MS (still) doesn't get source control
Friday, April 18, 2008 at 12:23PM I've just read this on Ayende's blog and I'm baffled! I've spent quite some time with SSIS, and the most frustrating part is the complete lack of 'support' for storing the .dtsx files in a source control system (like subversion). At first glance, everything seems to be ok, as the dtsx files are actually just xml (and thus text) which should be diff'able. However, in practice, it's a nightmare: every time the file is changed (however small the change you made), a large part of the contents changes and even worse: the changes are clearly not local as they occur all over the place! To make it even better, someone at MS decided it was probably a good idea to store both the 'code' (control/data flow logic, ...) and the visual representation in the same file! Now even just moving a box 1 pixel messes up the complete file. And no, the traditional (MS) answer that you should do a reserved checkout simply doesn't work for 2 reasons
1/ having used the 'edit-merge-commit' pattern most of my professional life, I just *refuse* to go back to a checkout-edit-checkin way of working (for one project, I was forced to use VSS, and, to say it nicely, I didn't enjoy it). This is 2008 you know?!
2/ What about branches and merging? Nope, thought so!
I just cannot imagine that they do not have 'decent support for teamwork' as one of their top (non-functional) requirements!! Even the best product (and SSIS clearly is not, IMHO) would be close to useless if it didn't support this!
Reader Comments (5)
Do I notice some frustration here? :p
I would like to add
3/ What about diff'ing two versions? -> print out and use fluo markers :)
if this is the most frustrating thing about ssis. then we need to have a chat, we all know there are literally hundereds of features (I call them bugs) in ssis 2005.
Да,aleks,побороть лень, действительно иногда очень сложно..
прочитал с большим интересом — очень очень понравилось
Даже и не докопаешься.