Source code control (SCC) has become a "hot topic" lately, especially after PowerBuilder 8.0 was released, as it contains a wholesale revision to its interface with third-party SCC tools.

PB8 now leverages the full functionality of Microsoft's SCC API, and is much more tightly integrated with the SCC repository. There are now over a dozen commercially available SCC tools that implement the SCC API, and choosing the appropriate tool for your organization is not a trivial task. The scope, features, and functions of these tools range from the "bare bones" approach of the open-source CVS (www.cvshome.org) to the full-fledged change management methodology supported by Rational Software's ClearCase (www.rational.com).

StarTeam is a flexible, feature-rich SCC environment that should be on any organization's short list when evaluating tools in this category. Version 5.2 is almost ready for release, and should be available by the time this issue goes to press. A brief list of the enhancements planned for version 5.2 is included at the end of this article.

Starbase has an extensive product catalog - almost too extensive! The optional components and add-ons range from a requirements publishing module to an open API into their repository. The number of possible combinations and configurations make it difficult to assess the exact set of features that best "fit" an organization. Starbase would do well to try and consolidate this broad catalog into a more consistent and understandable message. This review focuses specifically on the core source code and version control features. For more details on the other available products and options, visit Starbase's Web site.

StarTeam Features and Functions
StarTeam 5.1 consists of five basic modules integrated into a single underlying repository that can be accessed from a variety of different client interfaces. These modules support the full software development life cycle. The workflow and process management can be used "out of the box," or specifically tailored for an organization's needs through the use of an open API and customizable forms.

1.   Requirements Management
The Requirements Management component is installed as part of the StarTeam "Elite" option. It can be operated in tight integration with Starbase's CaliberRM requirements publishing product or as a standalone module. Requirements can be versioned just like any other digital asset, and the linkage features of StarTeam allow specific versions of code modules to be linked back to the specific version of the requirement that drove their development.

2.   Change Request Management
StarTeam has an integrated change request management module that can support the CR workflow process of any organization. It's integrated with the underlying e-mail system, so developers and managers can be instantaneously notified when a CR is assigned to them. StarTeam also offers direct integration with Mercury Interactive's TestDirector software, so that issues found during automated testing can be included in the CR workflow. The linkage features of StarTeam allow specific CRs to be linked to specific file revisions.

3.   Task and Project Management
This component is used to record work effort against specific tasks or change requests and can be integrated with Microsoft Project. Effort recorded against a task in StarTeam can be fed back into a linked MS Project plan. New tasks created in the MS plan can be propagated back into StarTeam to create new tasks. For smaller efforts, or for non -MS Project shops, this component can be used separately.

4.   Discussion Topic Component
This feature allows project-related discussion threads to be captured and stored with the other assets in the repository. This can be a valuable item when researching why decisions were made and who made them. Threaded discussions are superior to e-mail, which is difficult to search, and are often deleted. StarTeam topics provide a permanent record from which all team members can benefit.

5.   File Management Component
At the core of StarTeam is a full-featured SCM component that supports version control of files and folders, file status, branching, view/compare/merge functions, labeling and promotion states, full history, and audit trails. StarTeam stores file archives in a "forward delta" architecture, in which only the latest, or "tip" revision, contains the full text. Prior revisions consist only of "commands" that add, remove, or change lines to arrive at that revision. This allows even large files to be revised many times, without the overhead of storing full copies of each revision. StarTeam includes a Visual Diff tool that can take two revisions of the same file and highlight the differences between them.

StarTeam Architecture
StarTeam 5.1 implements an n-tier computing model in which a dedicated application server process is responsible for managing the repository, which itself is stored inside a fully relational database. This differs from SCC tools like Microsoft Visual Source Safe, which is simply a client-side tool accessing a network-based archive location. A Starbase server can be accessed from a variety of different clients, and Starbase includes three distinct client platforms:

1.   StarTeam: A standard Windows-based client application.

2.   WebConnect: A Web-based client that's capable of connecting remote users to the repository through a standard Web server.

3.   StarDisk: A simplified version of StarTeam that integrates seamlessly with Windows Explorer. In addition, the Microsoft SCC API allows other development environments, such as PowerBuilder, Delphi, and Visual Studio, to manipulate the SCC repository from within their respective IDEs.

