Using Visual SourceSafe in Microsoft Visual Studio

Visual SourceSafe is used within Visual Studio in the form of two plug-ins that are compatible with the Visual Studio IDE. These SourceSafe plug-ins run in the source control portion of the IDE, using the source control adapter package of Visual Studio. For more about Visual Studio source control, see "Source Control in Visual Studio" in the Visual Studio Help.

About the SourceSafe Plug-ins

The Visual SourceSafe plug-ins for Visual Studio are:

• SourceSafe LAN.   This plug-in has operated in earlier versions of Visual Studio. It presently provides the same basic source control functionality that it has always furnished, but is capable of using an optional LAN booster service for improved performance.

• SourceSafe Internet.   This new plug-in supports database access via Internet. It communicates with a server-side ASP.NET Web service (SourceSafe Internet service) to enable remote access to a database.

Installation of SourceSafe Plug-ins for Visual Studio

Your SourceSafe plug-ins are made available within Visual Studio when you install Visual SourceSafe and Visual Studio on your client and server machines. The plug-in LAN and Internet services must both be configured by the database administrator to enable communication with the database. See Getting Started with Visual SourceSafe in the Visual SourceSafe Help.

Files Created for SourceSafe Plug-ins for Visual Studio

When you are using one of the SourceSafe plug-ins in Visual Studio, Visual SourceSafe creates a special file called Mssccprj.scc in your working folder for your Visual Studio projects and solutions. The following table defines the possible file extensions for projects created in Visual Studio. The default file extensions are *.vbp, *.mak, and *.dsp.

• .actproj
  ACT project.

• .atp
  ACT project.

• .csproj
  C# project.

• .dbp
  Database project.

• .dmp
  Crash Dump project.

• .dsp
  Project Converter.

• .dsw
  Visual Studio Workspace.

• .etp
  Enterprise Template project.

• .exe
  EXE project.

• .hwproj
  Microsoft Help project.

• .mdmp
  Crash Dump project.

• .mdp
  Project Converter (VC 4.x).

• .sln
  Solution.

• .vbproj
  VB project.

• .vcproj
  VC project.

• .vdp
  Setup and Deployment project.

• .vdproj
  Setup and Deployment project.

• .vsmacros
  Binary based macro project.

• .vsmproj
  Unicode based macro project.

Operations Supported by the SourceSafe Plug-ins

Source control in Visual Studio provides basic functionality to support many types of source control packages, including the SourceSafe plug-ins. An example is the source control options functionality furnished in the Tools menu.

Most basic source control commands, for example, Check Out and Add to Source Control, are available in the File menu of Visual Studio, and are activated after you have chosen the SourceSafe plug-in that you want to use. Commands are enabled/disabled depending on the current selection in the project window.

The procedures that are general to source control in Visual Studio are described in the "Source Control in Visual Studio" topic in the Visual Studio Help. The SourceSafe plug-ins themselves support a number of operations by sharing functionality with standalone Visual SourceSafe, or by using a subset of that functionality with some UI elements tailored for Visual Studio source control The procedural topics included in this section are specific to the SourceSafe plug-ins.

In This Section

• How to: Add an Item to Source Control Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Includes procedures for using a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio to add an item to source control.

• How to: Check In an Item Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Tells how to use a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio to check in changes to a source-controlled item.

• How to: Check Out an Item Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Provides procedures for using a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio to check our a source-controlled item.

• How to: Compare Items Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Describes how to use a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio to compare source-controlled items.

• How to: Get an Item Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Tells how to use a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio to get a source-controlled item to your working folder.

• How to: Label an Item Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Provides a procedure for using a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio to label a source-controlled item.

• How to: Make International Settings from a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Tells how to make international settings for your team using a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio.

• How to: Pin a Version Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Provides pinning and unpinning procedures that you can use from a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio.

• How to: Roll Back to a Version Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Describes how to use a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio to roll back to a version of a source-controlled item.

• How to: Share an Item Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Tells how to share files and projects in a team environment using a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio.

• How to: Undo a Checkout Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Provides instructions for reverting a checkout from a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio.

• How to: View History Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Describes a procedure for viewing version history using a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio.

• How to: View Status Using a SourceSafe Plug-in
  Tells how to use a SourceSafe plug-in in Visual Studio to view the status of a source-controlled item.

See Also

Other Resources

Performing Basic Visual SourceSafe Tasks
Using Visual SourceSafe with Other Products