Chat User |
Message |
jkaster |
Welcome to today's moderated chat on TeamSource! Your moderators for today's event are John Kaster and David Intersimone. You may now begin to ask questions of the speakers using /ask from your chat command line. |
jkaster |
This auditorium is currently quiet. Chat has been disabled to keep the noise down. You will not be able to see other users also logged into this auditorium. To ask a question, type /ask and then type in your question. |
jkaster |
Present at today's Delphi chat on TeamSource are: Allen Bauer - R&D Manager, Dave Scofield - R&D Engineer, David Intersimone - VP Developer Relations, and John Kaster - Senior Developer Relations Manager. |
davidi |
Before we start with the chat, our lawyers ask us to post the following message: "Forward-looking statements, if any, made during this online discussion, including, but not limited to those concerning Inprise's future financial performance, product availability dates, and the potential features of or benefits to be derived from the company's products, will involve a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual events or results may differ materially. "Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, among others, the following: difficulties in integrating the operations and technology of Visigenic Software or other companies or technologies which the company may acquire, possible disruptive effects of organizational or personnel changes, shifts in customer demand, market acceptance of the companys new or enhanced products, delays in scheduled product availability dates, actions or announcements by competitors, software errors, general business conditions, and market growth rates in the client/server and Internet software markets, and other factors described in the companys S.E.C. reports on forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, and the Inprise. . ." |
whoopdedoo |
What is TeamSource? |
dscofield |
TeamSource is a new way to do version control - it promotes free editing of source content (without pre-locking files). It's also smart about helping you view file differences, and suggesting which files need to be checked in, or updated locally. |
whoopdedoo |
Why did you create TeamSource? |
dscofield |
TeamSource began life as an internal tool, to simplify the way the Delphi team did version control. Eventually it matured to the point where we thought it would also be useful to our customers, thus the TeamSource product you see today. |
whoopdedoo |
Do I need other software to use TeamSource? |
abauer |
No. TeamSource comes ready to run using our own version controller based on the ZLib compression library. However it does come with an extension that will work with Merant's PVCS product as shipped in previous versions of Delphi. There are also several third-parties creating TeamSource extensions for other version control systems. |
whoopdedoo |
How can I get TeamSource if I don't have Delphi Enterprise? |
dscofield |
Visit http://shop.borland.com |
whoopdedoo |
Does TeamSource integrate with other source code control systems? |
abauer |
Yes. See my previous answer for details. |
whoopdedoo |
Does TeamSource only work with Delphi or can I use it with other products? |
dscofield |
You can use TeamSource to manage any type of project - not just Delphi projects, and not just source code projects. It does, however, have some built-in smarts about how to handle DFM files (we wanted to be good to our existing customers :) |
whoopdedoo |
What are TeamSource extensions? |
dscofield |
Extensions allow you to provide your own version control storage systems. We ship with ZLib and PVCS, as Allen said, but we also make it quite easy to write your own. |
whoopdedoo |
What are your future plans for TeamSource? |
dscofield |
One big aim will be to enable internet-connected developers to work together - without dial up networking, etc. There are some other features we're evaluating as well, but internet enabling will be a large focus. |
whoopdedoo |
How do users work together on a network with TeamSource? |
dscofield |
TeamSource is aimed squarely at teams, so everything is optimized for that type of environment. Currently, your team members just need to have access to a shared network resource. |
whoopdedoo |
Shawn Oster in the newsgroup asked "How is TeamSource integrated in the Delphi ?" |
abauer |
TeamSource provides a "comment server" key binding enhancement that allows the programmer to enter comments about the current file being edited. Then when the file needs to be checked-in, those comments will automatically be associated with that file. |
whoopdedoo |
Does TeamSource work on all networks? |
dscofield |
TeamSource will work on any Windows-compatible network. |
whoopdedoo |
Are there any limits to the number of team members that TeamSource can support? |
dscofield |
Technically, there are no limits. |
sysrpl |
Is this where the 10AM PST chat is going to happen? |
jkaster |
Yes. We did server maintenance last night and the chat port was closed. It took us a while to determine the problem and get it open again. Sorry about that. |
MiniMe |
Is there a chance to have a Web based TeamSource? |
dscofield |
Enabling internet-connected developers is a large part of our vision of the future of TeamSource. |
Jeremiah |
Are questions being asked and answered? I don't see any on my screen. |
jkaster |
Hopefully you can see this now. |
whoopdedoo |
Asked on the newsgroup "How do you merge files with TeamSource?" |
abauer |
Teamsource relies on the interface to the version control system to provide auto-merge functionality. For example the PVCS extension provides auto-merging. The included ZLib version controller does not. However, the built-in visual difference window does provide a simple manual merge mechanism that will help supplant an extension if is is not available. |
Jeremiah |
Can you explain the comments server in a little more detail? |
dscofield |
A comment server is basically a way to log change comments about files you're editing *as* you make the changes. Then, TeamSource can automatically pick up those comments when it's time to check in. |
whoopdedoo |
From the newsgroup "What is the difference between the serial and parallel development model?" |
jkaster |
The parallel development model allows multiple team members to edit the same file. Serial development only allows one team member to edit a source file at a time. In the event of changes to the same routine, you can manually do the file merge. Otherwise, most merges can be done automatically. |
GNiessen |
Is there a way to interface to TeamSource through a web interface for remote developers? |
dscofield |
Currently, that'd take some coding on your part, with server extensions, etc. But Internet enabling is where we're headed in TeamSource itself. |
sysrpl |
Will team source be extensible through a set of interfaces like Delphi open tools API? |