Starbase also offers both a Solaris-specific version of the StarTeam suite and a Universal Edition for all other flavors of Unix-based workstations. The Universal Edition is a command-line interface to the Starbase server. Starbase recommends using Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.1.8 or later.

StarTeam offers a choice of three protocols between client and server:

1.   TCP/IP Sockets: The standard selection, and must be used to enable several product features, such as WebConnect

2.   Lightweight RPC: Only available when client and server processes are on the same machine

3.   XML over TCP/IP: Used primarily for troubleshooting and support issues; performs slower than sockets

The StarTeam repository is housed inside a fully relational DBMS, and StarTeam provides support for MS Access, MS SQL Server 7 or 2000, and Oracle 8.1.5/8.1.6. The technical documentation provided for the setup and installation of both the application server and the database server is extensive and well written. The Administrator's Guide also contains hardware-sizing guidelines for the database server. For very large project teams (the definition of "large" is always difficult to quantify), there's an optional component named StarbaseMPX Server. This is an advanced "caching" feature that will decrease network traffic and increase overall performance for high-traffic servers.

For current users of Merant PVCS or Microsoft Visual Source Safe, it's possible to integrate StarTeam with these repositories. This allows project teams to transition to StarTeam gradually, rather than forcing a drastic cut-over.

StarTeam Client Interface
The interface of the primary client application is a three-panel TreeView/ ListView combination (see Figure 1).

The left pane shows all the folders defined in the currently open view (Release 1.0 Maintenance) of the project (StarDraw). In StarTeam, a view can be thought of as a "subset" of the objects in a project and can represent the state of the code at a specific configuration, such as a promotion state, a date/time, or a collection of build labels.

Each folder in the view can be associated with a working directory on the user's local drive, which is where the source files are edited. As with most SCC tools, files are not edited directly in the repository - they must first be checked out to the working folder where the development tool can then operate on the file. The check-in process replaces the revised version of the file back into the repository, and either increments the revision number or creates a "branch," indicating a concurrent path of development.

Selecting a folder in the left-hand pane populates a ListView (shown in the upper right-hand corner of Figure 1) with a list of all the files registered in that folder, along with pertinent information such as the current checkout status and state, the current revision number, and the timestamp of that particular revision. The File List pane has several tabs where the user can review lists of change requests, discussion topics, or audit trail details. Figure 2 shows the same window with the Change Request tab selected, which displays all the currently entered change requests in the repository.

The bottom right-hand pane is also a set of tabbed ListViews that presents details related to the item selected in the upper right-hand pane. This section of the window presents details of a single item, whether it's a file, a change request, a requirement, or a discussion topic. The Detail tab shows the current state of the selected object. The History tab shows the activity for that object over time, including both main and branch revision numbers. The Label tab shows the relationship between specific revisions and the revision/view labels that have been created. In this tab a label can be moved from one revision to another. In this manner, specific revisions can be selectively included or excluded from a particular configuration of the software. The Link tab shows any linkages that have been set up between objects such as change requests, requirements, and discussion topics. This can be helpful when tracking down why certain revisions were made. The Reference tab shows all active references to the various revisions of the object/file.

Figure 3 illustrates the discussion topic feature. As new discussion topics and threads are created, all users designated as "recipients" of the message receive a popup icon in their system trays, much like an e-mail notification. The content of the discussion threads becomes a permanent record of the project.

Integration with PowerBuilder
StarTeam has fully implemented the SCC API, and we found no show-stopping issues when integrating with PowerBuilder 7 through 9. The Visual Diff capabilities were the only issue that prevented a seamless integration. It is possible, through the Advanced dialog in the PB Workspace SCC Properties dialog, to use a different "Diff" tool when comparing versions of PowerBuilder objects. The tool of choice for many PB shops is PBDR's PBDelta (www.pbdr.com). PBDelta is designed to recognize files with an "SR*" extension as a PB exported source file. However, when StarTeam creates the export files for comparison, it appends the revision number to the end of the filename (e.g., d_project.srd.rev1.0). Consequently, the files are compared as simple ASCII text, and the full features of PBDelta are not used. StarTeam has been made aware of this issue, and is promising to address it in an upcoming point release.

StarTeam 5.2
Starbase was preparing to release version 5.2 of the StarTeam suite at press time, so it was not available for a full review. A full description of the features included in 5.2 can be found at www.starbase.com/products/StarTeam52. They include the following: