Upgrading Plastic SCM to Firebird Server

When you install Plastic SCM on Window it will work with an embedded Firebird database. Firebird is very good in terms of performance for small teams, but sometimes you will need to upgrade to something faster, specially if you detect some operations are slow. Let's see how to do a very easy move: set up a Firebird server instead of an embedded one.

Motivation

If you see your update operation is too slow... then more often than not you're experiencing a slow backend. Sometimes it can also be due to the disk IO performance so do a quick test: go to your workspace and type:

cm update . --timer --stats --noparallel

And check the "SolveSelector" line. If it's bigger than, let's say, 3-5 seconds and your server is on the LAN... you've a perf issue!

Installing Firebird

At the time of writing this we just recommend to go for Firebird 2.1.3, so go to this page and download it: http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=files&id=engine_213. Installing it is just a matter of a few clicks.

Setting up Plastic to use a Firebird server

Really easy: stop the plastic service and then create a db.conf file on the server's directory location with the following contents:

(Remember: the entire "connection string" in a single line!!!!)

<DbConfig>
  <ProviderName>firebird</ProviderName>
  <ConnectionString>ServerType=0;User=SYSDBA;
      Password=masterkey;Database={0};Pooling=true;
      connection lifetime=60;Charset=UNICODE_FSS;
  </ConnectionString>
  <DatabasePath></DatabasePath>

</DbConfig>

Restart the Plastic server and you're done!

Method history for Subversion is here!

Simply put: right click on a C# method in Visual Studio and find its history instead the entire file history: we called it method history for SVN!!

Yes, here it is: if you’re a Visual Studio programmer using Subversion (Eclipse developers will have to wait a few more weeks…) and C# you can start using our plugin right now: it provides a new context menu command:

This command launches a window that displays the most recent revisions of the file containing the method. Then you will be able to navigate the different revisions and be able to filter the ones that contain the method and the ones where the method has been modified. It doesn’t matter how heavily you refactored your code, the plugin will locate it!

How to get it

Download the plugin here. It installs in just a few seconds and then a new menu option will show up on your context menu on Visual Studio. Testing it can’t be easier.

Action

Watch it live here:

Motivation

95% of the time you check the history of a file you’re looking for the changes you’ve done to a given method, aren’t you? Then you have to diff the files and locate the method yourself. It becomes a real nightmare if the method has been moved around in the file or if it has been heavily refactored.

We developed “method history” as part of our Plastic SCM version control system. Now we’re sharing it with Subversion users to enhance their day to day operations and also introduce them to our technology.

Send us feedback!

“Method history for Subversion” is still in beta so we really appreciate feedback through our forum (http://www.plasticscm.net).

Right now it only works for C# code, but we will be adding Visual Basic and Java support soon.

What’s next??

“Method history for Subversion” is just in its first release and only available from Visual Studio. The next steps we’re considering are:

Add support for VB and Java and later C++.

Improve current C# support (it doesn’t work for properties yet).

Improving method search (being able to track renamed methods).

Eclipse plugin.

Git support!

Note for Plastic SCM users

If you’re a Plastic SCM user (you’re using the Visual Studio plugin) and want to give a try to the SVN methodhist… contact us first because the two plugins collide and can’t be used on the same Visual Studio session (you’ve to use one, then close, then use another one). For SVN users… it doesn’t collide with ankhsvn!! :)