# Microsoft Visual SourceSafe Tasks User Manual

by

- Craig Cottingham
- Andrew Everitt
- Balazs Fejes 2
- Glenn_Twiggs@bmc.com
- Martin Poeschl (mpoeschl@marmot.at)
- Phillip Wells
- Jon Skeet (jon.skeet@peramon.com)
- Nigel Magnay (nigel.magnay@parsec.co.uk)
- Gary S. Weaver
- Jesse Stockall

## Contents

- Introduction
- The Tasks

## Introduction

These tasks provide an interface to the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe SCM. The `org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.vss` package consists of a simple framework to support vss functionality as well as some Apache Ant tasks encapsulating frequently used vss commands. Although it is possible to use these commands on the desktop, they were primarily intended to be used by automated build systems.

If you get a CreateProcess IOError=2 when running these, it means that ss.exe was not found. Check to see if you can run it from the command line -you may need to alter your path, or set the `ssdir` property.

## The Tasks

vssget | Retrieves a copy of the specified VSS file(s).
vsslabel | Assigns a label to the specified version or current version of a file or project.
vsshistory | Shows the history of a file or project in VSS.
vsscheckin | Updates VSS with changes made to a checked out file, and unlocks the VSS master copy.
vsscheckout | Copies a file from the current project to the current folder, for the purpose of editing.
vssadd | Adds a new file into the VSS Archive
vsscp | Change the current project being used in VSS
vsscreate | Creates a project in VSS.

## Task Descriptions

## VssGet

### Description

Task to perform GET commands to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

If you specify two or more attributes from version, date and label only one will be used in the order version, date, label.

### Parameters

Attribute | Values | Required
--- | --- | ---
vsspath | SourceSafe path which specifies the project/file(s) you wish to perform the action on. | Yes
login | username[,password] - The username and password needed to get access to VSS. Note that you may need to specify both (if you have a password) - Ant/VSS will hang if you leave the password out and VSS does not accept login without a password. | No
localpath | Override the working directory and get to the specified path | No
ssdir | directory where `ss.exe` resides. By default the task expects it to be in the PATH. | No
serverPath | directory where `srcsafe.ini` resides. | No
writable | true or false; default false | No
recursive | true or false; default false. Note however that in the SourceSafe UI , there is a setting accessed via Tools/Options/GeneralTab called "Act on projects recursively". If this setting is checked, then the recursive attribute is effectively ignored, and the get will always be done recursively | No
version | a version number to get | No, only one of these allowed
date | a date stamp to get at
label | a label to get for
quiet | suppress output (off by default) | No
autoresponse | What to respond with (sets the -I option). By default, -I- is used; values of Y or N will be appended to this. | No
writablefiles | Behavior when local files are writable. Valid options are: `replace`, `skip` and `fail`; Defaults to `fail` `skip` implies `failonerror=false` | No
failonerror | Stop the buildprocess if ss.exe exits with a returncode of 100. Defaults to true | No
filetimestamp | Set the behavior for timestamps of local files. Valid options are `current`, `modified`, or `updated`. Defaults to `current`. | No

Note that only one of version, date or label should be specified

### Examples

>     <vssget localPath="C:\mysrc\myproject"
>             recursive="true"
>             label="Release1"
>             login="me,mypassword"
>             vsspath="$/source/aProject"
>             writable="true"/>

Does a get on the VSS-Project $/source/myproject using the username me and the password mypassword. It will recursively get the files which are labeled Release1 and write them to the local directory C:\mysrc\myproject. The local files will be writable.

## VssLabel

### Description

Task to perform LABEL commands to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

Assigns a label to the specified version or current version of a file or project.

### Parameters

Attribute | Values | Required
--- | --- | ---
vsspath | SourceSafe path which specifies the project/file(s) you wish to perform the action on. | Yes
login | username[,password] - The username and password needed to get access to VSS. Note that you may need to specify both (if you have a password) - Ant/VSS will hang if you leave the password out and VSS does not accept login without a password. | No
ssdir | directory where `ss.exe` resides. By default the task expects it to be in the PATH. | No
serverPath | directory where `srcsafe.ini` resides. | No
label | A label to apply to the hierarchy | Yes
version | An existing file or project version to label. By default the current version is labeled. | No
comment | The comment to use for this label. Empty or '-' for no comment. | No
autoresponse | What to respond with (sets the -I option). By default, -I- is used; values of Y or N will be appended to this. | No
failonerror | Stop the buildprocess if ss.exe exits with a returncode of 100. Defaults to true | No

### Examples

>     <vsslabel vsspath="$/source/aProject"
>               login="me,mypassword"
>               label="Release1"/>

Labels the current version of the VSS project $/source/aProject with the label Release1 using the username me and the password mypassword.

