 512-873-4700 FAX: 512-873-4901 sales@metrowerks.com Versions Of Outdated UNI Software Plus Macintosh Documents Organized Softwarepark Hagenberg Orthogonally (Voodoo) A-4232 Hagenberg AUSTRIA (Europe) FAX: +43 (7236) 37 69 voodoo@unisoft.co.at As with products in many markets, some CM Tools and vendors come in and some leave. The following list contains information for products which may be still in use, but for which newsgroup contributors were unable to locate current market contacts or for which the vendors had advised the tool was obsolete. They are listed here to help anwser questions such as "Heard about tool XYZ?" (If any tools are erroneously listed here, please accept my apologies and inform the FAQ editor so it may be corrected.) Commercial CM Products Product Vendor Address Platforms Adele Verilog SA HP-UX, Sun 150 Rue Nicolas Vauqelin BP 1310, 31106 Toulouse Cedex, France (No longer marketed) Domain Software Hewlett-Packard Co. Apollo Engineering Environment 300 Apollo Drive (DSEE) Chelmsford, MA 01824 tel.: 1-800-637-7740 (US) 1-800-387-3867 (Canada) (No longer marketed) MS Delta Microsoft (Retired and replaced by Visual SourceSafe) SMS Intasoft (withdrawn, see AllChange) 5. Version Control Systems Generally Available "Free" "Free" But Perhaps Not Fully Supported There are a number of tools generally available at no charge - some are delivered with most UNIX systems (so yes, you may pay for them, but the price is bundled with what you pay your vendor already), others need to be transferred from an archive site on the Internet using a tool such as FTP. In some cases they will need to be compiled at your site. Most come bundled with adequate documentation. Since many of these tools are provided without support, it may not be advisable to use them on some projects. For completeness, they have been listed here despite that potential drawback. Those tools with World Wide Web sites are listed in section 8, CM Tools With World Wide Web Sites at the end of this document. (The Web site may provide more specific product information than can be made available in this FAQ.) /BriefCase Toolkit The /BriefCase 3 Toolkit expands the basic capabilities of the Revision Control System (RCS) commands to manage software system component revisions throughout their development, release and maintenance life-cycles. It runs on most Unix/Linux systems with the generally available versions of the Korn Shell and awk. Available since 1992 from Applied Computer Sciences, inc., /Briefcase source is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Contact them at P.O.Box 8003; Cave Creek, AZ 85327; (voice) 623-465-8865, (fax) 623-465-1078 or email: briefcase@applied-cs-inc.com or visit http://www.applied-cs-inc.com/bcintro.html on the Web for additional information. Emacs Offers Extensions For Version Control While not a CM tool in itself, Emacs 19 includes a mode called VC that increases the leverage available from RCS, SCCS, or CVS, and decreases the hassles of using those CM tools. VC automatically detects which version control system is being used and auto-configures for it. (Systems can be mixed and it will do the right thing). It hides the details of registration, checkin, checkout and lock-stealing behind a simple one-command "do the next logical thing" interface -- users never leave Emacs. VC also includes functions for viewing version diffs and change histories, making and retrieving named release snapshots, and generating version-difference patches. It even supports a modified Dired mode that allows you to do "batch" version-control operations on groups of files (for example, it becomes trivial to check in changes to 23 different files with the same change comment). Additional information may be obtained by invoking Emacs 19 and typing `M-x info RETURN m emacs RETURN m vc RETURN'. Aegis Aegis is a project change supervisor distributed under the GNU public license. It was written by Peter Miller (millerp@canb.auug.org.au or peterm@lucent.com). Reportedly it is a developer's tool, not a manager's tool. It does not provide progress tracking or manage work allocation. Aegis 2.2 copes with heterogenous environments. While CVS (described elsewhere in this report) provides a repository; aegis provides a repository, a baseline, mandatory reviews and mandatory testing. Aegis may be configured to use almost any history tool (such as RCS) and almost any dependency maintenance tool (such as make), although traditional make may not be sufficiently capable. The most significant point of departure between CVS and Aegis is around the "checkin" function. Although CVS does have the ability to run a script which allow or disallows a checkin before it occurs, Aegis breaks this step into several pieces: the change must be known to build, the change must have tests and those tests be known to have run and passed, the change must then be reviewed (double check), and then built and tested again (triple check). The latest information and version of Aegis is available by HTTP from http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~millerp/. Reference material, the complete sourse, and its own FAQ are available. BCS BCS stands for Baseline Configuration System. It was written by Jay Berkenbilt (ejb@ql.org) and runs on UNIX only. Like CVS, BCS attempts to add concurrency to an existing version control system, but it does so with a different approach. The primary function of BCS is to maintain a stable "baseline" controlled under RCS or SCCS and multiple "staging areas" that are mirrors of the baseline (implemented as symbolic link trees). BCS is no longer being actively enhanced or maintained. The last released version was 2.0.2. Version 3.0 alpha 6, from late 1995, is a stable snapshot version that implements some of the changes specified for version 3.0. No further releases are expected. Please email the author (ejb@ql.org) for further information. CVS CVS (Concurrent Versions System), which requires RCS (built in after version 1.10), extends RCS to control concurrent editing of sources by several users working on releases built from a hierarchical set of directories. "RCS is [analogous to using] assembly language, while CVS is [like using] Pascal", according to the author. Beginning with rev 1.8, a "cvs annotate" command displays the last modification for each line of a file, with the revision number, user checking in the modification, and date of the modification. CVS is available for download from ftp://ftp.cvshome.org/pub/. A user WWW site is available at http://www.loria.fr/~molli/cvs-index.html Information about tkcvs, a Tk based graphical interface to CVS, may be found at: http://www.twobarleycorns.net/tkcvs.html. Information about a Web interface to CVS may be found at: http://stud.fh-heilbronn.de/~zeller/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/. Cervisia is a KDE graphical frontend for the the CVS client. It features checking out a module from a repository; updating or retrieving the status of a working directory or single files; common operations like add, remove and commit; diff against the repository and between different revisions; annotated view of a file; view of the log messages in tree and list form; and resolving of conflicts in a file. A changelog editor is integrated with commiting files. Cervisia may be found at http://cervisia.sourceforge.net/. WinCVS is a GUI front end for CVS. Versions are available (under the terms of the GPL) for several platforms, including Windows and Mac. More information may be found at http://www.wincvs.org/. The Chrooted SSH CVS server HOW-TO, which describes the steps necessary to setup a very network-secure CVS server, allowing SSH access to chrooted CVS repositories may be found at http://www.idealx.org/prj/idx-chrooted-ssh-cvs/dist/chrooted-ssh-cvs-s erver.html. GNU CSSC An test release of GNU CSSC version 0.09 is available. This is still an alpha edition (i.e., not a final release). CSSC is, of course, covered by the GNU General Public License. CSSC may be found in the file (about 375K long, compressed) ftp://alpha.gnu.