Branches in QVCS. Options

[Frans]

Assume I have the following revisisons on a file:
Revision 1.0 Main with one version
Revision 1.0.1.1 Branch 1 with one version
Revision 1.0.1.1.1.1
Revision 1.0.1.1.1.2 Branch 2 with 2 versions

So the design have 3 branchesL: 1.x, 1.0.1.x and 1.0.1.1.1.x
When I check out and in Revision 1.0, I get the following revisions:
Revision 1.0
Revision 1.1
Revision 1.0.1.1
Revision 1.0.1.1.1.1
Revision 1.0.1.1.1.2
This is in my opinion OK.

When I check out and in Revision 1.0.1.1, I get the following revisions:
Revision 1.0
Revision 1.1
Revision 1.0.1.1
Revision 1.0.1.2
Revision 1.0.1.2.1.1
Revision 1.0.1.2.1.2
Why are revisions 1.0.1.1.1.1/1.0.1.1.1.2 changed to 1.0.1.2.1.1/1.0.1.2.1.2? In my opinion it must be still 1.0.1.1.1.1/1.0.1.1.1.2.


With kind regards Frans.

[Jim Voris]

It's a bug. Thanks for pointing out the problem!

[Frans]

When do you expect to solve the problem in a QVCS release?

In our QVCS archives we have several branch stuctures as described above. We have labeled the 3 branches, and if we check out/in 1.0.1.1 we losse also the labels of third branche! So it is a real problem for us.

[Jim Voris]

Turns out, this is a pretty serious bug. I'm still trying to figure out the right way to fix it, and also to figure out what workarounds might be available so that you don't lose any revision data. In the meanwhile, please stay away from checking in multiple revisions on a branch that is a parent to other (deeper) branches. i.e. the step you highlighted in creating the 1.0.1.2 revision is the step that exposes the bug. Note this limitation only applies to branches -- it does not apply to the trunk.

[Jim Voris]

I have a fix coded... I want to test it a bit more to make sure I didn't break anything.

There is no easy workaround for recovering the archive files -- aside from a writing a manual utility to repair the archive files. Contact me by e-mail (jimv at qumasoft dot com) if you'd like to explore that alternative (there would be no charge). Absent a repair, the deepest branch revisions would be lost.

[Jim Voris]

The fix (in the 3.10.19 release) is now posted on the download page. Thanks again for bringing this problem to my attention.

[Frans]

Thank you for the quick response!

It works ok now until we delete a revision. For example:

Assume we have the following revisions and we check out/in 1.0.1.1, we get:
Revision 1.0
Revision 1.1 with floating label branch1
Revision 1.0.1.1
Revision 1.0.1.2 with floating label branch2
Revision 1.0.1.1.1.1 with floating label branch3

Now we delete revision 1.0.1.2. And we check out/in revision 1.0.1.1 again. Now we get the following versions:

Revision 1.0
Revision 1.1 with floating label branch1
Revision 1.0.1.1
Revision 1.0.1.1.2.1
Revision 1.0.1.1.1.1 with floating label branch3

Note that also the floating label branch2 has disappeared and it is not possible anymore to apply the same label branch2!

Note that this are no operations for normal use but we have performed these actions to verify the working of QVCS.

With kind regards Frans.

[Jim Voris]

It looks like another bug. I'm still investigating. In the meanwhile, the workaround would be to not delete branch revisions. The bug is more specific than that and is related (again) to the specific way you have created your branches.