Flare 7.2, Flare 8, and TFS compatibility issues

[rmdavidson]

I am using Flare 7.2 while my boss is finding a way to update my version since you can't just do it onlnie, my new colleague has Flare 8, and we are using TFS for version control.

Ever since we went from the trial of 7.2 to the full version of 8 we have been having issues between Flare & TFS. We will both be working on files (different ones of course) and do a get latest and be told that we already have the latest copies of the files when we've made changes. I won't see Teresa's changes and she won't see mine. Or we see text changes, but are told the image file is missing when we've put a new screenshot in (and once in a while when we have not). We have been having to go in and get latest on the entire folder, project, or even restarting Flare on occasion. In the case of images, we have to get latest on the file or the whole images folder. However, even this doesn't always work the first time or two and we have to go round and round several times to get everything straightened out. About a week ago we even started a new project for me to get things straightened out since at one point we were saving in different folders somehow in TFS though we set her up based off of my stuff when she started.

Has anyone else had compatibility issues?


Thanks,

Robin

[rmdavidson]

Anyone? Our problems are compounding by the day.

Robin

[RamonS]

Best choice is to contact MadCap support. Since I had the misfortune of installing and configuring TFS once that system is suspect to me, but I have seen it sort of working.

[rmdavidson]

We've e-mailed back and forth a couple of times when I've submitted bugs, but the company didn't pay for support. Also, they want us to zip up and send our project to them, which we aren't willing to do since our documentation is on a password protected site. I thought TFS would be better than SVN or another source control software from what I've read.

Robin

[RamonS]

It depends on what you consider better. If you use VisualStudio then using TFS is the logical choice. Also, when a TFS install already exists there is not much of a case to set up a different source control system just for docs.
Subversion works very well and it is a popular source control system. I wouldn't call it worse than other common systems. My beef with TFS is that it is a pain in the rear to install and configure, needlessly complicated, and a pig when it comes to resources, but once working it does the job and has some nice features.

As far as not having a maintenance plan....maybe someone else has an idea, but since this is a peer to peer forum you need to hope that someone else encountered the same issue and has a fix for it. If the project content are a concern, see if you can reproduce this with a sample project and submit that instead. Alternatively, see if it is an option to have the MadCap support rep remote into one box to troubleshoot rather than sending files. But if the docs are really that top secret I wouldn't even put them on a web site, stuff like logins are only meant to slow the mean kids down (and sometimes not even that), they don't really secure anything.

[rmdavidson]

More reliable. We're having constant issues with checking in/out files and changes not being there in TFS or being there on one person's computer but not the other person's with get latest saying we already have the latest version when we don't, etc. Sometimes the text changes are there, but the images aren't (You see the missing file graphic) and you have to check in/out the image or the folder itself to get it back or when that doesn't work you have to re-add the image. Sometimes a work around works once or twice, but not the next time. Etc...etc...

Robin

[hillaryfay]

Do you have any update on this? We are on Flare 7 but we are also looking into using TFS for source control. If we ever update to 8 we do not want to have this problem also.

[rmdavidson]

Hillary,

We ended up downgrading my coworker to 7.2 so that we are both on the same version. We didn't want to pay for me to upgrade and to then still have issues. We don't have a subscription to Support and aren't allowed to send our files out or let anyone connect to us so we've had somewhat limited assistance in ways. We still have occasional issues, but it seems to mostly deal with images. You can't just check them in or out or add them through Flare, you have to do it through TFS then check that they were added in Flare (right-click see if Add is active or grayed out). I've managed to do this with Flare open without it having fits though when we first started doing that we were closing Flare and opening Visual Studio (how we access TFS) then closing VS then opening Flare since it didn't like it. I still delete my Analyzer, Output, and SoureControl folders on occasion though not as often as I used to. We try to check things in when we leave then Get Latest in the mornings so we have each other's stuff. I do have Flare closed while doing a Get Latest or Check In through VS though.

There are people on the STC Lone Writers SIG who have version 8 who haven't had the issues we have had. I know Madcap has admitted to problems with TFS though. I don't know if our IT guy has ever checked the TFS settings or not as he generally just blames Flare.

Robin