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/CSSC/ GNU CSSC is a workalike for the traditional SCCS suite. If you didn't already know what SCCS is, please use RCS instead of trying CSSC. This software is not reccomended for new projects, but is a faithful reproduction of SCCS, though some features may not be available yet. The principal aim for the prerelease is to get CSSC tested on as many platforms as possible, and to obtain new test suites so that more extensive testing can be done. Documentation is provided, but is very incomplete, and if you need much documentation you should be using RCS or CVS instead. Comments about the CSSC package should be directed to jay@gnu.ai.mit.edu. CSSC was originally based on the public domain package MySC, which was written by Ross Ridge. ICE Its authors report that the Incremental Configuration Engine (ICE) is a tool that will provide a logic-based support for all areas of configuration management, including integrated and uniform revision and variant management, binary file repositories, inference of configuration consistency, and deductive program construction, while being as compatible as possible with existing standards. Users have reported problems with crashes in the GUI and some "serious problems" with the command line. It mapped filenames in the usual 8.3 PC NFS manner, even if the source file and archive files were on the same Windows 95 disk, and it didn't do that mapping consistantly, causing the user to be unable to check in two files with similar names or to out a file which had been checked in because it mapped the name differently. Although it is still available, ICE is no longer maintained. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/softech/ice/ ODE The OSF Development Environment (ODE) from the Open Group is a flexible development environment with build and source control features and both private and public work areas for software development. Additional information and download may be found at: http://www.accurev.com/ode/index.html Project Revision Control System (PRCS) PRCS, the Project Revision Control System is the front end to a set of tools that deal with sets of files and directories as an entity, preserving coherent versions of the entire set. PRCS was designed primarily by Professor P. N. Hilfinger, with input and modifications by Luigi Semenzato and Josh MacDonald. PRCS is written and maintained by Josh MacDonald. Its purpose is similar to that of SCCS, RCS, and CVS, but (according to its authors, at least), it is much simpler than any of those systems. PRCS can be found at ftp://XCF.Berkeley.EDU/pub/. HTML documentation and recent developments are available online at http://www.xcf.berkeley.edu/~jmacd/prcs.html. PRCS is released under the GNU public license. RCS RCS (Revision Control System) is often considered to be better than SCCS. One reason for this is that RCS baselines the most recent version and keeps deltas for earlier ones, making new development faster. Additional discussions concerning SCCS vs RCS may be found in the comp.unix.questions FAQ, section 7 at: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/unix-faq/faq/part7/ RCS still requires scripts to make life easier on the developer. Originally created by Walter Tichy, RCS is still maintained by Purdue (email to rcs-bugs@cs.purdue.edu). It is available on the GNU distribution, has been widely ported, and is free. RCS is available via anonymous FTP from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/rcs/ and its mirror sites. Specific ports have been found at: site filename wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/amiga/aminet/dev/misc/HWGRCS* (Amiga port) systems/atari/umich.edu/Programming/rcs* (Atari port) DOS and NT versions have been available at http://www.winsite.com/. RCS works best with GNU diffutils 2.7; look for diffutils-2.7.tar.Z. Many CASE tools interface with RCS. The FSF offers a book (108 pgs.) and CD-ROM containing the DJGPP port of GCC and many GNU utilities, including Diffutils and RCS. More information can be found at: http://www.fsf.org/order/windows.html rcsview - RCS and CVS file viewer Written in Tcl, rcsview is a companion tool that allows you to view the different versions of an ASCII file that is being maintained under RCS or CVS. Each line is colored according to the file version from which it came. The initial version to view may be specified on the command line; if no version is specified, the most recent version is viewed. It is available by ftp from: ftp.pmg.lcs.mit.edu/pub/andru/rcsview-1.2.tar.gz - its author is Andrew Myers (andru@lcs.mit.edu). SCCS SCCS (Source Code Control System) is comes with most UNIX distributions. It has been ported to many different platforms, but is no longer being enhanced or improved. Though disputed, the general consensus has been that this tool is clumsy and not suited to large numbers of users working on one project. A common misconception is that SCCS baselines the initial version and keeps deltas to create newer versions. Actually, SCCS interleaves all the versions; this is not as bad as the common misconception, but it can make new development get progressively slower. Many people place scripts around the SCCS commands to improve the user interface. ShapeTools The shape toolkit (ShapeTools) is a set of commands for change control, developed by Axel Mahler, Andreas Lampen and others at the Technical University of Berlin. It consists of a repository (the Attributed File System), version control programs, a build driver (compatible with make), release management system, and EMACS editor interface. ShapeTools 1.3 was released in late May 1992; it runs on many UNIX variants. ShapeTools is available from ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/plan/shape/ In addition, gatekeeper has a mail archive server; send a message to ftpmail@gatekeeper.dec.com whose body contains the single line "help". A user WWW site is available at http://swt.cs.tu-berlin.de/~shape/index.html Subversion The Subversion project (available under an Apache/BSD-style open source license) is intended as a replacement for CVS in the open source community. In addition to including all current CVS features, it provides versioning of directories, file renames, and file meta-data and it supports symbolic lynks. Commits are atomic; revision numbers are per-commit, not per-file. For more information, see their Web site at: http://subversion.tigris.org/. 