FAQ

Most frequent questions:

Is there any advanced documentation?
Yes, you can find more information in the user guide.
What does "early conflict detection" mean?
When you need to modify a file, you need to check it out first. Doing such allows all the people in you team seeing that you are going to make changes on this file: conflict is detected before you start working. If your check-out generates a parallel version, you will be warned, and people who are already editing the file will get an email notification that you are starting a parallel development.
How can I import my project?
You need to create a new project, and to do so, you must own the "Manage project" access right within the user management. Then, you have two options: either you create a project from the wizard and you choose "Create project with import" and you select the files you need to import in the dedicated wizard view, or you create an empty project. In such case, you will only need to open a workspace with the new project, copy your files in the new folder from the file explorer, and synchronize the project.
Can AVS import from other SCM?
As of now, AVS can only import a snapshot of a project coming from another SCM, which means that its history will not be imported. However, importing one branch from a revision tool such as SVN will be implemented in the short term.
Is AVS platform independant?
AVS client is fully platform independant. While the server has been developed in a platform independant language, scheduled scripts are restricted to Windows for the time being: this feature allows running user scripts on the server using impersonation ("runas"). On Linux/Unix/Mac, an implementation is done using "sudo", but it is not yet supported. However, this feature is not mandatory to have a full SCM tool running.
How can I install AVS on Linux?
You need to install PostgreSQL 8.3 and Tomcat 5.5 by your own. Then you need to create a user and a database within PostgreSQL using pgadmin tool. In the end, copy the "avs.war" file in Tomcat's "webapps" folder and run Tomcat.
Do I need to install the client?
No, AVS client is launched using Java Web Start, which means you need to have a JVM (1.6 is mandatory) installed. Open a web browser, and type http://myserver:8090/avs/jnlp?page=jnlp, where of course "myserver" should be replaced with the name or the ip address of the server where AVS is running. You can either open the target JNLP file with Java Web Start, or save it on your desktop: you will only need then to double click on the file to start the client.
Can I get a licence for free?
Yes you can, if your project is open source, or for eductional purposes (schools, universities, etc...). Otherwiser, you can get a free licence for evaluation purposes, valid for 30 days.
How are files stored on the server?
By default, files are stored outside the database, under Tomcat's "webapps/avs/WEB-INF/files" folder. Sub folders are created to organize files upon their creation/modification dates, which also helps avoiding too many files within the same folder. Besides, one file per version is created, which may be zipped depending on its content (text files or not).

However, you can choose to store files as blobs in the database, but this choice must be done once for all during installation. Keep in mind that you will not be able to change this choice afterwards.
Can I isolate my developments from the team's?
Yes you can. To do so, you must create a special configuration, targeting the same release than the configuration used by the rest of the team, but using an additional "parallel release". Using such will allow you retrieving all the team's developments, and isolate your own. Once your development is finished, you will need to use the merge manager to perform all the merge needed to bring back your developments in the main stream.
Can I work offline?
You can: remove manually the "read only" flag from the files you need to modify. Make your changes as you need, and once back online, perform a "synchronize" action on your workspace: AVS will detect all the changes and let you bring them using for each the accurate development task you need. Keep in mind though that this practice does not allow early conflict detection, so avoid working this way when you are online.
Can I use my own Diff and Merge tools?
Of course you can, this can be set in AVS client preferences menu. Please refer to the documentation for more details about how to configure the dedicated command line.