Attribute Settings

Each project that you work on demands different tools, and different ways of using those tools. Some projects are one-person efforts. Some require what may seem like armies of people. It doesn't make sense to manage the files used in a one-person project the same way that files are managed for large, multi-developer projects.

QVCS archive attributes allow you to tailor QVCS behavior to the demands of your specific project. By using QVCS archive attributes, you can tune QVCS for a wide variety of project styles, from small, one-person efforts to large projects involving many developers.

By default, QVCS creates each QVCS archive with a reasonable set of these attributes. QVCS also lets you change which attributes are enabled and disabled by default. This gives you the flexibility to use the QVCS tools as your project demands.

For example, suppose you're working on a single-person project and you decide that you don't need to use QVCS to prevent simultaneous edits to your work files. In this circumstance, you'd likely want to disable the CHECKLOCK attribute on all your QVCS archives. You might also decide that you don't need journaling to keep a central log of the changes that are made, so you'd also disable the JOURNALFILE attribute.

Conversely, on multi-developer projects, it's likely that you'd want both these attributes enabled for all QVCS archives in your project for the added security and audit trail that they provide.

Default Attribute Settings

The initial default values for the QVCS attributes are as follows:

The QVCS Attributes tab of the Project→Edit Settings... dialog can be used to modify the default attributes for QVCS archives created within the specified project. The attributes for an archive can also be set upon creation with the Add File to Project dialog or the qput utility. After the QVCS archive exists, the project settings are not used to determine an archive's attributes. Instead, the attributes are contained within the QVCS archive itself. You can modify a specific archive's settings by using the File→Modify Archive→Attributes... menu selection.

You can view an archive's attribute settings under the "File Information" tab of the lower right pane of the window, or using the qlog command line utility.

Temporary Overrides

Certain QVCS operations can temporarily override an archive's attributes by enabling some of the advanced options or by using switches on the command line. Any changes apply only for the specific invocation of the operation and do not affect the attribute settings of the archive(s) involved. The original attributes will still apply for subsequent actions.

This table summarizes which QVCS archive attributes QVCS operations can override using advanced options.