5-b. Tools to "make" or "build" Software While these are not "CM" tools in the general sense, the make or build function is an intimate part of the overall CM process. Some commercial CM tools include their own make or build capability. There are also stand-alone commercial build tools available, but those are beyond the scope of this FAQ. The tools listed here all have source which is freely available and these tools have been mentioned in articles posted on this newsgroup. Please follow the pointers to the specific tool information. Ant Ant is a Java based build tool which is different from other "make" type tools. Ant is extended using Java classes rather than shell commands. Instead of writing shell commands and the configuration files are XML based calling out a target tree where various tasks get executed rather than Makefiles. For more information, see the Web site at http://jakarta.apache.org/ant/. Bake Bake is an intelligent Open Source build tool for developers. Its features include: "automagic dependency information gathering" and it is released under the WERKEN PUBLIC LICENSE (WPL), an Open Source license. Additional information may be found at http://bake.werken.com/. Bras Rule Based Command Execution: http://bras.berlios.de/ It is written in Tcl, so no compilation is required. Its rules include a Tcl-syntax so that commands associated with rules may contain control structures. BuildRef This toolset manages references between baseline builds when compiling large software projects that consist of multiple smaller projects. It is listed with other utilities at: http://www.sander.cupertino.ca.us/source.html Cons A software construction system: http://www.dsmit.com/cons/ CONS is a Perl5-based replacement for MAKE, though it is not compatible with make. Reportedly, it has a number of capabilities not found in other software construction systems, including make. CONS supports building on both UNIX operating systems and Windows NT. CONS is distributed under a license similar to the BSD license. An FAQ is available at http://www.baldmt.com/cons-faq/ Cook A software build tool: http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~millerp/cook.html Cook is a tool for constructing files. It is given a set of files to create, and recipes of how to create them. The source distribution is self configuring using a GNU Autoconf generated configure script. Jam Make(1) Redux: http://www.perforce.com/jam/jam.html Jam/MR is a make(1) replacement that makes building simple things simple and building complicated things manageable. The Jam/MR source code is freely available from Perforce Software, and comes with no warranty, guarantee, or user support. Odin Not a CM tool, but according to author Geoffrey Clemm, Odin is a simpler, more reliable, and more powerful replacement for Make. It is designed to combine the simplicity and elegance of the original Make program with the power of the latest super-Makes. Some of Odin's features include: * building several variants concurrently from a single source tree * parallel builds on multiple remote hosts * persistent dependency database with incremental update * building directly from arbitrary versions of RCS and SCCS files, without requiring checkout of working copy * complete separation between build rules and system definitions Odin is distributed under the GNU General Public License. The source code and reference manual for Odin can be retrieved via anonymous ftp from ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/distribs/odin/ You can subscribe to the Odin mailing list (odin@cs.colorado.edu) by sending a "subscribe odin" mail message to odin-request@cs.colorado.edu. SCons SCons is a software construction tool (build tool, or alternative to Make) implemented in Python, based on the winning design in the Software Carpentry build tool competition (in turn based on the Cons build tool). A web site is available at: http://www.scons.org/. 6. Commercial Configuration Management Tools Growing Number On Market With an increased emphasis on software development costs, more companies have begun offering stand-alone configuration management tools. It is impossible to provide user's comments concerning all the available tools. A brief summary of the tools mentioned most frequently on the Usenet newsgroup comp.software.config-mgmt is provided below so that your site may decide if it would be appropriate to consider one of these tools. These comments do not necessarily reflect the opinion or experiences of the author of this document. Contact information such as address and phone number may be found in section 4, Commercial Vendor Contact List, of this document. Those products with World Wide Web sites are listed in section 8, CM Tools With World Wide Web Sites at the end of this document. (The Web site may provide more specific product information than can be made available in this FAQ.) +1CM +1CM from +1 Software Engineering is one of fourteen products supporting the +1Environment. It supports multiple users working on a common project over a network. GUI is based on the graphical calling structure of the source code. +1CM supports all basic CM commands, baselines, and predefined CM reports. With +1CR, +1CM supports process management. With +1Base, generates makefiles for C, C++, FORTRAN, Pascal, and other languages. Also provides support for Ada libraries. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.plus-one.com AccuRev/CM AccuRev(tm), from AccuRev Inc. (formerly Ede Development Enterprises) is a transaction based internet client/server CM tool. It automatically versions directories, provides transaction-oriented (as opposed to file-oriented) pre & post triggers which can run on both the client and the server. AccuRev has been written from scratch and is not built on top of an existing system such as RCS or SCCS. Users have reported that installation was simple and the features were useful and robust. Particularly liked was its implicit branching. AccuRev provides good support wih rapid turn-around on questions and is integrated with the company's problem management tool, AccuRev/Dispatch. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.accurev.com AllChange AllChange is a full-featured configuration management and change control system with integrated problem management from Intasoft. Its features include: * version creation, tracking, restoration * user-definable life-cycles with action triggering for automated procedures * change request/fault tracking, with actions and links to objects * workspaces, shared pools, full configuration building * baselines, releases, monitors, registers, ... * query/reporting facilities * metrics generation and graphical reporting * completely configurable; script language; open interface to tools * Motif/Windows GUIs or command line * available for Unix, Windows 3.x, NT and 95 * client/server support A user reports it is a very flexible configuration management system which may be configured to match whatever life-cycle you are using and to enforce whatever constraints you need. Support has been good. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.intasoft.net CCC/Harvest, CCC/Manager, CCC QuikTrak The Change and Configuration Control (CCC) family of change and configuration control products provide comprehensive CM solutions for every major computing platform, from mainframe to VAX to UNIX to PC, including cross-platform, client/server environments. CCC/Harvest is Computer Associates' (formerly Platinum Technology) CM solution specifically designed for cross-platform, client/server software development environments. CCC/Harvest utilizes commercially available RDBMSs, integrated problem tracking, an API and GUI to provide process management, visibility and control over the entire development life cycle. CCC/Harvest also provides robust CM features that automate version control, change packaging, staging, concurrent and parallel development, multiple releases, emergency maintenance and software customization. