VajCvs | VisualAgeRepositoryFileSystemStories | VisualAgeRepositoryFileSystemInstallHowTo
This tool exposes the VisualAge workspace as an SMB share. Which means you can read and write your .java source code just like they are files.
OliBye is thinking of calling this tool GreeD. I don't like the Giant so much, so I'm up for suggestions. JosephPelrine suggested SLOTH or AVARICE as other possible sins. OliBye thinks AVARICE could be A Visual Age Repository Internal Code Exposer. PaulS suggests VAMACINTOSH, coz its a VA-exposer :-)
Todo
make sure that real directories are created when needed
Install Issues
Include the starla library in the solution
OliBye doesn't want to get into trouble with starlasoft. It's great free product, download it from them.
The starla library may have a time bomb in it, as mine stopped working. I downloaded another copy, and this fixed it.
The length of the jar was different, so I'm assuming it was moved on version or two. Anyway I've joined the mailing list now so hopefully I should hear about new developments. And I should post that fix to the main loop.
27th June 2001 RepositoryTree? edition oib 0.1.92 available
Fixes saving bugs, makes the code (not tests) runable in VAJ 3.02 (Tested on linux)
Includes the SOAP stuff (downloads xerces and SOAP from apache.org)
But I'm too drunk to explain how to use that at the moment (PS it's not very fast either). I'm now thinking NFS might be the way forward.
16th June 2001
OliBye wrote something so he can run the server on linux, and access the VAJ repository of windows via SOAP
But I can't get the JLANServer running on linux. Getting a new version of the jlansrv.jar fixed this.
OliBye is back porting to Java1?.1 so TimM can run the tool. And Oli can debug the linux server part with VisualAge on linux :-)
26th May 2001 Solution 0.1.5 Available
Post XP2001, we had a lot of fun, I got a lot of help.
Thanks to Nathaniel from Role model software
File writing is now working, but I've got to fix renaming before tools are useful.
Also need to fix it so that cascade directories are created on demand
Need to fix the "Default" package too!
Oh yeah also I need to have a look at how the remote access to the repository API works. I've got a tool that'll sit in the middle of an HTTP conversation and tell me what's going on. I'll use that whilst using the external source code integration to see how things tick. Then I can run GREED as a server.
17th May 2001 Solution 0.1.4 Available
You need to use the patched JLAN driver included in the solution, download the server from the above URL.
Many little SMB gotcha's fixed
Writing works but writes currently cascade through to the file system named in the context on the end of the driver command in the SMB server config. The next version will intercept .java files and write them into the repository (there are some gotcha's there).
I switched to testing with NTCVS instead of WinCVS? as WinCVS? does lots of extra things which make bug tracing hard.
I'm still having problems getting an NT machine inside a domain to be a client of a machine in a workgroup, but can avoid this situation, so I'm going to give up trying to resolove it.
28th April 2001 0.1.2 Available
Browseable as a SMB Share from the command line, and explorer.
Make sure the oter machine is in the same workgroup, or only the command line can read files, I've no idea why this happens and don't care very much either.
You may also have problems if the browsing machine is NT4 as it won't backdown to clear text authentication, unless you tweak the registry. See the samba.org site for details (link to be found!)
Readonly
To share using this server NetBIOS? needs to be disabled, therefore you can't browse the repository on the machine you're sharing it from, as when you shut down the win32 file sharing it shuts down both server and client (Doh).
25 April 2001 Huge potential breakthrough
www.starlasoft.com/jlansrv/ is a pure Java SMB server with the ability to write your own disk access drivers starlasoft.com/jlansrv/DiskAdapter.html
This means I could run an SMB server inside VisualAge and simply implement the DiskInterface? to access the repository.
It also means there is a secure authentication system
OliBye was finding VajCvs harder than he thought it should have been.
The VisualAgeRepository? API is annoying, it's given me idea's to bury it in a facade.
The javacvs library was really based around files and in the end checking out was definately bound to files. The code was getting ugly with lots of files and paths everywhere.
Along the way I had the idea of exposing the repository as a file system. It would appear to other programs e.g. WinCVS? or your favourite editor that the source (.java) files existed in a directory.
Here are some possible implementations.
A process written in Java and running inside visual age exposes a file system API
The API could be exposed via SOAP.
Eventually to use XFS www.xmethods.com/detail.html?id=13
A middle ware process running which behaves like a filesystem but get's it's information via SOAP from the visual age repository.
It could be a linux file system which could be shared using Samba
VisualAgeRepositoryFileSystem