INFO: SourceSafe Might Modify Some Files

ID: Q132892

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows versions 4.0, 5.0, 6.0
Microsoft SourceSafe for Windows, versions 3.04, 3.1
Microsoft SourceSafe for Windows NT, versions 3.04, 3.1
Microsoft SourceSafe for MS-DOS, versions 3.04, 3.1
Microsoft SourceSafe for Macintosh, versions 3.04, 3.1

SUMMARY

SourceSafe may modify a file you checked out or put in your local working directory. This is because SourceSafe is a multi-platform product. For text files, the end-of-line character will vary depending on the platform that you are using. One of the features of SourceSafe is that it converts these characters for you as necessary.

However, if you need the file to remain as is, this feature can produce unexpected results, errors, or problems.

The errors that may occur depend on the format of the file and the application that is accessing the file. For example, an application may produce a General Protection error in Windows, or not recognize the file format as valid.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q170750 INFO: End of Line Character Settings for Visual SourceSafe

MORE INFORMATION

SourceSafe detects binary files by looking for the ASCII value '0' (Null). This null value is only present in a binary file. Some files may not have this character, but need to be treated as binary regardless. For instance, Rich Text Format (RTF) files perform better if treated as binary rather than text files.

If a file format you are using seems to be corrupted by SourceSafe after getting it to your working directory, check the file type. You can do this in the interface by selecting Properties from the Info menu option. If the File type is Text change it to Binary.

From the command line, execute:


     ss filetype $/project/filename

This will return the current file type. To change to binary, use the command:


     ss filetype $/project/filename -b

An easy way to make sure all files with a certain extension are treated as binary is to use the Binary_Masks setting in the SRCSAFE.INI or SS.INI. For example:


     Binary_Masks = *.rtf

Make sure this setting is placed before any headers (enclosed in '[' ']' characters). This will ensure that it applies to all projects.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500 kbSSafe600 kbSSafe310 kbSSafe304
Version :
Platform :
Issue type : kbinfo