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.cai.com/products/ccm/ CCC/Manager is a CM tool for homogeneous development environments that automates the management of version control, change packaging, staging, concurrent and parallel development, multiple releases, emergency maintenance and software customization. CCC/Manager is available for Windows, OS/2, Windows NT, Sun-4/SPARCstation, HP9000, DEC RISC/ULTRIX, IBM RS/6000, Silicon Graphics and SCO. CCC/Life Cycle Manager provides CM for IBM/MVS systems, including component and application management, application merging, parallel development and vendor code maintenance. CCC QuikTrak is a powerful, automated change and version management tool for Excel spreadsheet users that keeps track of multiple spreadsheet versions and allows users to quickly compare versions and identify the impact of their changes. It also conserves disk space by saving only the changes made to spreadsheets instead of a duplicate of the entire file. CCC QuikTrak appears directly within Excel as an additional menu in the menu bar. ClearCase ClearCase, by Rational (formerly Pure Atria) was designed by the original DSEE architects (see below). It runs on a variety of Unix and MS Windows systems (see platforms above). The Attache product provides most client functions for Windows users. Both a command line interface and a GUI are available. In addition to version control and CM functions, advanced capabilities include 32-way merge, versioning of any object (including directories), logical version labeling, parallel builds distributed over a network, and triggers for local site customizing. Versioned history files may be compressed for space savings. The checkout mechanism gives the appearance of leaving the file in place, so the ClearCase source library is often used as a current working directory. Although traditional make files may be used, simpler syntax and enhanced tracking functions are available with clearmake. An automated conversion utility aids migration from other CM tools. The unique DSEE conversion utility preserves all DSEE versions, dates and reasons of changes, indications of merges, and version labels in the new database. The ClearCase MultiSite(TM) option provides support for parallel development and software reuse across geographically distributed project teams, even without a network connection. ClearDDTS provides integrated problem management and the ClearGuide option provides software process management functions to round out the tool offering. Tools automating a complex process are always a bit tricky to learn or configure and user comments confirm that is the case at many ClearCase sites. However, this quote from a satisfied user seems to echo the feelings of many who find ClearCase a necessity at their locations: "If you could measure the true cost of producing software (and not just the cost of the tools used), you will find that ClearCase is a bargain." A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.rational.com CM Synergy CM Synergy from Telelogic (which acquired Continuus Software Corp., formerly CaseWare, Inc., formerly Amplify Control) is an interactive development environment emphasizing configuration management. Its client/server architecture can be distributed across all supported platforms to implement distributed development and SCM. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.telelogic.com/ CMF Configuration Management Facility (CMF) supports a hierarchy of projects, end items and files. Components from the controlled area can easily be moved into and out of the user's staging area. Files can be shared using links; when parallel development is turned on for a link, branching is enabled. There is a facility for problem reports and an extensive capability for forms building and filling. The Build Support Tool provides templates for Makefiles. In addition to the menu driven and command line interfaces, common commands can be executed from the operating system via C functions. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.cmvision.com/ Code Co-op Reliable Software's Code Co-op is a server-less version control system for the PC which enables programmers to exchange scripts via the Internet. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.relisoft.com/co_op/ CMS and MMS Included in Digital Equipments Corp.'s DECset are CMS and MMS. CMS: Code Management System; Code libraries and configuration control. MMS: Module Management System; Like make integrated to CMS. These products are operational on VMS platforms. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/decset/decset_index.html CMVC IBM Configuration Management and Version Control (CMVC) is a client-server based tool provided with both a GUI and command line interface. It performs integrated defect/feature tracking and source control. Source files are stored in file trees known as Releases. CMVC encourages file sharing via the concept of File Links. A File may be linked to several Releases. Within Releases, files can be grouped into Components. Components are arranged in a tree-like structure. Components provided logical grouping as well as notification and access control to the files and associated Defects. CMVC also provides the concept of a Level, which can be thought of as snapshot (in time) of a given Release. All information about files, defects, etc is stored in a relational database. This makes CMVC a powerful tool for reporting and information gathering. A front-end tool allows users to perform SQL queries. A choice of databases is available, including Sybase, DB/6000, Oracle, and Informix. It is well suited to medium to large projects. This product has been replaced by IBM TeamConnection. CMZ CMZ is a code and text manager for all programming and text processing languages. It is widely used in all High Energy Physics Institutions to provide version archiving, editing, checking, and library management functions. There are some additional built-in utilities to aid C and Fortran users. CMZ files can be binary compressed to minimize the use of disk space. CMZ binary compressed files can be copied from one platform to another without conversion or they can be accessed through mounts over a heterogeneous network via NFS, AFS, etc. CMZ provides an identical user interface on all platforms listed in the table above. In addition, the vendor says they are committed to supporting CMZ on all new popular platforms so that CMZ customers can be assured of continued support in the future. A supplier WWW site is available at http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/cmz/ CONTROL-CS Network Concepts began offering an SCM tool called CONTROL to the Tandem (now Compaq) computer market place in 1982. It now also offers a client-server product, CONTROL-CS. The client runs under several PC operating systems. Servers are availabile for Compaq NSK, WinNT, and UNIX platforms. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.nci-sw.com/ Corporate RCS Corporate RCS by Thompson Automation Software manages software versions over mutliple platforms. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.tasoft.com/ Disciplined Software Management Disciplined Software Management by Saint Mavris Technology is a client/server system. It contains three functional areas: Software Development for version control, make and build; Software Management for software distribution and releasing; Discipline 4GL, is a 4GL used for implementing the user interface, screens, and commands. The entire functionality of Discipline consists of server transactions which can be invoked locally or remotely by a Discipline 4GL program. This architecture allows it to be tailored to the exact user requirements and methodology. