News
2020-March
For some time now I've been using dev2dev's OASIS SVN for Microsoft Access with initially Subversion and lately using GIT as the version controller. OASIS is a bit quirky when setting up a repo for a database, but if you know the inner workings of GIT or Subversion then it's fairly straightforward. Microsoft Access is a binary container so it didn't seem feasible to place "internal" objects in version control, but as OASIS demonstrates, it's simply a matter of coding the export of each Object - which is an undocumented feature of Access - and suddenly version control becomes available. This article from accessexperts is informative; persist with it and all will be revealed.
2019-August
The Git journey was worth it. And if you work with binary files, it's a beauty. The 'large binary file' add-on (now incorporated in the official Git) is a valuable addition. We can safely version Office objects, especially Access databases, with far less storage overhead. It also means we've got feature development and bug fixes well in hand without the risk of losing the 'master'. Add to that the OASIS SVN add-on for Access and version control and business continuity is well in hand.
2019-January
With the New Year slowdown comes time to explore, and this year I'm revisiting 'version control'. I've used Subversion for a few years, but recent online chat is indicating a general move to Git. So I've been exploring Git, Github, Bitbucket and SourceTree to see how this all compares to Subversion. Git and Subversion approach version control in substantially different ways and the learning curve for Git looks steep. But it's exciting learning new tools - not least a tool as incredibly valuable, nay 'vital' for software developers - as version control.