SourceSafe Options Dialog Box, Local Files Tab (Explorer and Plug-in)

Specifies how Visual SourceSafe should handle files in your working folder.

Dialog Box Access

In Visual SourceSafe Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Options, then Local Files.

In Visual Studio, on the Tools menu, click Options. In the Options dialog box, select Source Control, then Plug-in Settings, and then click Advanced. See the "Plug-in Tabs for Source Control (Options Dialog Box)" topic in the Visual Studio Help.

  • Append end-of-line to all text files
    Specifies if Visual SourceSafe should append an end-of-line character when it retrieves a text file that does not already end with such a character. Some compilers require all files they compile to end in an end-of-line character. For information about how Visual SourceSafe appends this character, see EOL Initialization Variable.
  • Compare files by
    Specifies how Visual SourceSafe determines if your local copy is the latest version. Possible options are:

    Option Description

    Default

    Uses the Visual SourceSafe default, which is Checksum.

    Contents

    Compares the entire contents of your local file to the copy of the file in the database.

    Checksum

    Compares using a stored checksum. Use checksum comparison for most Visual database operations.

    Time

    Compares using date/time stamps. The method of comparison depends on the setting of the Set date/time on local files option on this tab. If that option is set to Check In, the local copy is replaced if the time of the last check-in (or add) is more recent than the local copy's modification date. If that option is set to Current or Modification, the local file is replaced if the modification time of the database file is different from that of the local file.

  • Copy keyword-expanded files into working folder
    Specifies if Visual SourceSafe should copy to the working folder any files using keyword expansion.
  • Remove local copy after Add or Check In
    Specifies if Visual SourceSafe is to automatically delete from the working folder any files that you add or check in. Automatic deletion frees disk space and ensures that you always get the most recent version when you start work on a file.
  • Remove local copy after Delete
    Specifies if Visual SourceSafe is to automatically delete from the working folder any file that you delete. Automatic deletion frees disk space.
  • Replace writable files
    Specifies the effect of file retrieval on local writable files. Possible options are:

    Option Description

    Default

    Uses the Visual SourceSafe default, which is Ask.

    Ask

    Prompts for each file that corresponds to a writable file on your local disk.

    Replace

    Replaces local writable files with those retrieved from the database.

    Skip

    Does not retrieve database files corresponding to local writable files.

    Merge

    Merges the local and database file versions.

  • Set date/time on local files
    Specifies how Visual SourceSafe sets date/time stamps for files in your working folder. Possible options are:

    Option Description

    Default

    Uses the Visual SourceSafe default, which is Current.

    Current

    Sets the date/time stamp to the current date and time when a file is retrieved. This signals the compiler that the file has just changed, and needs to be recompiled.

    Modification

    Sets the date/time stamp to the date and time when a file was last modified.

    Check In

    Sets the date/time stamp to the date and time when a file was last checked in.

  • Use read-only flag for files that are not checked out
    Specifies if Visual SourceSafe should set the read-only flag on files in your working folder when you perform certain file retrieval commands, for example, Check In or Get Latest Version. Files in the working folder that you do not have checked out are assumed to be read-only. Because you cannot modify a read-only file, that file can be easily be overwritten by another version from the Visual SourceSafe database.

    Note

    You are highly recommended to leave this option selected.

See Also

Reference

EOL Initialization Variable

Other Resources

Visual SourceSafe User Interface Reference