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.mavris.com/ DRTS The Distributed Revision Tracking System (DRTS) by ILSI provides software configuration management. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/samurai/ilsi/ DSEE Domain Software Engineering Environment (DSEE - pronounced dizzy) by Apollo (now Hewlett-Packard) was an excellent program that had excellent version control and managed builds for the user. These builds could be customized easily to a specific purpose and spread out over several different machines simultaneously. It was excellent for large development projects. DSEE's main problem was that it could not be ported to other machines since it used the proprietary facilities of Domain/OS. Hewlett-Packard has classified Domain/OS as "mature" and most customers have migrated to HP-UX (which will not run DSEE) and many chose ClearCase as their CM tool replacement. DSEE was marketed only by Hewlett-Packard and is no longer sold. It is included here for historical reference (and because a few sites were still using it even after 2000). ExcoConf ExcoConf by Excosoft AB is reportedly a high-end SCM tool available for multiple platforms. Marketed since 1986, about 80% of its 200 customers are located in Sweden. Its customer base includes 3-4000 users world wide. Since little has been mentioned on the newsgroup about it, user comments are requested. Please send them to the FAQ editor (see bottom of this FAQ). Endevor Workstation Endevor Workstation from Computer Associates Intnl. automates the software development process, including software configuration management. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.cai.com/products/endevor_ws.htm FtpVC (FTP Version Control) FtpVC (FTP Version Control) is a simple shareware MS Windows 95 and Windows NT version control system available by ftp from Gregory Nisnevich. It allows "joined" software development using Internet FTP connections. Developers may perform simple SCM tasks such as get, check out, check in, and undo check out files on a remote server. This program lacks some features that are common to modern version control systems such as file versioning, branching, merging, and other advanced features. However, since it utilizes a full file copy, there is no server configuration or complex database to be administered. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.nisnevich.com/ftpvc/ftpvc.htm. HOPE HOPE is an object-oriented team programming environment for C/C++ and Java which runs on PCs. A version for Solaris under development. NeumaCM+ NeumaCM+ from Neuma Technology Inc. provides Configuration Management, Version Control, Change Control, Product Management, Problem Tracking, Activity Tracking, Build Management, Document Management, and Requirements Tracking. PCM Tesseract Technology is a small South African company with a suite of DOS products, including Product Configuration Management (PCM). Evaluation copies are available at no cost. A supplier WWW site is available at ftp://lia.co.za/pub/tesseract/ PERFORCE PERFORCE by Perforce Software is a client/server system which emphasises performance and provides such features as versioning, change control, shared access, and auditing for software production teams. Users have reported that while it uses more disk space than some competing products, its sparser use of the network offers advantages. Reportedly, it is a very nice SCM system at a very reasonable price. It includes atomic change transactions where a group of changes is either all commited or none of it is commited (as in database transactions). It has a branching and merging mechanism. Although it doesn't have the power of a top tier product, it certainly is a product to consider for serious projects requiring the features it offers. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.perforce.com PVCS PVCS by MERANT (formed by the combination of Micro Focus and Intersolv) offers basic of support for CM, using SCCS-like commands. It may be more appropriate for small development projects than some of the more complex or more costly products. Reportedly, changes in recent revisions offer more substantial features, but user experience and comment on the newsgroup have not become prevalent yet. Problem tracking is provided via integrations with third-party products such as Control First by Repository Technology (708-515-0780). A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.merant.com QEF Software Process Automation System QEF from Advanced Software Inc. is a commercial product which drives the software process. It integrates with the version management system, with the test and auditing tools and is available on major platforms from PCs through to mainframes. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.qef.com Quma Version Control System (QVCS) Author Jim Voris (jimv@clark.net) reports that although QVCS is not a heavyweight product, it is a good fit for smaller projects with a team size of 10 or less. A version of QVCS is available for 32-bit Windows platforms (95 and NT); a separate version is available for 16-bit Windows. Both products include command line tools and a GUI interface. QVCS provides many of the same features as more expensive commercial tools. QVCS may be obtained via anonymous FTP from ftp.clark.net in /pub/jimv/qvcs1625.zip (for 16 bit users) or /pub/jimv/qvcs3225.zip (for 32-bit users). A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.qumasoft.com/. RAZOR RAZOR from Visible Systems Corporation (formerly from Tower Concepts) is an easily tailored configuration management package with an integrated problem tracking system. It offers control and coordination of file versioning and product build management for both ASCII and binary files. Its easily parsed ASCII database encourages users to generate their own scripts for report generation and process control. By attaching shell scripts both before and after Razor events, the tool becomes an enforcement vehicle for the development process. Razor is available on SunOS, Solaris, HPUX, AIX, IRIX, Linux, and MS WinNT with clients also on MS Win95/98/NT. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.razor.visible.com A company representative stressed that it is extremely easy to try out their product. Both documentation and a full copy of the product for evaluation are available by FTP. New releases and patches are handled in the same manner. RCE DuraSoft is now the marketing partner of Mr. Walter F. Tichy, the developer of both RCS and the Revision Control Engine (RCE). The product has been on the market since 1994. In 1997 RCE was totally rewritten, and by March 1998, a brand new GUI is expected. Byte Differencing Engine (BDE) is a new API for difference encoding now available from DuraSoft. The API is taken from the core of RCE. Like RCE, BDE can work with any kind of data. SABLIME SABLIME by Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T Software Solutions) provides managers and developers with a tool that tracks changes to a product consisting of software, hardware, firmware, and/or documents, from its origination, through maintenance, delivery, and support. It has an integrated Modification Request capability. