Re: vss2cvs migration of shared files

[Manik Bafna]

Laine Stump wrote:

> Manik Bafna <address@hidden> writes:
>
> > There are files in VSS shared across projects and
> > shared between directories in the same project.
> > We are migrating from VSS to CVS.
> > What is the right strategy for migration of shared files.
> >
> > 1. Break the link and maintain as two separate files
>
> This is easiest in the short term, but a very bad idea in the long
> term, since it requires developers to maintain two copies of the same
> file.
>

Ok. Initially I will go with separate files and eventually change the
code to retain only one copy in the VSS. Also If directories are
shared across projects, I will make them shared using modules.

BTW when trying to migrate from VSS to CVS found that
it does not migrate deleted files. How to fix this problem.

Regards,
Manik

>
> > 2. Break the link and keep only one copy.
> > This will require change in build scripts and source code.
>
> This has the problem that you note, but seems to be the best approach
> for long term sanity (when combined with option (3) for entire
> directories that are shared).
>
> > 3. Is there a way where I have only one copy
> > of the file in the CVS repository and when I
> > checkout I get multiple copies of the same file
> >  (I'm not sure whether it is possible using modules).
> > Are there any implications using this method.
>
> You can share entire directories with entries in the modules file, but
> that won't work for individual files. In VSS it is possible to share a
> single file between two directories in the repository. There is no
> equivalent functionality in CVS. Some people emulate it by symlinking
> the ,v file in the repository into multiple directories, but doing so
> is begging for trouble, since CVS sets mutex locks on a per-directory
> basis to prevent multiple processes simultaneously writing to the same
> ,v file during commits and tags. Having a ,v file existent in two
> directories breaks the data model that is assumed for proper operation
> of these locks, and will eventually lead to a corrupted file.
>
> > I'm using Laine Stump's scripts for migration.
>
> You flatter me. I only put them on a web site and hack them now and
> then ;-) The scripts were originally written by Jerry Nairn.