abauer |
Yes. TeamSource was built from the ground-up to be version controller agnostic. In fact TeamSource comes with the complete source code for the ZLib version controller. In the future, TeamSource will be even more extensible. |
sysrpl |
What features and benefits will TeamSource provide beyond those already found in Microsoft Visual Source Safe? |
dscofield |
VSS is a great product, no doubt. TeamSource is different in that we promote the parallel dev model (you don't have to lock a file before editing it), and we're also strong on being able to intelligently suggest what actions you should take on any given file at any given time. |
MiniMe |
Follow-up to the question about Web based TeamSource: Can you then tell more about your vision? |
abauer |
We currently have a lot of ideas that are not in a form to convey at this time, however we are keenly interested in hearing what things you'd like to see TeamSource support. We regularly lurk in the borland.public.teamsource newsgroup, so any conversations about the future direction of TeamSource will be seen. |
GNiessen |
Is Visual Source Safe supported? |
dscofield |
Not at this time. However, we're always interested in expanding our support for controllers, so it's definitely something we're looking at. Unless someone else would like to do it ... :) |
davidi |
We're ready for more questions - so ask away |
overcash |
Is Borland working with version control vendors like StarTeam to encourage them to write Teamsource drivers? |
jkaster |
We've made initial contacts. Of course we'd like to work with other version control vendors to realize the vision of TeamSource. It was designed from the start to support multiple VCS backends. |
chesik |
Does TeamSource provide any integration with defect tracking systems so you can relate specific checkins to specific defects. |
dscofield |
Both defect tracking and internet-enabling are primary focuses for the future of TeamSource. |
sysrpl |
When will TeamSource for Linux be released =) ? |
dscofield |
Sometime after Delphi for Linux is released :) |
GNiessen |
What kind of orientation do you give new Borland Developers on using TeamSource? |
jkaster |
From Robert Kozak (freshest R&D blood): Within a few minutes of entering my office, I managed to set up my development project and I was working on it within minutes. One of the best features is the automatic merging. Parallel development is a different mindset, but once you start working with it it really starts to make sense. |
whoopdedoo |
Is TeamSource more a workflow management system or a source code control system? or both? |
dscofield |
TeamSource is a workflow model placed on top of a source control system. The source code controller handles storage of archives, and TeamSource itself handles presenting you the syncronization information. |
whoopdedoo |
Does it make sense for a lone developer to use TeamSource? |
jkaster |
Yes, it does. Even when you're the only developer on a project, it is very useful for tracking the changes to the application and versioning it. |
overcash |
What resources other than the source to the ZLib driver are there to help out the user community to write tsx extensions. Additionally has Borland thought about putting together a white paper on the proper construction of tsx extensions? Finally , has Borland thought about 'sponsering' something simular to JEDI to have the community write extensions that can get rolled into Teamsource if they meet Borland's criteria? |
dscofield |
There's source also for ICopier, and the default comment server - I hope! But yes, more information, as in white papers and examples, are great ideas. Partnering on extensions is also a great idea, and we're defintiely open to that. |
MiniMe |
Is there a chance to have TeamSource track my changes when I work in Delphi, and inform me that it would time to save it, because I have arrived at my defined limit of XX% changes in a particular file. The whole idea is to make as automatic as possibl |
dscofield |
Interesting though - but theres nothing on the todo list like that yet. Bring this up in the TeamSource newsgroup and let's see if we can generate some more interest in a feature like this. |
JSchwarze |
Is there a localized and seperate version of TS for D5 Pro ? |
jkaster |
TeamSource is available for purchase separately at shop.borland.com. It doesn't even require one of our development tools to be used. Which localization are you interested in? |
whoopdedoo |
are there any products like Team Source or is it one-of-a-kind? |
dscofield |
On Windows-based systems, our UI and presentation of information is unique, as far as I know. There are some products on other platforms that are somewhat similar. |
jons_71 |
Why Borland issue new Delphi versions so often? |
jkaster |
Because our development community asks for it. As long as we have a high quality product like Delphi 5, we make them very happy with our aggressive release schedule. |
sysrpl |
Just curious here, but what development enviroment do you use to create a tools like TeamSource? Delphi? C++Builder? What percentage of each? |
abauer |
Delphi of course... |
MiniMe |
Will we have the option to assign a tracking of a project from within Delphi via options, e.g. for each new project, TeamSource would set all the things for me. |
dscofield |
I'm not a big fan of things automatically happening when you do stuff in Delphi (e.g. New Project, File Save, etc) since there are so many cases when that wouldn't be what you'd really want. But, this level of integration with IDE is the kind of thing we're interested in persuing. Please keep the suggestions coming! |
whoopdedoo |
When would I not use TeamSource? |
dscofield |
It's like flossing - you don't have to floss *all* your teeth - just the ones you want to keep. |
jons_71 |
Are The TeamSource thinking about the Idea "Developing Application under Internet Using Delphi Developer Studio"? |
abauer |
Enabling TeamSource for team development over the Internet is a one of the primary directions we intend to take it. |
JSchwarze |
Is there a localized (german) version of TS ? |
jkaster |
There is a german localized version for Delphi Enterprise. There is not currently an upsell for it. If you need it, please follow up with local sales. |
jkaster |
I was able to find out after the chat that there is indeed a German upsell, and a French localized version as well that is not currently available as an upsell. If you need it, please let your local sales know. |
whoopdedoo |
is source code available for TeamSource? |
dscofield |
The source for TeamSource itself is not available, but we provide the source for a couple of sample TSX's (extensions), as well as several utilities. |
jkaster |
Thank you for joining us today! Asking questions has been disabled. The auditorium will be unhushed shortly so you can all chat. |