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.bell-labs.com/project/sablime Serena ChangeMan DS Serena ChangeMan DS (formerly known as eChangeMan and before that as Diamond CM) by Serena Software, Inc. has been available in the HP/3000 market since the 1980s as VCS-UX by Diamond Optimum Systems. In the late 1990s, the product became available on UNIX and was known as Diamond CM. In mid-1999 Serena Software acquired Diamond Optimum Systems and the product was renamed. Beginning with release 5.0.6 there was a new MS Windows GUI as well as a Java-based version. Originally a version control product, Serena ChangeMan DS now has a complete Configuration Management focus and has become a comprehensive cross-platform development workbench environment, which offers process control, version control, release / build management, programming editor, software distribution, and other features. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.serena.com/product/cm_prod.html User comments have not been received at this time. Please contact the FAQ editor if you have used this product and can comment. Serena ChangeMan ZMF Serena Change Man ZMF, by Serena Software, Inc. is a process-based SCM solution for MVS environments. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.serena.com. Software Configuration Library Manager (SCLM) SCLM by IBM is a component of ISPF, which is which is part of OS/390 and the newer z/OS mainframes. It manages (MVS) sources and binaries, features build, promote (move from one development level to another), source versioning and common sources among different projects. A user reports "it has its limitations but can be customized and extended to do very useful things." A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.ibm.com/software/ad/ispf/ Software Manager Software Manager from Vertical Sky, wholly-owned group of Mortice Kern Systems, Inc (MKS) was formerly known as MKS Source Integrity from Mortice Kern Systems. It thinks and works like most software development teams do -- in terms of team based, project oriented, and cross platform development environments. Key features include complete project management facilities, Visual Merge, new reporting capabilities, event triggers, a new configuration language, integration into Visual C++ and Borland C++, an automated building process, file promotion, and NetWare specific functionality. MKS Source Integrity is available on DOS, OS/2, Windows, Windows NT, and a variety of UNIX platforms. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.verticalsky.com/solutions/ Source Code Manager Source Code Manager (SCM), from UniPress Software Inc, is a configuration management tool for Unix users which supports parallel development on multiprogrammer projects. SCM supports command line and X Windows interfaces, multisite, integrated problem tracking and many other advanced features and reports. A free single user -- but multiple working copy -- version of SCM, called SCM-lite, is available on the UniPress Web site, http://www.unipress.com/free_evals/ or via anonymous ftp on eridani.unipress.com/pub/free_evals. SCM and SCM-lite are available for most Unix platforms. SourceOffSite SourceOffSite by SourceGear Corporation is a 3rd party add-on to Visual SourceSafe. It allows companies with remote development teams to have fast, secure, and easy-to-use access to a centralized Visual SourceSafe(TM) database via any TCP/IP connection. SourceOffSite is a client/server application with file compression, strong encryption, and a "VSS like" client that supports all major Visual SourceSafe operations. SourceOffSite does not require Windows Remote Access Service (RAS). In addition to MS Windows, clients are available for Linux and Solaris. StarTeam StarTeam by StarBase Corporation offers common version control features such as check-in/check-out, branching and merging, multiple directory support, and key-word expansion, plus integrated interface features to improve ease of use. Some of the additional features include version and build labels and an integrated defect tracking component. StarTeam has a good combination of both version-control and integrated bug-tracking, plus some nice features such as threated messaging, internet client-server, and a web client interface option. It supports a visual merge within the tool. Unlike some of the other middle-market priced tools, it runs as a server and client on Windows NT, not requiring a UNIX server. For best performance, users have reported that the archives should reside on the same machine which is running the StarTeam service. Version 4.1 added a new IDE and database support. StarTeam interoperates with both Visual SourceSafe and PVCS archives. Other features added with version 4 include MS Project 98 integration for project planning a well as COM and Java class interfaces for client use over the Internet from non-Windows operating systems. Some users have reported data losses, particularly in multi-processor installations where all "service packs" have not been installed. (StarBase has reported that this problem was traced to Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 failure. If StarTeam process was run on a separate system this problem did not occur.) StarBase's tech support line has received praise from several users. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.starbase.com. TeamConnection IBM's VisualAge TeamConnection Enterprise Server is a repository-based software configuration management (SCM) system designed for a team programming environment. It uses IBM's DB2 Universal database and repository technology. With VisualAge TeamConnection, you can manage and control development projects, increase team productivity and improve overall software quality. VisualAge TeamConnection supports multiple platforms. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.software.ibm.com/ad/teamcon/ TeamSite Interwoven's TeamSite is a CM product specifically designed for Large-Scale complex web design. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.interwoven.com/ TeamWare SPARCworks/TeamWare from SunSoft is a visual code management environment featuring tools for both configuration management and for managing team software development processes. SPARCworks/TeamWare includes easy-to-use, graphical tools for version control (VerTool), workspace and directory management (CodeMgrTool), source file configuration archiving (FreezePtTool), project build acceleration (PMake), and automatic file merging (FileMerge). SPARCworks/TeamWare is not based on a proprietary file system. Instead, it relies on standard UNIX utilities and services like SCCS and NFS. Development teams that are already using SCCS can quickly adopt SPARCworks/TeamWare--even continue to use their SCCS wrappers. It has no special networking or administrative requirements, and gives users the ability to customize according to their own development methodologies. There is both an intuitive graphical user interface and command line access, controls for workspace access and notification, and easy manipulation of workspace directories for changing project needs and multiple releases. A free "Try and Buy" 30-day software evaluation kit is available. TLIB TLIB by Burton System Software provides version control for PC users. In addition to its features, it has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive. It handles both text and binaries and even binary deltas. It can do merges and and snapshots and reportedly the vendor has excellent tech support. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.burtonsys.com. TRUEchange TRUEchange (formerly known as Aide-de-Camp or ADC) from TRUE Software provides an entity relationship database to store attributes of and relationships between files. Changes that are made are flexible until they are installed. A logical change to a version of software is captured as a change set, a concept critical to ADC. Developers work on their own branch by creating a personal change set. All files associated with a change set may be checked in at the same time. Special language scanners determine structural relationships automatically from the source code and this information is used to ensure that builds are performed when required. