Optimize Performance

See Also

VSS's default installation, while simple to create and use, is not necessarily optimized for performance. Therefore, VSS provides two ways you can customize your system to improve performance:

• Copy as much as possible from the network to your hard disk. This change is extremely useful for all network users, but is essential for Macintosh users on Intel networks. You can use the VSS Netsetup.exe program (on the VSS server) to copy necessary executable files to your local computer.
  
  
• Fine-tune your initialization files for performance. Most fine-tuning, described below in General Optimizations, involves compromises of various sorts, such as disabling certain kinds of functionality. None of these optimizations provides as much benefit as the measures described in the following list, however.

To Optimize Performance in VSS

Set the following variables in the SS.INI or SRCSAFE.INI file:

• Diff_Ignore (PC) = c-e-s-w-

  Tells VSS not to ignore end-of-line differences, which speeds up the comparison. By default, VSS ignores all end-of-line differences, which slows the algorithm significantly.

• CP_OnSelection = No

  Disables the selection of a project as you use the mouse or arrow keys to move through the project list. If you set this initialization variable to No, you must use the ENTER key or double-click to set your current project.

General Optimizations

You can set the following options on the Local Files tab and the General tab in the Options dialog box on the Tools menu:

• Copy keyword-expanded files into working folder

  Useful if you use keyword expansion. Clearing this check box may increase VSS's speed, as it tells VSS not to get a file after checkin.

• Compare files by

  Controls how VSS determines if you already have the latest copy of a file in your working folder. The Time setting sometimes does not behave as you expect when you try to get earlier versions. A solution is to occasionally delete your local copy to force a Get operation to occur.

• Folders for Temporary Files

  Specifies where you store temporary files. The default setting is to store temporary files on the server, but your administrator can also set the Temp_Path variable in your SS.INI file to a local folder which speeds up operations like viewing files. For example:

  Temp_Path = c:\windows\temp
  

Ask your VSS administrator to verify the following variable in the SRCSAFE.INI file:

• Lock_Mode = Native

  This is the default setting for this SRCSAFE.INI variable. Setting this initialization variable to Native speeds up almost every VSS operation.

  Important:   This variable must be set by the VSS administrator.

Features You Can Disable to Improve Performance

Your VSS administrator can disable any of the following to optimize the speed of many VSS commands:

• Shadow folders
  
  
• Journal files
  
  
• Project security system
  
  
• Keyword expansion