What's new in Vault 2.0

[ericsink]

Vault 2.0 has a whole bunch of improvements, many of which were done specifically in response to requests from our customers. In no particular order, here are a few highlights of what is new in Vault 2.0:

<b>SourceGear DiffMerge</b>: A new diff and merge application replaces the diff and merge windows which were previously built-in to Vault:
<li>Folder diff, shows all files in the working folder
<li>Filters in folder diff allow specified file types to be excluded
<li>2-way file diff
<li>3-way file diff with automatic merge and conflict detection
<li>Graphical display of differences, with lines drawn to show corresponding changes
<li>Glance bars show all changes in the file at "at a glance"
<li>Apply individual changes from one file to another
<li>Option to ignore whitespace
<li>Option to ignore case
<li>Unlimited Undo/Redo
<li>Option to control tab width for display
<li>Option to change font size
<li>MessageBox explicitly indicates when two files are identical. [/list]

<b>Merge Branches Wizard</b>: A new Merge Branches feature replaces the Merge Branch into Trunk feature.
<li>Merge changes between branch and trunk in either direction.
<li>Merge changes from any repository folder to any other repository folder, even if neither is a branch of the other.
<li>Specify exactly which changes you want to merge from the origin folder to the target.
<li>Option to automatically merge individual files or leave them in Needs Merge status for manual examination using the SourceGear DiffMerge app.

<b>Shadow folders</b>: Automatically maintain a synchronized copy of the contents of a repository folder.

<b>Lightweight labels</b>: SourceSafe-style labels (aka "tags"):
<li>Very lightweight
<li>Supported by the VSS Import Tool
<li>Includes VSS-style "label promotion" feature

<b>Non-Windows platforms</b>: Using Mono, run the Vault command-line client under various Unix-ish platforms, including Linux.

<b>Show Differences</b> now allows several choices of how to
compare the working file:
<li>To its corresponding repository file
<li>To a labeled version of the file
<li>To another file on the local disk
<li>To another repository file

<b>External merge app</b>: Users who want to configure a different application for external merge can now do so.

<b>Repository level security</b>: Allows a repository to be completely hidden from a user or group of users.

<b>Web client</b>: Allows basic browsing of the contents and history of a repository using any web browser.

<b>Needs Merge</b>: Files in a Needs Merge status are more obvious. They are shown in red in the pending changeset. At checkin time, a warning dialog reminds the user of the need to resolve the merge.

<b>Obliterate</b>: Much faster.

<b>Snapshots</b>: Vault 1.x labels are still supported, and are now known as "snapshots".

<b>Login Profiles</b>: Login faster by saving commonly used username/password information in profiles.

<b>Prompt for overwrite</b>: During a Get Latest Version, specify that you want to be prompted before overwriting any edited file.

<b>Proxy authentication</b>: Support authentication for proxy servers which require it.

<b>Copy from pending changeset</b>: The pending changeset panel allows copying the list of change items to the clipboard.

<b>Blame</b>: Displays an annotated view of the file showing which user last modified each line.

<b>Ctrl-A</b>: For consistency with other Windows applications, Ctrl-A now maps to Select All.

<b>Command-line client</b>: Lots of improvements to the Vault command-line client, including wildcards.

<b>Failed login</b>: Better error message avoids password-guessing attack.

<b>Failed connection to SQL Server</b>: Better error message helps with resolution of common configuration problem.

<b>Checkin dialog</b>: When invoked from a context menu on a folder, the checkin dialog only lists the pending items which appear under that folder.