Working on a network

When working in a multi-programmer environment with source fileson a network file server we recommend that the source files on the server be sharedread only. Programmers can check-out, or copy, any necessary files from the serverto a local directory to make modifications. Obviously this local directory shouldbe first the project directories options, and then the network source directories.The environments ability to display "read only" modules with a differentdisplay attribute will give programmers a visual clue as to what module they havelocal copies of. The environment will detect changes to the files on the networkfile server made by other programmers automatically, and recompile if and when necessary.The environment will automatically detect when a programmer puts a copy of a filein their local directory. The environment will also detect when they delete the filefrom their local directory and will then find and start using the file from the networkfile server.

For maximum compilation and linking performance we recommendthat whenever possible all files, other than source files, be accessed locally. Thisis to take advantage of file caching. While network drives can be cached, this optionmay be disabled, and even then the performance of this may be erratic. We are referringto compiler '.sym', '.obj' and '.lib' files. '.sym' files can affect compilationperformance, and '.obj' and '.lib' files affect linking performance.

This means that if you have utility projects you may want themcopied to the programmers local hard drives. Only testing will show how much slowercompilation and/or linking will be when accessed on server a network drive. The wirespeed of your network, hubs verses switches, the protocol used (TCP/IP, NetBEUI,IPX), network loading, and server speed and capacity all affect performance. If theperformance loss is acceptable, or not measurable, then it is recommended that youmaintain a single copy of utility projects on your server. Otherwise you should probablycreate a shell script file that can be used to keep the local copies of developershard drives up to date.

Hint. Use the replace utility program for maintaininglocal files from a server.