PRB: Binary Files with Keyword Expansion Corrupted (155888)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 16-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 16-bit, for Windows 4.0a
  • Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0a
This article was previously published under Q155888

SYMPTOMS

If Keyword Expansion is enabled for binary files, and a binary file containing a SourceSafe Keyword is checked in, that file will be corrupted.

RESOLUTION

  1. Use Keyword Expansion in Binary Files.
Use two colons in the keyword, for example:

$Revision:: $

WARNING: This method works for all the available keywords, with the exception of the $History:: $ and $Log:: $ keywords. These two keywords cannot be used in binary files.

Make sure you leave enough space between the second colon and the dollar sign for the revision number.

When you use one colon, SourceSafe puts its information between the colon and the dollar sign. Depending on how long the information is, and how many spaces you had, this generally makes the whole string either shorter or longer than it was at first. In a text file, this is not a problem, but it does corrupt a binary file.

When you use two colons, that tells SourceSafe to keep the string length the same. In other words, SourceSafe knows to keep the exact same number of characters between the second colon and the dollar sign. SourceSafe pads with extra spaces, or truncates the information, as necessary, in order to keep things the same, so the binary file is not corrupted.

Available keywords for binary files are as follows:

$Archive:: $
$Author:: $
$Date:: $
$Header:: $
$Logfile:: $
$Modtime:: $
$Revision:: $
$Workfile:: $
$JustDate:: $
$NoKeywords:: $

  1. Disable keyword expansion in binary files using one of the following methods:

    • Add the case-sensitive keyword $NoKeywords: $ before adding any other keywords. This prevents Visual SourceSafe from expanding subsequent keywords.
    • Remove *.xls from the "Expand keywords in files of type" textbox.
    • Add !*.xls to the "Expand keywords in files of type" textbox.
NOTE: The preceding bullets are equivalent to editing the Keyword_Masks variable manually in the SRCSAFE.INI file. Filetype *.xls is used in step 2 as an example.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Problem

  1. In the Visual SourceSafe Administrator, go to the Tools menu and click Options, and then click the General tab in the Options dialog box. Add *.xls in the "Expand keywords in files of type" textbox. Click OK and close the Visual SourceSafe Administrator.

    NOTE: If the Visual SourceSafe client is open while changes are being made to the Visual SourceSafe Administrator, the client must be restarted in order for the changes to take effect.
  2. Open a new Workbook in Excel and enter "Hello World" in Cell A1. Save and close the file.
  3. Add the file to a Visual SourceSafe project and then check out the file.
  4. Open the file in Excel. Enter "$History: $" in Cell A2.
  5. Save and close the file. Check it into Visual SourceSafe.
RESULT: If the "Copy keyword-expanded files into working directory" check box is selected (it is located on the Local Files tab in the Options dialog box) in the Visual SourceSafe client, Excel hangs immediately when you view the file. If the check box is not selected, Excel will hang the next time that file is opened by checking it out and opening it, or by performing a Get on the file.

REFERENCES

For more information on Keyword Expansion, see Chapter 5 in the Visual SourceSafe User's Guide.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/4/2001
Keywords:kbprb KB155888
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.