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Visual Source Safe Branch - Linked to Wrong Branch

OK... I know, I know... Visual Source Safe is terrible and I shouldn't be using it. But at this point I have no choice, my company is looking to move from it by the end of the year, but for now I have to work with what I have :(

So... I have a VSS Database with a branch representing released versions and one for the main branch...

$/
 + MyApplication
 + MyApplication4042
 + MyApplication4101
 + MyApplication4103
 + MyApplication4104
 + MyApplication4105

The problem I have is that I get the latest version of MyApplication4105, then go into Visual Studio to edit it. However when I start editing one of the files it pulls down the latest copy of that file from MyApplication branch instead, and when I make a change to a file I pulled down from the MyApplication4105 branch then book it back, it books it back to the MyApplication branch.

I've also noticed that if I have the copy of the file from MyApplication branch booked out it won't let me book out the one from MyApplication4105 branch.

Basically the Solution in MyApplication4105 branch is looking to the wrong branch for it's source control.

I'm sure I've had this problem before (possibly in the other branches of this project) and have solved it before... but I really can't find how to do it this time.

I have opened both the solution and the project files (.sln and .csproj) in notepad and tried to understand the source control parts of those and see if they are pointing to a particular branch, I've also compared them to the branches that are working correctly and can't see anything different that might be the cause.

So I know I would be better off with different source control... but while I'm stuck with this, does anyone have experience of this and know how to stop my 4105 branch being linked to the main branch.

Solution

  • I have finally worked this out.

    Confusingly...

    • In VS I right clicked and chose 'Open Folder in File Explorer' and it went to my local copy of the correct branch
    • After getting the latest version through VSS tools the classes in each project were from the correct branch
    • HOWEVER getting the latest version from VS and the view of what was already checked out was coming from the incorrect branch.

    I knew changes to the solution were checking in to the right branch, so with the full solution pulled down to my machine, I removed all the projects until the solution was empty. Then one by one I added them back.

    After doing this everything links to the correct branch!

    So somewhere (that I could not locate opening the solution/projects in notepad) the projects were mixed up which branch they had come from. Removing them from the solution and adding them back pointed them all back at the right branch.