Method and system for integrating an object-based application with a version control system

• US 5,897,642 A
• Filed: 07/14/1997
• Issued: 04/27/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Capossela, Chris C., Shulman, Nicholas J., Felder, Kenny M., Williamson, Peter H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lintz, Paul R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US08/892,520
• Time in Patent Office: 652 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/203, 707/103
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

A method and system for integrating an object-based application with a version control system. Selected objects of an application such as a database are converted to individual text files and written to a temporary folder. The individual text files are then exported from the temporary folder to a version control system, whereby the version control system manages the files for developers and other developers according to its capabilities. Developers can check in individual objects for revising, whereby the text file corresponding to the checked-in object is exported by the version control system to a temporary folder and the data therein converted back into data in the object. An application program interface is provided to facilitate communication between application programs and the version control program for importing and exporting the text files and exchanging other related information.

Claims

1. A method of integrating objects of an object-based application to a version control system, comprising the steps of:

providing an interface for communicating between the application and the version control system;

selecting a plurality of objects of the object-based application as objects for independent version control;

writing information representative of at least part of the data stored in each object selected for independent version control to a separate file; and

communicating the separate files to the version control system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the separate files is a text file.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of recalling each of the separate files from the version control system, and converting the data in each file including the text file into an object corresponding thereto.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein objects of the object-based application are objects selected for combined version control, and further comprising the steps of writing at least two of the objects selected for combined version control to a common file, and communicating the common file to the version control system.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the common file is a binary file.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of writing information includes the step of exporting the information to a temporary file for each selected object, and wherein the step of communicating the separate files includes the step of copying the temporary files to the version control system.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of deleting the temporary files.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein the step of selecting a plurality of objects includes the step of selecting at least one query of the database application as an object selected for independent version control.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein the step of selecting a plurality of objects includes the step of selecting at least one form of the database application as an object selected for independent version control.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein the step of selecting a plurality of objects includes the step of selecting at least one report of the database application as an object selected for independent version control.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein the step of selecting a plurality of objects includes the step of selecting at least one macro of the database application as an object selected for independent version control.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein the step of selecting a plurality of objects includes the step of selecting at least one module of the database application as an object selected for independent version control.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of comparing actual object data to default object data, and wherein the step of writing information representative of at least part of the data includes writing the data which is different from the default data into the file.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of writing information representative of at least part of the data stored in each object to a separate file includes calculating a checksum for at least one of the files and writing the checksum into the corresponding file.

15. A method of providing version control to a database application on a local machine, comprising the steps of:

selecting a plurality of database objects as objects selected for independent version control thereof;

converting the objects selected for independent version control thereof into text files;

combining other database objects into a binary file;

writing the text files and the binary file to storage of the version control system;

checking out at least one of the files in the project from the version control system via the database application;

copying the checked-out file or files from the storage of the version control system to a temporary folder on the local machine; and

converting the text files into database objects and separating the binary file into database objects.

16. A system for connecting a plurality of objects in object-based application to a version control system, comprising:

a storage for storing the objects;

means for writing information representative of at least part of the data stored in each object to a separate file for each object; and

an interface responsive to commands from the object-based application and the version control system for transferring the files between the object-based application and the version control system.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein at least one of the separate files is a text file.

18. The system of claim 17 further comprising means for recalling each of the separate files from the version control system, and means for converting the data in each file including the text file into an object corresponding thereto.

19. The system of claim 16 further comprising means for writing at least two other objects to a common file, and means for communicating the common file to the version control system.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the common file is a binary file.

21. The system of claim 16 wherein the means for writing information includes means for exporting the information to a temporary file for each object, and wherein the means for communicating the separate files includes means for copying the temporary files to the version control system.

22. The system of claim 21 further comprising means for deleting the temporary files.

23. The system of claim 16 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein at least one of the objects is a query of the database application.

24. The system of claim 16 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein at least one of the objects is a form of the database application.

25. The system of claim 16 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein at least one of the objects is a report of the database application.

26. The system of claim 16 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein at least one of the objects is a macro of the database application.

27. The system of claim 16 wherein the object-based application is a database application, and wherein at least one of the objects is a module of the database application.

28. The system of claim 16 further comprising means for comparing actual object data to default object data, and wherein the means for writing information includes means for writing the data which is different from the default data into the file.

29. The system of claim 16 further comprising means for calculating a checksum for at least one of the files, wherein the means for writing information includes means for writing the checksum into the corresponding file or files.

30. The system of claim 16 further comprising a user command input means, wherein the interface passes selected user commands received via the input means to the version control system.