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.truesoft.com/ VisualEnabler Visual Enabler from Softlab (a subsidiary of auto maker BMW) is a software configuration management toolset for mid to large Windows development teams that build and deploy applications using Visual C++, Visual Basic and Visual J++. VE is based on object repository technology and has very tight integration to Visual C++, Visual Basic and Visual J++. VE is designed to provide all the benefits of CM in a "developer friendly" package. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.softlabna.com/. Visual SourceSafe SourceSafe provides for true project level configuration control. In 1995, SourceSafe was taken over by Microsoft and re-named. According to their sales office, Microsoft added conversion utilities from Delta and PVCS. The 4.0 release includes support for long filenames and UNC paths, a tab dialog for setting options, localization into 5 languages, a Windows95 look and feel, and tight integration into Visual Basic, Visual C, Visual Test, and Fortran PowerStation. It has a very nice model for setting up multiple versions of a project. The key commands are the share, branch, merge, links, and paths commands. Rather than using numbers to branch, such as version 2.3.6.1 in SCCS, a logical release or customer name can be used to implement the same construct. SourceSafe also runs on many platforms so it can be used for a client/server project where coding is being done on a Windows PC using Visual Basic, and on a UNIX workstation using C. It is competitively priced and easy to install and configure. The Microsoft System Journal (May, 1993) named SourceSafe as the best Windows based configuration mangement tool. The SourceSafe label command can be used to take a snapshot of the entire project, assign that version a name. The operation is rapid, even if there are 2000 programs in the project. SourceSafe integrates with VisualStudio which automates checkin/checkout of code as developers work with files. Several mid and high end defect-tracking tools integrate with SourceSafe. It has been reported that a user can access several projects at one time in SourceSafe, but that SourceSafe security is not very elaborate; it only has 4 levels of security: read-only, checkout, add, and destroy. This may be sufficient for some projects, but not for others. SourceSafe does not deal with project building (interfacing with Makefiles and compiling, for example). It also does not interface with a problem tracking tool, although that may be in the works. There have been numerous reports posted on the newsgroup of corrupted SourceSafe data repositories, particularly with large repositories or when the disk containing it begins to become full. A supplier WWW site is available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/ssafe/ MainSoft Visual SourceSafe for UNIX SourceSafe was originally written for the PC. Mainsoft used their product MainWin in concert with the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe code to produce a UNIX version of the familiar Microsoft product. This product includes a Win95-style GUI. Databases can be shared between UNIX and MS Windows platforms by using Samba. Visual SourceSafe allows project level (as opposed to file level) maintenance of software source code, testing scripts and project documents. Version 5.0 includes extensive functionality to assist web developers such as routines to test hypertext links and to upload files to live web sites. Further information on the product can be obtained either from Mainsoft Corporation (http://www.mainsoft.com) or from the European distributor OpenGate Software (http://www.opengate.co.uk/opengate/). Metrowerks Visual SourceSafe for Macintosh Metrowerks produces the Macintosh version of Visual SourceSafe. It is fully compatible with Microsoft's Windows-based Visual Source Safe. Additional information is available at http://www.metrowerks.com. Voodoo Voodoo is a version management tool for the management of projects in which files are created in numerous versions. Since Voodoo is capable of managing arbitrary files, the program can be employed for more than just the organization of software projects in a narrow sense (program development). Voodoo allows both variant and revision control, and it manages not only variants and revisions of single files, but of a whole software project (multi files, multi users, multi variants, access rights, ...). The tool offers a graphical user interface. A lite version of Voodoo is being distributed on a low cost shareware basis. The current version is available from the vendor's ftp-server at: ftp.swe.uni-linz.ac.at in /pub/voodoo The full (commercial) version of Voodoo is being distributed world-wide by UNI Software Plus. A supplier WWW site is available at http://www.unisoft.co.at/products/voodooserver.html 7. Tools Related To Configuration Management Embedded In Other Tools Many of the large and expensive case-tools have a version control mechanism embedded within them. It may be sufficient to use such a tool. Araxis Merge Araxis Merge, by Araxis, Ltd., is a visual file comparison/merging (two and three way) and folder synchronization application for MS Windows platforms. Softlab's Visual Enabler ships with Araxis Merge. Full information about the product (including a trail version) is available through their Web site at http://www.araxis.com/. DateWise FileCompare DateWise FileCompare is a patented (No. 6,236,993) file comparison system that is able to compare files with expected differences without providing detailed file specifications. For example, many compilers and linkers embed several timestamps in their binary output (e.g. Microsoft VC++). Every manufacturer of compilers and linkers place the timestamps at different locations within the files, vary formats, etc., making it impractical to try to write a comparison function for a specific file type. Those timestamps have a side effect of prohibiting CM personnel from independently verifying that modules that the programmer states have not been changed are identical to versions supplied with the last release. DateWise FileCompare will compare the files, telling the user whether they match or not (excluding any expected embedded timestamp differences) and in what value range it found in the timestamps or where the unreconcilable differences were within the file. Another example of CM usage is verifying that compiler switches have not inadvertently been changed when upgrading to a new development machine. Technical/application info may be found at http://www.datewise.com/mt. DateWise FileCompare is available as a utility for DOS/Windows, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, and MVS platforms from: DateWise, Ltd 3192 Ebonywood Ct Dublin, OH 43017 Email: info@datewise.com Tel/FAX: 614-799-2521. Merge Right Merge Right is not a full fledged version or configuration management tool, but it addresses one of the most important parts of such systems, support for management and integration of multiple versions and releases. While Merge Right does not provide check-in and check-out it is designed to work closely with other tools that do: integrations for RCS and SCCS are contributed, and integrations to Continuus/CM and Atherton Technology Software BackPlane are supported by