The Seapine View

Works with Surround SCM 2010 and later

Will not work with Surround SCM 2009 and earlier

This is a Mac version of the Launch Outlook example. In this example, we’ll use Applescript to attach the files. The AppleScript is a little more complicated, as we have to handle the various ways that the results can be passed in (see the original article for the details.)

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Works with Surround SCM 2010 and later

Will not work with Surround SCM 2009 and earlier

Overview

This is a short sample showing how to leverage the new client menu integration in Surround SCM 2010 and AppleScript on the Mac. This sample shows how to add a file context menu item which copies the sscm:// path to the clipboard for pasting into another application. The XML file for the menu is simple enough (Please refer to the Surround SCM Custom Client Menus article for help on creating a custom menu option to access the tool)
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We have a large number of customers who move to Surround SCM from Subversion. One of things they look for is a way to “convert” their existing data to Surround. In general, our experience has been that this may not be the best answer. When you move to a new SCM system, you want to structure the data in way that takes advantage of the new system. In addition, it’s not possible to move the data over with perfect fidelity. The concepts in one system rarely map perfectly to the new system.

With all those caveats, I’ve created a script to assist in migrating to Surround from Subversion.
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One of the things I do is look at competitive products. I do this both to understand their strengths and weaknesses as well as our own. Looking at someone else’s solution to a similar problem can often give you a fresh perspective.

As I looked at several of these, a few trends showed up. The first is that security in other products seems to be left as an exercise for the customer. I’ve talked about that before. Another area where other products take a very different approach is around triggers and alerts. This is another part of an application that either isn’t shown in a demo, or if shown the trigger is already installed and working. The user sees that emails are being generated or actions are being triggered with an aside of “all this and more can be yours with just a little script writing.”

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As a Macintosh user it’s easy to feel left out by cross platform application vendors. Microsoft is too easy a target (though I can’t miss the chance to say I use Entourage every day and it never ceases to make me angry), so I’ll pick on someone my own size. Seapine. Although we have a fully native (that means not Java, you cheaters. You know who you are) client and servers on Linux, Solaris, Mac and Windows we don’t always make them, well, native enough. Make all the command keys match common conventions on that platform. Take advantage of platform specific technology, or the latest UI craze.

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Works with Surround SCM 2008

For those users looking to access Surround SCM programatically, their only option is through the Command Line Interface (CLI). Many of the examples I have posted on this site show how you can access the command line interface using python. For those that are looking for an easier and more reusable option, you may find using this python library helpful.
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Like everyone else, the state of the economy is something I watch. And lately its felt like watching a slow motion car crash. I can’t look away and yet I can’t really do anything either. Some days I feel like I’m watching from the curb, and other days I’m strapped to the hood.

Despite that, Seapine Software in general and Surround SCM sales in particular are doing well. We’ve had good growth each month this year, and good growth from last year. I’d like to believe that this is due exclusively to outstanding product management. A steady and seasoned hand at the wheel, guiding Surround through the rocky shoals of a troubled economic sea. I’d like to believe that, but I’ve been told in no uncertain terms by everyone around me that it just isn’t so. There even seems to be small but vocal minority that believes we’re succeeding despite product management, not because of it. Apostates.

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I’d like to draw your attention to an area of Seapine’s web site you may not be aware of. Seapine has a lab site at http://labs.seapine.com, where we post things that aren’t supported yet but might make your life easier. The Surround area has some nice tips and discussions about how some things work, and some scripts and add-ons that you might find interesting.

For the Macintosh users in the audience (we’re the ones looking all smug and superior till we have to connect to our companies Exchange server), I’d like to draw your attention to some AppleScripts written by yours truly. The first is here and provides some instructions on how to use Microsoft Word on the Mac for merging and diffing documents. In addition, this has some AppleScripts for adding common Surround commands to the Word menu on the Mac.

For everyone, there is also a python script to provide a rudimentary annotate function. And this is a whole set of sample trigger scripts. You may even find a set of Window batch commands for putting Surround reports on your web site.

Since this is the lab area, some things can be a little raw. And don’t be surprised if you blow the dust off a link and find something that now is incorporated in the product. But hopefully this is a collection of tricks and scripts which can make your use of Surround that much better. Feel free to wander around the lab, and take anything you like. Just don’t put anything you find there in your mouth. Those AppleScripts can leave a nasty aftertaste.

Security in an application is one of those things that rarely gets discussed in a demo. Most people say “we have excellent security control” and then move on to some alluring graphical drag and drop functionality.

But security is something that lots of applications get wrong, for lots of different reasons. First, I should say that I’m not a security expert. I read Bruce Schneier’s blog and newsletter (so should you), along with all his books.

With that said, I know that real security is hard. And one of the things to understand about Surround SCM is that the security we focus on is the internal security of the application. That is, how do we prevent users once they have authenticated themselves (either using our internal authentication or an enterprise solution like LDAP or Active Directory, both of which we integrate with) from doing things they should not do.

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It’s not unusual for someone to suggest a feature which, in fact, we already have. It’s not even all that unusual for that person to be using the version of the software that has that feature. So I thought I would take a few minutes to point out some features in Surround that you may have forgotten, or missed during an upgrade.

Repository differences

This was mentioned in our last newsletter but I think it’s worth pointing out again. The Repository Differences window shows the difference between the server repository and your local working directory. This includes files that are missing from your working directory as well as files in your working directory not in Surround. It can even do this recursively. Check out the newsletter or the user documentation.

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