Key Information

When you are working in a team all the team members should use the same check-out mode.  Manual mode provides maximum security because then the TOC is also protected against editing conflicts.

This is the default mode for VCS projects. In this mode you don't need to change the way you work at all. The only difference you will notice is the icon on your project name in the Project Explorer indicating that the project is linked to a VCS database.

As soon as you start editing a topic it is automatically checked out of the VCS database and locked for all other users. Topics that are checked out are identified with additional icons in the Project Explorer – you will see green check icons for topics that you have checked out and red check icons for topics checked out by other users.

In multi-user editing mode everything works just as it does when multiple users are editing a project that is not linked to a VCS database. See Multi-User Editing for more details.

When you save your project your topic files are automatically checked back into the VCS database and unlocked for other users to access – the check icons will then be cleared from the topics in the Project Explorer. Here too, you don't have to do anything yourself.

You can only activate manual check-out/check-in for your entire project. To turn it on go to Project Explorer > Configuration > Common Properties > Miscellaneous and activate the check box by Manually check out and check in topics. Then save your project to apply the setting.

This will automatically switch all the topics in your project to read-only mode (they will be grayed out in the Project Explorer). To edit a topic you must now check it out manually:

1.Select the topic you want to edit in the TOC or Topic Files section.

2.Select Project > Manage Topics > File > Check out or right click on the topic in the Project Explorer and select Version Control System > Check Out in the context menu.

3.The topic name will be displayed with a green checked-out icon in the Explorer and you can now edit it normally.

4.When you have finished editing, save your changes. Then select Check In in the Project tab or the context menu. This checks the topic with your changes back into the VCS database and the topic is switched back to read-only in the Project Explorer.

That is really all there is to it. Everything else is exactly the same as editing a normal project. You just have to remember to check in your open topics before you close your project, otherwise you and other users will see a conflict resolution dialog from your VCS the next time you access the project because it will see that there are topic files checked out.

When you are working in manual mode the Table of Contents is protected against simultaneous editing by multiple users. To make any changes (new topic, delete topic, move topic, edit topic caption) you need to check out the Table of Contents, which you do in the same way as for a normal topic:

1.Select the Table of Contents heading in the Project Explorer.

2.Select Project > Manage Topics > File > Check out or right click on the topic in the Project Explorer and select Version Control System > Check Out in the context menu.

The Table of Contents header will be marked with a green "checked out" icon and will be locked for other users. When you have finished editing save your project and check the TOC back in again. You and the other users should use the Refresh tool after doing this.

See the chapter on Multi-User Editing for more details.