INFO: VSS Integration With MS Word and MS Excel

• Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

SUMMARY

Visual SourceSafe for Windows can be integrated with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. The self-extracting file containing the utility can be downloaded from the Free Downloads area at http://www.microsoft.com/ssafe.

MORE INFORMATION

This utility is manufactured by Baarns Consulting, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

These are the main points from the Readme.txt file associated with the utility.

REQUIREMENTS:

* Microsoft Windows '95 or Windows NT * Microsoft Word 7.0 (Word '95): required for Word integration * Microsoft Excel 7.0 (Excel '95): required for Excel integration * Microsoft Visual SourceSafe 4.0

Any user of this integration must be fully licensed to use Microsoft Word, Excel and Visual SourceSafe.

BASIC USE

NOTE: The following instructions are given for Microsoft Word, simply as an example. The instructions for Excel are identical, except as noted.)

Once you have installed the integration, run Word, and you will see a new top-level menu: "SourceSafe."

Note: all commands in this menu operate on the *currently open* document.

• "Add to SourceSafe" is used when your current document is not in Visual SourceSafe at all.
• "Check Out" gives you a writable copy of the document to edit.
• "Check In" puts your newly changed file back into Visual SourceSafe.
• "Undo Check Out" ends your checkout and voids all your changes.
• "Get Latest Version" (equivalent to "Get" in the Visual SourceSafe Explorer) gives you the most recent version of the file.
• "Show Differences" compares your current copy of the document, against the most recent document in Visual SourceSafe. After you execute this command, Word revision marks are used to highlight every change you have made. To clear the revision marks, click "Revisions" on the Tools menu, and click "Accept All."

ADVANCED NOTES:

SourceSafe Project

Your document will be added to the "$/My Documents" project in Visual SourceSafe. You can then run the Visual SourceSafe Explorer and drag the file to any other project, or projects, that it should be a part of.

Working Directory

The Word add-in always works on a file in the directory that the file is in. For instance, if you open C:\DOCS\SPEC.DOC and then check it out, Word will check the file out to C:\DOCS.

Once you have started using this add-in, it is not generally recommended to check Word documents out from the Visual SourceSafe Explorer. If you must use the SourceSafe Explorer, make sure to check your working directory before performing any operations on these documents.

Login

If you are prompted to log in every time you execute a SourceSafe command, there are several ways to avoid the prompt.

1. Make your Visual SourceSafe name the same as your Windows login name. This is always recommended, and will avoid any login prompt.

2. Edit your Autoexec.bat to contain the following lines:

         Set SSUSER=<your SourceSafe login name>
         Set SSPWD=<your SourceSafe password>
   

3. Edit the Word macros so that each command-line call to Sswcl.exe adds the following command-line parameter:

         -Y<Your SourceSafe login name>,<Your SourceSafe password>