When it comes to software configuration management (SCM), .NET developers have a wide array of choices ranging from free, open-source solutions to expensive, proprietary products. Choosing the right tool for the job can make the difference between hitting project milestones in a timely manner and slipping far past the intended ship date. Most SCM solutions differentiate themselves with exclusive features such as robust, scalable distributed capabilities and highly secure change management triggers. Specifically for .NET programmers, one key ingredient in whatever product is selected is its tight integration with the Visual Studio environment. Additionally, such integration must work seamlessly by making the check-in/check-out, merge, diff, and branching functions as intuitive as the standard Save As file option. Finally, such a product shouldn't get in the way of a developer's productivity by saddling the developer with unnecessary modal dialogs, menus, and nonstandard workflows. PureCM (www.purecm.com) is a cross-platform SCM solution that meets many of these criteria.
Features
PureCM is sold in two editions, Standard and Professional. The Standard edition supports server-centric tracked revisions, fast client file distribution via compression, atomic commits, CVS/SVN–style copy-modify-merge and rollback functions, pre/post commit triggers for autonomous workflow scripting needs, private multiuser workspaces for better code isolation, a three-way merge tool to resolve code conflicts, granular ACL-based user/group management with built-in Windows Active Directory (AD) support, and integration with Visual Studio, Eclipse, and some third-party products.
The Professional edition adds automated merging between streams (aka branches) for facilitated parallel development, caching servers for distributed teams, and most importantly, an integrated issue tracking and reporting solution. Although PureCM's issue tracking capabilities aren't as extensive as other commercial dedicated issue tracking products, the tight integration with PureCM-managed code streams adds a valuable amount of efficiency to problem identification, code assignment, and issue resolution. Likewise, the reporting module is straightforward and contains the most pertinent information most project managers and developers need when assessing a project's state in the overall application life cycle. For additional comparisons between the Standard and Professional editions, go to PureCM's comparison page, at www.purecm.com/compare_editions.php.
Installation and Use
Because PureCM is a client/server-based SCM solution, the installation is a two-phase process to install each component. The server installation is painless and can be done on the same machine as the client. This configuration is useful for testing or evaluation purposes. Client deployment is just as easy; the setup process automatically installs and configures Visual Studio integration if the IDE is already installed on the client machine. PureCM's Visual Studio integration, which Figure 1 shows, provides effortless source-control functionality within the IDE.
