Forum Discussion

gdave's avatar
gdave
Regular Contributor
5 years ago

Multiple Node Lock Licenses

Hi all

We currently have 2 node locked TC licenses. Only one was in use till date however we now have plans to get additional resource using second license.

My issue here is, since I was the sole user of TC, the project was saved on my local C:/ drive. With introduction of additional user I am not sure how both of us can access the project at the same time and how the changes made by both of us will be updated to the project ?

Any help in this regreads will be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

  • AlexKaras's avatar
    AlexKaras
    5 years ago

    Hi,

     

    Basically, TestComplete does not support concurrent development.
    You may try to open the project in a Shared Mode from the network share. In this case TestComplete will monitor changes made to the project items and suggest you to reload changed entity. Two problems here:

    a) There are no means to either see what was changed or to visually compare/merge your current and remote entity. You can either accept or decline to reload;

    b) TestComplete implements the 'last writer wins' strategy. This means that if you reload the entity you will lose your changes. If you refuse to reload, then you will overwrite changes made by your colleague.

     

    Also note, that only script unit files can be (visually) merged. All other files from TestComplete project are XMLs with complex internal structure and thus can not be merged in practice.

     

    The recommended approach with TestComplete is to split the work so that no collision happen. And if someone needs to add some new entity to the project or update existing shared one (e.g. NameMapping) this must be done in a controllable way to prevent merging.

     

  • AlexKaras's avatar
    AlexKaras
    Champion Level 3
    5 years ago

    Hi,

     

    Basically, TestComplete does not support concurrent development.
    You may try to open the project in a Shared Mode from the network share. In this case TestComplete will monitor changes made to the project items and suggest you to reload changed entity. Two problems here:

    a) There are no means to either see what was changed or to visually compare/merge your current and remote entity. You can either accept or decline to reload;

    b) TestComplete implements the 'last writer wins' strategy. This means that if you reload the entity you will lose your changes. If you refuse to reload, then you will overwrite changes made by your colleague.

     

    Also note, that only script unit files can be (visually) merged. All other files from TestComplete project are XMLs with complex internal structure and thus can not be merged in practice.

     

    The recommended approach with TestComplete is to split the work so that no collision happen. And if someone needs to add some new entity to the project or update existing shared one (e.g. NameMapping) this must be done in a controllable way to prevent merging.

     

    • gdave's avatar
      gdave
      Regular Contributor
      5 years ago

       

      AlexKaras wrote:

      Hi,

       

      Basically, TestComplete does not support concurrent development.
      You may try to open the project in a Shared Mode from the network share. In this case TestComplete will monitor changes made to the project items and suggest you to reload changed entity. Two problems here:

      a) There are no means to either see what was changed or to visually compare/merge your current and remote entity. You can either accept or decline to reload;

      b) TestComplete uses the 'last writer wins' strategy. This means that if you reload the entity you will lost your changes. If you refuse to reload, then you will overwrite changes made by your colleague.

       

      Also note, that only script unit files can be (visually) merged. All other files from TestComplete project are XMLs with complex internal structure and thus can not be merged in practice.

       

      The recommended approach with TestComplete is to split the work so that no collision happen. And if someone needs to add some new entity to the project or update existing shared one (e.g. NameMapping) this must be done in a controllable way to prevent merging.

       

      Thanks for the detailed explanation.

      Do you think source control applications like GIT can also be of help ?

      • Marsha_R's avatar
        Marsha_R
        Moderator
        5 years ago

        You can certainly use a source control application, but there are still some files that should not be shared as AlexKaras described.  Each person should have their own copy of the test suite to work in and then good communication amongst the team is mandatory, even when version control is used.