>     <vsslabel vsspath="$/source/aProject/myfile.txt"
>               version="4"
>               label="1.03.004"/>

Labels version 4 of the VSS file $/source/aProject/myfile.txt with the label 1.03.004. If this version already has a label, the operation (and the build) will fail.

## VssHistory

### Description

Task to perform HISTORY commands to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

### Parameters

Attribute | Values | Required
--- | --- | ---
vsspath | SourceSafe path which specifies the project/file(s) you wish to perform the action on. | Yes
login | username[,password] - The username and password needed to get access to VSS. Note that you may need to specify both (if you have a password) - Ant/VSS will hang if you leave the password out and VSS does not accept login without a password. | No
ssdir | directory where `ss.exe` resides. By default the task expects it to be in the PATH. | No
serverPath | directory where `srcsafe.ini` resides. | No
fromDate | Start date for comparison | See below
toDate | End date for comparison | See below
dateFormat | Format of dates in fromDate and toDate. Used when calculating dates with the numdays attribute. This string uses the formatting rules of SimpleDateFormat. Defaults to DateFormat.SHORT. | No
fromLabel | Start label for comparison | No
toLabel | Start label for comparison | No
numdays | The number of days for comparison. | See below
output | File to write the diff. | No
recursive | true or false | No
style | brief, codediff, default or nofile. The default is default. | No
user | Name the user whose changes we would like to see | No
failonerror | Stop the buildprocess if ss.exe exits with a returncode of 100. Defaults to true | No

#### Specifying the time-frame

There are different ways to specify what time-frame you wish to evaluate:

- Changes between two dates: Specify both `fromDate` and `toDate`
- Changes before a date: Specify `toDate`
- Changes after a date: Specify `fromDate`
- Changes X Days before a date: Specify `toDate` and (negative!) `numDays`
- Changes X Days after a date: Specify `fromDate` and `numDays`

### Examples

>     <vsshistory vsspath="$/myProject" recursive="true"
>                 fromLabel="Release1"
>                 toLabel="Release2"/>

Shows all changes between "Release1" and "Release2".

>     <vsshistory vsspath="$/myProject" recursive="true"
>                 fromDate="01.01.2001"
>                 toDate="31.03.2001"/>

Shows all changes between January 1st 2001 and March 31st 2001 (in Germany, date must be specified according to your locale).

>     <tstamp>
>       <format property="to.tstamp" pattern="M-d-yy;h:mma"/>
>     </tstamp>

>     <vsshistory vsspath="$/myProject" recursive="true"
>                 numDays="-14"
>                 dateFormat="M-d-yy;h:mma"
>                 toDate="${to.tstamp}"/>

Shows all changes in the 14 days before today.

## VssCheckin

### Description

Task to perform CHECKIN commands to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

### Parameters

Attribute | Values | Required
--- | --- | ---
vsspath | SourceSafe path which specifies the project/file(s) you wish to perform the action on. | Yes
login | username[,password] - The username and password needed to get access to VSS. Note that you may need to specify both (if you have a password) - Ant/VSS will hang if you leave the password out and VSS does not accept login without a password. | No
localpath | Override the working directory and get to the specified path | No
ssdir | directory where `ss.exe` resides. By default the task expects it to be in the PATH. | No
serverPath | directory where `srcsafe.ini` resides. | No
writable | true or false | No
recursive | true or false | No
comment | Comment to use for the files that where checked in. | No
autoresponse | 'Y', 'N' or empty. Specify how to reply to questions from VSS. | No
failonerror | Stop the buildprocess if ss.exe exits with a returncode of 100. Defaults to true | No

### Examples

>     <vsscheckin vsspath="$/test/test*"
>                 localpath="D:\build\"
>                 comment="Modified by automatic build"/>

Checks in the file(s) named test* in the project $/test using the local directory D:\build.

