and, for example, rebuild earlier versions of the project that required them.Permanently removes previously deleted files and projects from the VSS database.
To use the Purge command:
You must have the Destroy access right to use this command.
When you use the Delete command to delete files or projects from VSS, the deleted items are removed from VSS Explorer. However, VSS continues to store the items so that you can recover them and, for example, rebuild earlier versions of the project that required them.
To permanently delete these files from the VSS database and free up the disk space they are using use the Purge command.
When you purge a previously deleted file from a project, the file is permanently removed from the project, and cannot be recovered. Consequently, if you use the Get Latest Version command to get any version of the project that contained that file, the file can't be found. For this reason, the Purge command should be used with extreme caution: You must be confident that you will never want this file or project, or any of its earlier versions, for any reason.
Note The purpose of purging is to get rid of obsolete files and thereby free up disk space. However, the Purge command may not always have that effect. If a file is being shared by more than one project, and you purge it in one project, no disk space is freed up, because the file is still being used. Only if you purge the file in all the projects that are using it is the file permanently deleted from your VSS database.