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Q140317: DOC: Visual SourceSafe Treats Binary Files Differently

Article: Q140317
Product(s): Microsoft SourceSafe
Version(s): 
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbdocerr kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500
Last Modified: 07-DEC-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows, versions 4.0, 5.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

There are four differences regarding how Visual SourceSafe treats binary files.
The Help file gives only three of them, but the "User's Guide" gives all four.

MORE INFORMATION
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How Visual SourceSafe Treats Binary Files
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There are three differences regarding how Visual SourceSafe treats binary files
that are significant.

The Help file describes only three differences for how Visual SourceSafe treats
binary files as follows:

- Internally, Visual SourceSafe's mechanisms for storing changes differs for
  text files (which have distinct lines as units of comparison) and binary
  files (which have no obvious line delimiter). That's why it is important for
  Visual SourceSafe to correctly identify the type of a file. The wrong type
  does not result in errors, but it makes Visual SourceSafe's algorithms much
  less efficient.

- Another area of difference is with respect to the Show Differences command.
  With a binary file, Visual SourceSafe stores each change as a small record of
  which bytes moved where: useful for reconstructing earlier versions, but not
  for display. Therefore, when you use the Show Differences command on a binary
  file, Visual SourceSafe can tell you if the file has changed; but it cannot
  display how the file has changed.

- The third difference occurs with end-of-line characters. With a text file,
  Visual SourceSafe automatically translates end-of-line characters between
  different operating systems; with a binary file, Visual SourceSafe never
  alters the contents of the file in any way (except for keyword expansion).

The "User's Guide," however, mentions an additional difference:

- Another difference in Visual SourceSafe's treatment of binary files compared
  with text files is that binary files cannot be merged. Therefore, multiple
  checkouts cannot be done with binary files.

REFERENCES
==========

Visual SourceSafe 4.0 Help file, "Setting the File Type: Text and Binary
Files."

Visual SourceSafe 4.0, "User's Guide," Chapter 4, Project and File Basics,
"Distinguishing Text and Binary Files" Section, "How Visual SourceSafe Treats
Binary Files" topic.

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbdocerr kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500 
Technology        : kbSSafeSearch kbAudDeveloper kbSSafe400 kbSSafe500

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