RCE: the Revision Control Engine

An important problem in many computer applications is version control, i.e. managing work products that evolve into multiple versions. Version control is important for any design task, including software development, word processing, spread sheet applications, computer-aided design and manufacturing, databases and many other applications in which data is entered and revised frequently.

RCE API: Programming Interfaces for Version Control

RCE provides you with a functioning configuration management acommodated to your company that reaches far beyond the facilities of other version control systems. RCE is open, because since 1994, RCE is avialable with a programming interface (API).

The RCE API is the core of RCE. It provides a powerful interface upon which all RCE tools are built. The API is available in two flavours: C/C++ and Java. Both interfaces provide access to an archive over Archive and Revision objects. The C/C++ API is supplied as DLL for Windows or Shared Library for Unix. The core API is written in C, and hence not truely object oriented, the interface is organized so that is was easy to provide an object interface in Java via RMI.

More than 80 functions are available for free use, including:

• RCEArchCreate - creates a new RCE archive
• RCEArchOpen - opens an RCE archive
• RCEArchInfoSet - sets archive informationen
• RCEArchLog - reads archive history
• RCERevCreate - creates a new revision
• RCERevWrite - saves a revision in the archive
• RCERevRead - performs a check-out for read-only
• RCEAliasDefine - defines an alias for a revision
• RCEUserCheck - checks user access rights
• RCERevUserInfoSet - sets a user programmable attribut for the according revision

Hence, even attributes that were not provided in the original archive format can be archived.

The API allows to integrate standardized version control into your applications. Depending on your sales figures, we offer you runtime license charges on easy terms.

Our first experience

Since 1981, the RCS-Revision Control System is available, as developed by Prof. Walter F. Tichy at Purdue University, Indiana, USA. An essential motivation for the development of RCS was that many developers were not satisfied with SCCS which was commonly used until that time. RCS was for the first time shipped with Berkeley BSD Unix in 1983, and is available on most platforms nowadays. During the last decade, RCS has become a globally preferred, free version control system. Today, RCS shares around 35% of the market.

RCE - the successor of RCS

A special request of industry was a programming interface that would allow the user to integrate version control into his/her own software product.

In 1993, Prof. Walter F. Tichy, meanwhile working at Universität Karlsruhe, totally revised and re-developed the original concept. Furthermore, it turned out that the software development process varies so tremendously among different companies, that a product for revision control adoptable to the individual development process was requested. RCE-Revision Control Engine is the result of the affords thereupon.

RCE relies on more than 15 years of experience with RCS and other version control systems.

RCE offers the following advantages over RCS:

• Integration of RCE into other systems via API (programming interface)
• Support for all types of data (including binary data); extremely small deltas even for binary formats
• Named "Branches" (not just numbers); versions can also be tagged with arbitrary names
• Arbitrary number of aliases per version and hence support for simpler configuration management
• Simpler project management via support for work areas ("sandboxes")
• Template-based reservation of versions for better team support
• Enhanced data safety in case of crashes or when disk space runs out
• Multiple platform support via compatible archives across various systems: Windows or Unix archives can be accessed from the other system, respectively.
• Technical support, consultation and permanent development of the product
• Adding user-defined attributes that are stored along with the versions
• Graphical user interface (VRCE)

The following licenses are available:

• API license
• Site license
• API & runtime license
• Evaluation copy

Contact:

EMail: rce@aicas.com