QVCS-Enterprise 2.1.14 Release now available

I just posted the 2.1.14 release. As noted before, the 'big' feature add in this release is integrated support for merge.

Merging is useful in the concurrent edits style of version control -- where you don't lock a file, but just begin to edit it, and assume that (usually) no one else will edit the same file at the same time. If someone else does happen to edit the file, the first one to check in their changes wins -- er, I mean, the first person to check in their changes won't have to bother with a merge.... but the 2nd (or subsequent) person to checkin their changes will have to merge their edits with those of the first user before QVCS-Enterprise will allow you to check in your changes.

I've tried to make it easy to use -- but suggestions for improvement are welcome.

This is a free update for users whose license is less than 1 year old. Others with older licenses will have to purchase a license update in order to use this release.

Enjoy.

Upcoming QVCS-Enterprise release

I'm putting the finishing touches on the next QVCS-Enterprise release. The 'big' feature is added support for merging files. The build includes a non-visual merge that will silently merge the two separate edit streams into a common ancestor file and a visual merge tool that gives you finer control of the merge. The latter visual merge tool must be used if there turn out to be any collisions between the respective edits. (A collision occurs if both decendent files try to alter the same line(s) of the common ancestor file).

The build also includes change bar indicators on the visual compare tool (and the visual merge tool). The change bar shows a quick summary of where the changes in a file are located, and is pretty common in visual compare and visual merge tools.

The release date is June 30 so I'll probably have time to put in a few other minor changes.

Back from Japan

Hmmm. I don't usually go 3 months between entries here.

In any case, we're back from a 15 day vacation to Japan. Most folks don't think of Japan as a vacation destination, and we didn't either. But our daughter was completing a semester abroad program in Nagoya, and wanted to finish up her stay over there by touring the country. So we headed to Japan to see the sights, and discover.... Heated toilet seats!

We flew into Nagoya, where we spent 3 nights at the Hilton. We visited with our daughter's host family -- they were gracious enough to treat us to a genuine Japanese eating experience at a Japanese restaurant -- complete with kimono dressed waitresses, grass mat floors, cook at the table boiled beef, and food, and food, and food.

Nagoya does not really cater to the tourist, but it was a good place to recover from the 13 hour direct flight from Detroit. We went to our daughter's 'graduation' ceremony -- and understood not a word of the presentation.

From Nagoya, we took the bullet train to Kyoto. The bullet train was kinda cool. They didn't have any kind of speedometer so there was no direct way to tell how fast the train was going, but it seemed really fast. In Kyoto, we rented a small 2 bedroom apartment that was less than 100 meters from the bus stop. The bus stop was just across the street from the local grocery store. For our typical day, we'd eat breakfast at the apartment, then head out to explore the various shrines/temples that Kyoto is famous for. We'd eat lunch out, then head back to the grocery store where we'd buy our evening meal to eat-in at the apartment. The bus system in Kyoto was easy to navigate and convenient.

From Kyoto, we spent almost an entire day traveling to the Japanese Alps, where we stayed at a 'Japanese plan' hotel in Kamikochi -- they provided breakfast and dinner, and we were on our own for lunch. The mountain view from our room was excellent. I'm not a big fan of Japanese food, but the hotel's efforts were worthwhile -- I ate sushi for the first time. Japanese breakfast is quite different than western fare.... lots of fish and rice. By the 3rd day I'd grown accustomed to it, and had grown much more proficient with chop sticks. The mountains at Kamikochi are beautiful and rugged. The biggest surprise while there were the crowds. Bus load after bus load of Japanese tourists traversed the 1-hour ride up the 2-lane road to Kamikochi where they would then flood the hiking paths along the river. Imagine being in the wilderness of a Yosemite with crowds like those of a Time Square and you're getting a partial picture of what it was like. The crowds weren't really that bad, but there were many, many more people there than I expected -- especially given the challenging drive up to the base of the mountain. We were there mid-week. I'm guessing that weekends are even more crowded.

From Kamikochi, we took the train to Tokyo, where we spent 6 nights. Tokyo is a huge world class city. We stayed at a small apartment west of downtown -- it was a 15 minute train ride from the apartment to Shinjuku train station -- the busiest train station on the planet. For scale, Shinjuku has as many people go through it on a daily basis as the entire population of Baltimore, and then some.... some estimates have as many as 2 million people through that station on a daily basis. Our apartment was right next to the train station, and also right next door to a large 24-hour super market. Though small for Americans accustomed to larger digs, the apartment was very convenient and workable.

In Tokyo, we discovered a great French restaurant: Tete a Tete. I don't remember the train stop as I write this, but it was along the 'Yellow' line, which was the main train that we'd use to go from our apartment to anywhere we wanted/needed to go. The prices were cheap (around $11.00 per person) for a 3 course lunch, including dessert.

We went to a Tokyo Giants baseball game. It was an indoor stadium. Very similar to a game in the US; very family friendly. We visited Akihabara -- a shopping district for electronics that just goes on forever. We visited the National Museum -- their analog to our Smithsonian. It was big, uncluttered, and busy... We took a day trip down to see some shrines in a town south of Yokohama... and we just bopped around Tokyo.

Some cool things that would be good to export from Japan:

1. I really could get used to heated toilet seats.
2. Their trains and public transportation are generally superb. The only delay we ever experienced was the result someone committing suicide by train -- i.e. apparently getting run down by a train is a fairly popular way to commit suicide in Japan... and our trip from Kamikochi to Tokyo was delayed for an hour by one of these suicides.
3. Japanese restaurants have a nice tradition of giving each patron a wet towel before the meal in order to clean your hands.

Another astounding 'good thing' in Japan is the safety and respect for property. This isn't something that can be exported, but to American eyes, it's just amazing to see elementary school kids traveling by themselves on the train system. People park their bicycles without bothering to lock them. The US used to have a culture that provided that kind of environment, and it would be great to see it return, but it's not so simple as installing a heated toilet seat.

Things that could be improved:

1. The Japanese have a completely inscrutable way of composing addresses. On one occasion, we were trying to locate a restaurant described in one of our guide books. We took the train to the general area of the restaurant, and then used the address from the guidebook to ask the locals where to find the restaurant. No one could tell us where the restaurant could be found... we kept trying for perhaps a half hour, and had to give up. All wasn't lost because the restaurant where we ate ate instead more than satisfied... but it was just hugely frustrating to discover that the 'street' address wasn't really very useful in identifying the restaurant's location.
2. Street name signs are scarce. Some American cities also suffer from this problem. In Tokyo, you can walk up to a major intersection, and find that neither street has any kind of sign to tell you the name of the street. This adds to the difficulty in finding your way around.

Overall, I think our trip to Japan was a success. The country was much less foreign than I expected. The people were friendly, the cities were clean, unpolluted, safe, and easy to navigate using public transportation. We've now marked off 'Japan' as a place we need to visit -- it was worth doing.