>I am trying out Vault for version control and have never used source control before.
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>What is the best way to handle the problem that VFP forms, classes and reports change when recompiled even if the source really hasn't? I know you have to use scctext.prg, but I don't know the procedure. Assume for the time being that I will be using Vault's client and not try to integrate the VFP project manager... yet :)
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>Thank you very much,
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>Alex

Well, I haven't used Vault... but I did see great similarities between the two systems I did use, Visual SourceSafe and Perforce.

In both cases, I used the VFP Project Manager, which did a great part of the work. The following explanation assumes that the project has already been correctly registered with source control; I remember there were certain complications there, but I could not help out with details - too much time has elapsed, and the situation was different between the two systems I used.

Specifically, every time I opened a file from the Project Manager, the file was automatically checked-out (marked in the source control database, as in use, and possibly being modified, by user "Hilmar". The check-in (return latest version through the database) was semi-automatic; I had to right-click on the form (or other component) in the Project, and select the "check in" option. Then, I got a screen where I could put comments (the idea is to summarize what modifications were done in this specific version of the file - this can be seen later in the list of versions).

Using the Project has several advantages: you get a reminder to check out files as soon as soon as you open them (if you forget, you have more work later); you can see in the Project which files are checked out (and by whom), the SCX and the SCT files are automatically checked in together; and the text version of the file is generated automatically. The text version is generated with scctext.prg - I think that was the program, at least - and its main purpose is to visually compare differences. If I remember correctly, the default scctext.prg had a tendency to mix up the methods (or rather, Visual FoxPro mixed them up in the file, and scctext.prg used the same order); so somebody made a modified version that sorted the methods first, before generating the text file. But I don't remember where to find that one.

Using the Project also has a distinct disadvantage: It takes much longer to open the Project. With a few hundred components, it took me 1-2 minutes, if I remember correctly. This is obviously due to the interaction with the source control database.

Using source control WITHOUT interacting through your project is something I don't recommend; however, it should be possible. You simply have to check in and check out files with the source control client application. You lose some of the features explained above, of course, and have to do more things manually, and be careful about checking out files every time you use them.