Version Control

[btaylor]

I am having trouble with tracking changes. Most times I get it right by re-naming the file in MCSP before I compile but occasionally I forget, make changes in the code and then find it no longer runs.

What I would love to see is MCSP automatically increment the file name every time it compiles.

Something like
myfile000.pbp automatically becomes myfile001.pbp when I compile. That way I can always go back to the previous version.

Yes this will eat disk space but is a small price to pay.

What are other PBP users using for Version Control?

Cheers
Brian

[Melanie]

Very simply...

aaaa-bc.bas

where 'aaaa' is the Project Code
'b' is the PCB Revision
'c' is the Software Revision

example...

9912-2F.bas - Project 9912, PCB Version 2, Software Version F.

The software ending with the highest letter of the alphabet is always the one that is used for current production burn.

Remember to document your changes in comments in your program header. In six months time you'd have forgotten what you did and why.

[picnaut]

Hi Melanie,

That's a good idea including the hardware version number in the software file name.
I include it in e-squared on the device as well.
If I need to upgrade firmware, my software checks to see if the hardware is up to date enough to allow the latest firmware upgrade.

Regards.

[btaylor]

Perhaps I was not explicit enough. I already make the very first line of all my programs a DATA statement which writes the program name and version off to EEROM. Later in my program, I always have a read block that shows the version details as a serial data stream.

What I am searching for is something that automatically increments the file name EVERY time a compile is done. Occasionally I find I make a 'minor' change, forget to update the file name or version, then find unexpected things got clobbered.

Personal discipline should mean I never make that mistake but it still happens.

I guess this is really a plea to David Barker for an enhancement to MCSP.

[mytekcontrols]

I also use MicroStudio, and would love it if it had an option to auto save numbered back-up files upon a save or re-compile. Not having this, like you said, can really mess you up if you forgot to do a manual back-up yourself (something that can bite even the most diligent person). I'll have to take a look on the net to see if there is a 3rd party back-up system that would be suitable.

[picnaut]

Hello,

If you can program a PC, there are a lot of resources on the net.
I've gathered together a number of tools that would make a 3rd party version of this very feasible. I don't have time to work on it now, but maybe in the next week or so. Basically, you could leave MCSP totally out of the loop here. The program I would write would launch when windows started and run in the background, hardly using any resources. It would look for "PBP.exe" to be run. As soon as PBP.exe closed, the program would make a copy of the .BAS (or .PBP) file and add an incremented number. A dirt simple version of this, that is tailored to one project (with an .ini file), could probably be whipped up quickly. A more complex version that monitored what files were passed to PBP.exe and was not souce file specific would involve a little more work.

Unfortunately I'm really busy from now until the New Year with work and wedding preparations. However, I am going on a business trip in mid-November. I may have some time on the plane to whip this up. Maybe even before then. I don't know.

Anybody...feel free to beat me to it.

Cheers.