KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q133017: PRB: Branching Files in SourceSafe Causes Lost Disk Space

Article: Q133017
Product(s): Microsoft SourceSafe
Version(s): 
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500 kbSSafe600 kbSSafe310 kbSSafe304
Last Modified: 04-MAY-2001

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 16-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
- Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0 
- 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 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SYMPTOMS
========

Destroying projects and/or files from SourceSafe does not free disk space in
SS\DATA subdirectories.

CAUSE
=====

Once a file is branched in SourceSafe, there are four associated files that are
not deleted from the disk at this point. The reason this occurs is so the
reference between the branch and original file is maintained. There is no way to
undo this behavior after the branching has occurred.

RESOLUTION
==========

Use the branching sparingly.

One common practice is to use share and branch to perform a file copy. A better
alternative is to share the file or project and destroy the old copy. This
preserves the history and allow disk space to be recovered at a later time.

When the history is not needed, get the desired version to a disk location and
add the files to the desired project. This gets a clean copy and preserves the
ability to recover the disk space at a later time.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500 kbSSafe600 kbSSafe310 kbSSafe304 
Technology        : kbHWMAC kbOSMAC kbSSafeSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword2 kbZNotKeyword3 kbSSafe304 kbSSafe304DOS kbSSafe310 kbSSafe310DOS kbSSafe304Mac kbSSafe310Mac kbSSafe600 kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500 kbSSafe16bitSearch kbSSafe32bitSearch kbSSafe304NT kbSSafe310NT
Issue type        : kbprb

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.