Dealing with binaries

[Chuck Esterbrook <Ch...@yahoo.com>]

I like the edit-and-merge approach for text files, but for most binaries, there is no sensible way to merge content. I also know that "locking" or "exclusive checkout" is in development right now. But I'm wondering how people are dealing with binary files *now*? In other words, how do you avoid colliding with other teammates?

Maybe there is a technical hack for this or maybe there is just a set of usage conventions that help. Our development team is small so even an imperfect solution might work well enough.

-Chuck


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Re: Dealing with binaries

[Shawn Harrison <ha...@tbc.net>]

> Chuck Esterbrook wrote:
> 
>> I like the edit-and-merge approach for text files, but for most
>> binaries, there is no sensible way to merge content. I also know that
>> "locking" or "exclusive checkout" is in development right now. But
>> I'm wondering how people are dealing with binary files *now*? In
>> other words, how do you avoid colliding with other teammates?
>>
>> Maybe there is a technical hack for this or maybe there is just a set
>> of usage conventions that help. Our development team is small so even
>> an imperfect solution might work well enough.
>>
>> -Chuck

I have my editing team working with a Subversion repository full of 
Microsoft Word files. So, I've implemented a little Word add-in that 
implements advisory locking. When you 'lock' a file, the script creates 
a file named "filename.doc.LOCK" and commits it to the repository. If 
someone else tries to do the same, he'll get a message saying "Already 
locked by JoeEditor at timestamp". As long as everyone uses the client 
and standard procedures (e.g., update before trying to lock & edit), 
there are no conflicts. In six months with six editors making about 700 
revisions working independently, we've had only one conflict -- which 
probably says as much about the people as the procedure. ;->

You could do much the same in your toolset: create a set of client 
wrappers around the standard tools. As long as everyone uses the client 
wrappers, you'll probably have no problem. If you happen to be using 
Microsoft Word 2002 to edit Word documents, I'd be happy to mail you my 
add-in.

You'll also want to set svn:mime-type for each file type (e.g., *.doc, 
*.pdf, *.aif, whatever) in your auto-props, to keep Subversion from 
automatically merging binary files, which results in a mess.

N.B. Large Adobe and Microsoft files don't seem to deltify very well, 
which quickly makes for a large repository....
-- 
________________
harrison@tbc.net

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Re: Dealing with binaries

[Hakan Koseoglu <ha...@gmail.com>]

> "Hey, dude, are you working on that file?"
> "No."
> "OK, I'm going to work on it."
That doesn't work across continents, timezones, cities, buildings and
even in some cases across desks. :)

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Re: Dealing with binaries

[Chuck Esterbrook <Ch...@yahoo.com>]

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 11:49:57 -0500, Brian Mathis wrote:
> Chuck Esterbrook wrote:
>> I like the edit-and-merge approach for text files, but for most
>> binaries, there is no sensible way to merge content. I also know
>> that "locking" or "exclusive checkout" is in development right
>> now. But I'm wondering how people are dealing with binary files *
>> now*? In other words, how do you avoid colliding with other
>> teammates?
>>
>> Maybe there is a technical hack for this or maybe there is just a
>> set of usage conventions that help. Our development team is small
>> so even an imperfect solution might work well enough.
>>
>> -Chuck
>>
>
> "Hey, dude, are you working on that file?"
>
> "No."
>
> "OK, I'm going to work on it."

That breaks down pretty easily:
- Dude isn't around, then comes back to his desk and starts working on the file without checking his email.
- Or dude forgets.
- Or there are too many dudes.
- Or there are too many notices to keep track of.

Version control was supposed to solve all those problems.

In any case, you answered my question of how people are dealing with binary files now. Thanks,
-Chuck


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Re: Dealing with binaries

[Brian Mathis <bm...@directedge.com>]

Chuck Esterbrook wrote:
> I like the edit-and-merge approach for text files, but for most
> binaries, there is no sensible way to merge content. I also know that
> "locking" or "exclusive checkout" is in development right now. But
> I'm wondering how people are dealing with binary files *now*? In
> other words, how do you avoid colliding with other teammates?
> 
> Maybe there is a technical hack for this or maybe there is just a set
> of usage conventions that help. Our development team is small so even
> an imperfect solution might work well enough.
> 
> -Chuck

"Hey, dude, are you working on that file?"

"No."

"OK, I'm going to work on it."

-- 
Brian Mathis

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