those vendors. Integrations to other CM tools (Rational ClearCase, TeamOne TeamNet, etc.) and even custom and internal tools are easy - even if files are versioned only by different names or extensions. Merge Right is available from: Prescient Software, Inc. 3494 Yuba Avenue; San Jose, CA 95117-2967; Email: mcgregor@netcom.com tel: 408-985-1824; fax: 408-985-1936 Non-Software-Development Tools There are a number of version management tools on the market which address areas other than software development. Since these do not include the capability to "build" software, in-depth coverage was not considered FAQ. If, however, you have a project which is independent of software development, it may make more sense to consider one of those tools rather than force-fit that project into the same tool being used for software. Some examples of such tools are: * ComponentSoftware RCS (CS-RCS) by ComponentSoftware Ltd.; 5 Bar-Ilan St.; Givat Shemuel; Israel 54101; tel: +972-3-5320085; A GNU RCS compatible document revision control system for Windows 95/NT. See http://www.ComponentSoftware.com or write info@ComponentSoftware.com. * Data Management and Control Software (DMCS) by by Structural Dynamics Research Corporation (SDRC); Milford, OH; 513-576-2400 * ERA by Salinas Technology; Montreal, Canada; tel.: 514-369-4161 * Implementor by Golden Coast Software; 15932 W. State Road 84; Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33326; tel: 305-389-7848 * Integrated Document Control System (IDoCS) by Micro Engineering Solutions Inc.; Meriden, CT; tel.: 203-630-3630 * Document Management Solutions from IntraNet Solutions, Inc.; 9625 West 76th Street, Suite 150; Elden Prarie, MN 55344; tel.: 612-903-2000 or 800-989-8744 There are many other such tools. Check the appropriate industry periodicals for additional listings. _________________________________________________________________ 8. CM Tools With World Wide Web Sites As the popularity and accessibility of the World Wide Web (WWW) has grown, tool vendors and dedicated users have begun providing tool information on their WWW servers. The content may vary widely, and some will contain significant marketing information, rather than technical details. On any particular attempt, network traffic, server traffic, or server outages may prevent access to the information. All servers may not be accessible from all sites. The CM related WWW servers which have been reported to this FAQ editor are: * Vendor/Supplier WWW Servers + +1CM information from +1 Software Engineering at http://www.plus-one.com/ + AccuRev information from AccuRev Inc. at http://www.accurev.com + Aldon/CMS info from Aldon Computer Group at http://www.aldon.com/wb_cms.htm + AllChange information from Intasoft at http://www.intasoft.net + Andromede information at http://www.eslog.com + /BriefCase Toolkit from Applied Computer Sciences, inc. at http://www.applied-cs-inc.com/bcintro.html + CCC/Harvest information from Computer Associates at http://www.cai.com/products/ccm/ + ClearCase information from Rational at http://www.rational.com/ + CMVC information from IBM at http://fnctsrv0.chips.ibm.com/products/ppc/Developers/ppctool s-62.html + CMVision information from Expertware at http://www.cmvision.com/ + CMZ information from CERN at http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/cmz/ + CM Synergy information from Telelogic at http://www.telelogic.com/ + Control-CS information from Network Concepts at http://www.nci-sw.com/ + Corporate RCS information from Thompson Automation Software at http://www.tasoft.com/ + Code Co-op information at http://www.relisoft.com/co_op/ + DECset information from DEC at http://www.openvms.compaq.com/commercial/decset/decset_index. html + Disciplined Software Management info from Saint Mavris Technology at http://www.mavris.com/ + Endevor Workstation products by Computer Associates Intnl. at http://www.cai.com/products/endevor_ws.htm + FtpVC (FTP Version Control) from Gregory Nisnevich at http://www.nisnevich.com/ftpvc/ftpvc.htm + Incremental Configuration Engine (ICE) developed by The Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, which solicits user's comments; see http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/softech/ice/ for details. + MK, a configuration management and version control package at http://www.pzi.net/software.html + Software Manager information from Vertical Sky at http://www.verticalsky.com/solutions/ + Neuma Technology Corporation information at http://www.neuma.com/ + PERFORCE information from Perforce Software at http://www.perforce.com + QEF from Advanced Software Inc. at http://www.qef.com/ + Quma Version Control System (QVCS) information from Jim Voris at http://www.qumasoft.com/ + Razor - Version Control and Problem Tracking by Tower Concepts at http://www.razor.visible.com + Revision Controle Engine (RCE) by DuraSoft at http://wwwipd.ira.uka.de/~RCE/ + Product Configuration Management (PCM) by Tesseract Technologies at ftp://lia.co.za/pub/tesseract/ + PVCS by MERANT at http://www.merant.com + SABLIME by Lucent Technologies at http://www.bell-labs.com/project/sablime + Serena ChangeMan DS information from Serena Software Inc. at http://www.serena.com/product/cm_prod.html + Serena Change Man ZMF information from Serena Software, Inc. at http://www.serena.com/ + Software Configuration Library Manager (SCLM) by IBM Corp. at http://www.ibm.com/software/ad/ispf/ + SoftBench CM by Hewlett-Packard at http://hpcc998.external.hp.com:80/sesd/products/softcm/main.h tml + Source Code Manager information from UniPress Software Inc at http://www.unipress.com/cat/scm.html + StarTeam informatin from StarBase Corporation at http://www.starbase.com + TeamConnection information from IBM at http://www.software.ibm.com/ad/teamcon/ + TeamSite information from Interwoven, Inc. at http://www.interwoven.com + TLIB information from Burton System Software at http://www.burtonsys.com + TRUEchange information from True Software at http://www.truesoft.com + Turnover info by SoftLanding Systems at http://www.softlanding.com/turnover.html + Visual Enabler information from Softlab at http://www.softlabna.com + Visual SourceSafe information from Microsoft at http://msdn.microsoft.com/ssafe/ + VOODOO information from UNI Soft at http://www.unisoft.co.at/products/voodooserver.html * User Information WWW Servers + AllChange information at http://gille.loria.fr:7000/cgi-bin/cm/wilma/ccmt.817848747.ht ml + Concurrent Version System (CVS) - France at http://www.loria.fr/~molli/cvs-index.html + ShapeTools information at http://www.cs.tu-berlin.de/~shape/index.html * Consultant Information WWW Servers (Note: a listing here does not represent endorsement of one of these consultants.) + Configuration Management, Inc (CMI) at http://www.cmi-jobs.com/ + Timefold(tm) at http://www.timefold.com/ and its page of ClearCase Service Providers at http://www.timefold.com/ccspin.html Additional CM related information available on the WWW is listed in section 1.7, Where else can I look for configuration management information?, in the "General Questions" portion (a separate posting) of this FAQ. If you are aware of other WWW Servers which should be added to this list (or any which should be retired), please notify the FAQ editor. _________________________________________________________________ --------------- End Of comp.software.config-mgmt FAQ Part 2------------- (This message does not represent an official position of any company.) -- Dave Eaton FAQ editor email:dwe@arde.com User Contributions:
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