CVS support within Application Developer
RAD v7.5 provides a fully integrated CVS client, the main features of which are demonstrated throughout this chapter. At the highest level, there are two perspectives in Application Developer that are important when working with CVS:
| CVS Repository Exploring perspective-Provides an interface for creating new links to a repository, browsing the content of the repository, and checking out content (files, folders, projects) to the workspace.
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| Team Synchronizing perspective-Provides an interface for synchronizing code on the workspace with code in a repository. The perspective is also used by other version control systems, including IBM Rational ClearCase.
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In addition to these two perspectives, there are numerous menu options, context menu options, and other features throughout Application Developer to help users work with a CVS repository.
RAD v7.5 supports four authentication protocols when establishing a connection to a CVS server:
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| pserver (password server)-This is the simplest but least secure communication method. Using this mechanism the user name and password is passed to the CVS server using a defined protocol. The downside is that the password is transmitted in clear text over the network, making it vulnerable to network sniffing tools.
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| ext (external)-This method allows the user to specify an external program to connect to the repository. On the preferences page Window Æ Preferences Æ Team Æ CVS Æ Ext Connection Method, a user can specify the local application to run, to send commands to the CVS server and the parameters to pass to it. Each CVS operation performed is then done through this executable, and passwords are encrypted using whatever mechanism the executable uses. Generally this mechanism requires shell accounts on the server machine so that the clients can make use the remote shell applications.
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| extssh (external program using secure shell)-This method is similar to the ext method shown before, but uses a built-in SSH (secure shell) client supplied with Application Developer to perform encryption. The preferences page Window Æ Preferences Æ General Æ Network Connections Æ SSH2 provides a set of options for configuring the ssh security including the ssh application path and some private keys.
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| pserverssh2 (password server using secure shell)-This method uses the pserver mechanism of storing the users and passwords within the CVS server as shown before, but uses ssh encryption (as configured in the SSH2 connection method preferences page) to communicate the user and password information to the server.
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For more information about these configurations, refer to the CVS home page and Application Developer help. The option pserver is the easiest to configure and is used in the example in this chapter.