Visual SourceSafe Resources

Vision: The purpose of this page is to provide you with links to other Internet sites discussing Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 3rd party related products or source code control integration in VisualStudio.

MSDN and Knowledge Base
One of the best resources to start with when you have a problem with Visual SourceSafe is Microsoft Knowledge Base site.
Just be creative in your searches and you might discover that other users had similar problems before.
Also, don't forget to check the Home Page for Visual SourceSafe on MSDN if you need documentation or additional links.

Search engines
Have you tried already searching for your specific problem using engines like MSN Search, Google or Yahoo ? It is likely that you're not the first to encounter the issue. Searching the web you can find how other users have dealt with the situation, and perhaps find a solution.

Blogs

  • Richard Berg's blog - Richard is providing support for VSS and his blog contains status updates and interesting articles on VSS and TFS
  • SourceSafe Team's WebLog - SourceSafe team has its own blog on msdn site. Although it was not updated recently, don't forget to check it out! (you can use it to contact VSS devs)

    • Forums
    VisualStudio and SourceSafe users can also get support via on-line forums.

  • Visual Studio Source Control and SourceSafe Forum

    Newsgroups
    There are a couple of newsgroups discussing Visual SourceSafe or source control integration in VisualStudio.
    To access them, create a news account pointing to the news.microsoft.com server. Here are their names:

  • microsoft.public.sourcesafe
  • microsoft.public.visual.sourcesafe
  • microsoft.public.vsnet.vss
  • microsoft.public.vstudio.sourcesafe
  • microsoft.public.es.vsourcesafe (in Spanish)

    Product support (PSS)
    Sometimes it's better to call PSS, either for solving a new issue or obtaining a patch/QFE for a known issue. It looks like the first 2 product support calls are free; to my knowledge, if the isssue is proven to be caused by a Microsoft bug the support calls are free even after that.

  • Microsoft Product Support for SourceSafe 2005
  • Microsoft Product Support for VSS 6.0

    • Direct email
    If all the above options failed, or if you have questions that only a VSS developer might be able to answer, you can also contact Microsoft on the following aliases (on microsoft.com domain):

  • SsUser - SourceSafe Technical Assistance Forum
  • SsNetInt - Visual SourceSafe integration in VS .NET
  • VsTfDisc - Team Foundation Source Control Discussions
    Please do not abuse these aliases by e-mailing with questions on VSS/TFS/Scci usage that could otherwise be answered by reading the manual, MSDN, or getting help from user communities. Thanks!

    Books

  • Essential SourceSafe by Ted Roche and Larry C. Whipple, aka. "The VSS Bible"
  • Visual SourceSafe 2005 Software Configuration Management in Practice by Alexandru Serban

    Interfacing your program with SourceSafe

  • Microsoft Source Code Control Interface (MSSCCI)
      - Enables third party version control systems to integrate with Microsoft development tools such as Visual Studio
      - Enables VisualStudio-like Integrated Development Environments to access version control systems like Visual SourceSafe that implement this interface.
  • VSS OLE Automation interface (IVSS)
      - Allows to programmatically extend the Microsoft Visual SourceSafe version control. For documentation see next MSDN topics:
           VSS 2005 Automation Interface and Microsoft.VisualStudio.SourceSafe.Interop descrption
           VSS 6.0 Automation Interface
           VSS 5.0 Automation Interface

    Source Control Utilities

  • VSSEMS Utility - A tool for Visual SourceSafe database administrators provided by Microsoft PSS (but unsupported by Microsoft).
  • VSSDataWiz Utility - DataWiz is a tool for Visual SourceSafe 6.0 database administrators, doing more reference checking than analyze6 does. Its functionality has been integrated into VSS 2005's analyze utility.
  • MSSCCI Source Code Control Providers Switcher by Soenke Schau - runs in system tray allowing easy on-the-fly switching between MSSCCI providers installed on the machine. The application is a VC++ project and requires compile. It is no longer needed for VisualStudio .NET 2005, which includes provider switching mechanisms.
  • SSService Test - Test the connection to the RPC service used by Visual SourceSafe 2005.
  • Remove Source Control Info by Michael Carbenay - removes source control info from VisualStudio.NET 2003 solution and project files. Might be a substitute for the Unbind button from File/Source Control/Change Source Control dialog. Use it only if you experienced "Unspecified error" messages with the Change Source Control dialog. The recommended way is to use the Unbind button - please contact Microsoft if you experienced problems with it, so they can fix the bugs in next VisualStudio versions.

    Shell Extensions for Visual SourceSafe (integrate VSS commands into Windows Explorer)

  • SourceXplore (SXP) from EPocalipse Software
  • Effective SourceSafe

    Tools for accessing SourceSafe databases over Internet

  • SourceOffSite (SOS) from SourceGear - Access SourceSafe databases over the Internet
  • VssConnect from VoxCode - Provides remote SourceSafe database access across low bandwidth connections
  • VSS Remoting from Source Remoting - Remote SourceSafe database access software
  • SourceXT from Acorden - Remote SourceSafe database access software
  • VSS.net from DMB Consulting - Access SourceSafe database using web services (freeware, with source)
  • SourceAnyWhere (SAW) from DynamSoft - Cross-platform SourceSafe remote/internet access tool
  • SccBridge from Arthur Nesterovsky - Access SourceSafe database using web services (open source)
  • SourceSafe Web Interface (SSWI) from Component Workshop - Access remote Sourcesafe database from Windows or Mac clients
  • Visual SourceSafe 2005's Internet plugin - access remote VSS databases from Visual Studio or IDEs supporting MSSCCI source control providers
  • SourceSafe Client - VSS Explorer-like tool, reusing Visual SourceSafe 2005's service for server-side (Unreleased yet)
  • SourceSafe Web Explorer from Simon Mournier - Read only version demonstrating browse of VSS databases in browser

    3rd party tools for SourceSafe

  • SourceVizor - Tools improving notification, reporting, and SourceSafe administration
  • Effective SourceSafe - Explorer shell extension to operate on SourceSafe controlled files

    3rd party source control providers that integrate with VisualStudio (using MSSCCI API)

  • Team Foundation Server MSSCCI Provider for VS2005
  • GotDotNet Worspaces
  • SourceGear Vault
  • IBM Rational Clearcase
  • Perforce SCM
  • Serena ChangeMan Version Manager (Merant PVCS)
  • Borland StarTeam
  • PureCM Source Control Management
  • MKS Source Integrity Enterprise
  • Quma Version Control System (QVCS)
  • Relisoft Code Co-Op
  • WebLogic Workshop
  • ComponentSoftware RCS (CS-RCS)
  • Aigenta Unified Scc (CVS, Subversion/SVN)
  • Preston Bannister's Active CVS and the old CVSScc
  • Jalindi Igloo CVS plugin
  • TamTam CVS SCC plugin
  • PushOk CVS plugin
  • PushOk Subversion/SVN plugin
  • Subway Subversion/SVN plugin
  • ANKH Subversion/SVN plugin
  • Surround SCM
  • SourceOffSite
  • VoxCode's VssConnect
  • VSS Remoting
  • SourceXT
  • SourceAnyWhere (SAW)

    (This list is not complete and lists providers in no preferred order;
    If you developed a source control provider and want it listed here, please send me an email)

    (Back to SourceSafe and source control integration page)