## VssCheckout

### Description

Task to perform CHECKOUT commands to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

If you specify two or more attributes from version, date and label only one will be used in the order version, date, label.

### Parameters

Attribute | Values | Required
--- | --- | ---
vsspath | SourceSafe path which specifies the project/file(s) you wish to perform the action on. | Yes
login | username[,password] - The username and password needed to get access to VSS. Note that you may need to specify both (if you have a password) - Ant/VSS will hang if you leave the password out and VSS does not accept login without a password. | No
localpath | Override the working directory and get to the specified path | No
ssdir | directory where `ss.exe` resides. By default the task expects it to be in the PATH. | No
serverPath | directory where `srcsafe.ini` resides. | No
writable | true or false | No
recursive | true or false | No
version | a version number to get | No, only one of these allowed
date | a date stamp to get at
label | a label to get for
writablefiles | Behavior when local files are writable. Valid options are: `replace`, `skip` and `fail`; Defaults to `fail` `skip` implies `failonerror=false` | No
failonerror | Stop the buildprocess if ss.exe exits with a returncode of 100. Defaults to true | No
filetimestamp | Set the behavior for timestamps of local files. Valid options are `current`, `modified`, or `updated`. Defaults to `current`. | No
getlocalcopy | Set the behavior to retrieve local copies of the files. Defaults to true. | No

### Examples

>     <vsscheckout vsspath="$/test"
>                  localpath="D:\build"
>                  recursive="true"
>                  login="me,mypass"/>

Does a recursive checkout of the project $/test to the directory D:\build.

## VssAdd

### Description

Task to perform ADD commands to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

### Parameters

Attribute | Values | Required
--- | --- | ---
localpath | Specify the local file(s) to add to VSS | Yes
login | username[,password] - The username and password needed to get access to VSS. Note that you may need to specify both (if you have a password) - Ant/VSS will hang if you leave the password out and VSS does not accept login without a password. | No
ssdir | directory where `ss.exe` resides. By default the task expects it to be in the PATH. | No
serverPath | directory where `srcsafe.ini` resides. | No
writable | true or false | No
recursive | true or false | No
comment | Comment to use for the files that where checked in. | No
autoresponse | 'Y', 'N' or empty. Specify how to reply to questions from VSS. | No
failonerror | Stop the buildprocess if ss.exe exits with a returncode of 100. Defaults to true | No

### Examples

>     <vssadd localpath="D:\build\build.00012.zip"
>                 comment="Added by automatic build"/>

Add the file named build.00012.zip into the project current working directory (see vsscp).

## VssCp

### Description

Task to perform CP (Change Project) commands to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe.

This task is typically used before a VssAdd in order to set the target project

### Parameters

Attribute | Values | Required
--- | --- | ---
vsspath | SourceSafe path which specifies the project you wish to make the current project. | Yes
login | username[,password] - The username and password needed to get access to VSS. Note that you may need to specify both (if you have a password) - Ant/VSS will hang if you leave the password out and VSS does not accept login without a password. | No
ssdir | directory where `ss.exe` resides. By default the task expects it to be in the PATH. | No
serverPath | directory where `srcsafe.ini` resides. | No
failonerror | Stop the buildprocess if ss.exe exits with a returncode of 100. Defaults to true | No

### Examples

>     <vsscp vsspath="$/Projects/ant"/>

Sets the current VSS project to $/Projects/ant.

## VssCreate

### Description

Task to perform CREATE commands to Microsoft Visual Source Safe.

Creates a new project in VSS.

### Parameters

Attribute | Values | Required
--- | --- | ---
login | username,password | No
vsspath | SourceSafe path of project to be created | Yes
ssdir | directory where `ss.exe` resides. By default the task expects it to be in the PATH. | No
quiet | suppress output (off by default) | No
failOnError | fail if there is an error creating the project (true by default) | No
autoresponse | What to respond with (sets the -I option). By default, -I- is used; values of Y or N will be appended to this. | No
comment | The comment to use for this label. Empty or '-' for no comment. | No

### Examples

>     <vsscreate vsspath="$/existingProject/newProject"/>

Creates the VSS-Project $/existingProject/newProject.