Windows 4GL with source code control (SCCS)

Graham@fcltd.demon.co.uk writes:
>A client of mine has a number of developers building a W4GL application 
>on PC's which will run against the VAX server.
>
>What they want to know is what is the recommended method of source code 
>control / change control.
>
>Apparently, the bit of W4GL to do this would sit on the server but 
>costs a number of K. 

I'm not sure I understand this part.  The "bit of W4GL" that does this has
already been paid for and is already sitting on the server.  You cannot develop
W4GL without connecting to an Ingres DBMS server running on some server box
(be it NT, Novell, Unix, or VMS).  It is W4GL itself that uses this DBMS server
as a repository for all the application definition, including the source code.

Change control is difficult in W4GL because as a developer you don't have any
source files to manage, which is what the source/change control managers I
have used are based on.  W4GL does give you the capability of creating separate
versions of applications and components.  These versions are actually different
copies (readonly) of the entity in question.  This allows you to go back to any
particular version of a component when the need arises.  It does not, however,
provide more traditional source code management.

One alternative I've run across is to use the exportapp facility (which comes
with the client W4GL, so it will be on the PC) to create an ASCII file 
representation of the entire application, which includes the source code.  This
ASCII file is not terribly useful for particular content, but it could be fed
to a source management system for version control.

A second alternative is to extract the source code from individual components
and feed it to a source manager.  This is a fairly cumbersome task.  In my
Cave of Wonders presentation tools submission I included a 4GL procedure that
will extract the source for a component and write it to a file.  Check the
NAIUA ftp site for this.

Neither of these options really solve the problem you stated, because in both
cases we are using the source manager to pseudo-manage the code after the fact.
CA really needs to rethink the tools and capabilities provided currently in
W4GL.  I conceptually agree with storing the entire application definition in
the database, but they certainly need to strengthen the source code management
area.

>
>Has anyone got any ideas of a better (cheaper) method of performing 
>these tasks ?
>
>Thanx in advance,
>
>Graham Parsons
>Principal Consultant
>Forest Consulting Limited
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