Adobe RoboSource Control 3 is an optional application that ships with Adobe RoboHelp 7.  It enables you to store all the files from a RoboHelp project in a server-based database (this process is called "adding the project to version control").  These project files may then be copied to one or more other client PCs allowing members of an authoring team to view and work on the same project simultaneously.

RoboSource Control 3 manages all the changes to the files by enforcing a system of "checking out" and "checking in" files.  An author must check out a file from the database before being able to make any changes to the file in RoboHelp —the process of checking out retrieves the latest version of the file from the database and flags the file as being checked out.  The check out system has the advantage of enabling you to prevent two members of the team from making changes to the same file simultaneously. RoboHelp HTML handles the check in and check out operations for you automatically—you may check in RoboHelp for Word project files manually using the RoboSource Control Explorer application.

RoboSource Control 3 consists of the following two separate components.

• RoboSource Control 3 Client: this provides the software that enables RoboHelp to get, check out, and check in the project files in the server-based RoboSource Control database. It also includes RoboSource Control Explorer, a separate application that enables you manage the database files, create users, and assign access rights.
• RoboSource Control 3 Server: this is the central server software that stores and manages files in a database. It supports checking files in and out, viewing the history of files, setting up users and associated access rights, and many other useful version control operations. Unlike previous versions, RoboSource Control 3 Server is based on SQL Server.
  

RoboHelp 7 also integrates with Microsoft Visual SourceSafe or any other third-party version control package that supports the Microsoft Source Code Control API (sometimes called the SCC API). Therefore you may be able to use RoboHelp 7 with your existing version control package as an alternative to installing RoboSource Control 3.

Throughout the remainder of this article, I will use the general term RoboSource Control 3 to refer to the entire version control system (consisting of both client and server components), and the full names of RoboSource Control 3 Client and RoboSource Control 3 Server to refer to each of the components.

Requirements

In order to make the most of this article, you need the following software and files:

RoboHelp 7

• Try
• Buy

RoboSource Control 3

• Try
• Buy

 

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