Microsoft Delta Tips and Tricks

ID: Q131222

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Delta for Windows, version 1.0

SUMMARY

This article reprints the "Tips & Tricks" help topic found in the Microsoft Delta online help. It contains a varied collection of useful information for managing Delta. Where appropriate, Product Support has expanded the text to include new information, or expanded discussion of a given topic.

MORE INFORMATION

In the items below, each content section is underlined, with its associated topics below.

Setting Server Permissions
Setting the DELTA_USER Environment Variable
Changing a Volume Label
Moving a Project
Errors in Calculating Differences
Increasing the Size of the DOSPipe Buffer
Using the /a and /r Command Line Switches
How Microsoft Delta Connects to a Network Server
The LOCALDRIVES Variable
"Bad command or filename" Message
"Sleeping..." Message

Setting Server Permissions

If you are going to use a server as the location for a project's master files, the server administrator must ensure that the server is set up to allow project members to perform specific operations while using Microsoft Delta. Those operations include: creating a file, deleting a file, reading a file, writing to a file, renaming a file, and changing the attributes of a file. If the server isn't set up with these permissions, Microsoft Delta will not work properly and project members will get error messages when issuing Microsoft Delta commands.

Setting the DELTA_USER Environment Variable

Microsoft Delta uses the DELTA_USER environment variable to uniquely identify you as a project member. The name assigned to DELTA_USER is used in commands such as List Project Members, Status, and Log. If DELTA_USER is not set, Microsoft Delta uses your computer name. If a computer name is not found and DELTA_USER is not set, you will receive an error message telling you to set the DELTA_USER environment variable.

Changing a Volume Label

Microsoft Delta uses the volume label to identify the location of a project on your computer. You should not change the volume label of a drive after you have created or joined a project from that drive. However, if you absolutely have to change the volume label, you can follow the steps outlined below.

To change a volume label:

1. Leave the project.

2. Change the volume label. You can do this with the LABEL command from any

   MS-DOS prompt.

3. Rejoin the project.

Moving a Project

You should plan a project so you don't have to move the master version of the files once you have created the project. However, you can move a project if necessary.

To move a project from one server to another:

1. Lock the entire project with the Admin menu's Lock/Unlock Project

   command.

2. Using the MS-DOS XCOPY command, copy the directory tree and all the

   project files in the \stat\, \diff\, and \src\ directories to the new
   server.

3. Unlock the new project with the Lock/Unlock Project command.

4. Instruct each project member to run the following command at the MS-DOS

   prompt:

      repair /as [new project location] /p [project name]

As an alternative, have each member leave the project before moving it, then have them rejoin the project at its new location.

Errors in Calculating Differences

If you get the message "Error calculating differences" while trying to open the Microsoft Delta Viewer to look at differences between two versions or two files, consider the following possibilities:

Short on disk space. Microsoft Delta needs disk space for three temporary files (copies of the two you are comparing and a file of differences). It looks on the drive that contains your TMP or TEMP directory, if you have one, or on the c:\ drive if you don't. Free up disk space if it is limited.
Out of memory. Close other applications to see if it is a memory problem.
Retrieval problem. You won't be able to retrieve previous versions of a file if the differences for those versions were deleted by the project administrator. Similarly, you cannot retrieve previous versions of files for which no history is kept (generally binary files). Also, check to make sure the network is working properly if your master files are on a server.

Increasing the Size of the DOSPipe Buffer

If you get an error message indicating that the DOSPipe buffer is overflowing, you need to increase the size of the buffer. The buffer is used by Microsoft Delta to transfer commands internally and its default size is 8K. You should increase it in increments of 4K. To do so, add the following line to the section titled [386Enh] in your SYSTEM.INI file, located in your Windows directory:

   msdelta_pipebuffsize=12288

You must restart Microsoft Windows for this change to take effect. If the buffer continues to overflow, increase the size to 16384 and try again.

Using the /a and /r Command Line Switches

The /a (all) switch applies a command in all project directories. The /r (recursive) switch applies a command in all master project directories recursively; that is, in a master project directory and any subdirectories it may contain. You can use either the /a switch or the /r switch, but not both. The /a and /r switches must be the last option in the command. Only a pattern or filename can follow the /a switch. Only a pattern, filename, or directory name can follow the /r switch.

How Microsoft Delta Connects to a Network Server

While Microsoft Delta is running, you may sometimes see references to local drive letters that you didn't specify. It is important that you not disconnect any of these drives. Microsoft Delta is using them and will disconnect as soon as it has finished processing a command. When Microsoft Delta connects to a network server to execute a command (such as "in" or "log"), it uses the first unmapped local drive. It doesn't use any network connections that have already been established, because those connections might be broken before Microsoft Delta completes its processing. (For example, you might disconnect from a server or another application might finish its processing and disconnect. If Microsoft Delta had used the same local drive connection, it would then be unable to access its files.)

The LOCALDRIVES Variable

Microsoft Delta checks drives to see whether they are network or local. If it recognizes a network drive, it connects using an available local drive as described above in "How Microsoft Delta Connects to a Network Server." In some cases, it identifies Bernoulli drives as network drives under certain conditions and as local drives under other conditions. The LOCALDRIVES variable lets you force Microsoft Delta to recognize specified drive letters as local. In the case of the Bernoulli drive, you should use LOCALDRIVES with the Bernoulli's local drive letter before you run any Microsoft Delta commands. This will ensure that Microsoft Delta treats it as a local drive under all conditions, and can always locate the files on that drive.

To specify local drives, at the MS-DOS prompt, type:

   set localdrives=d,e,f

where D, E, and F are drives you want Microsoft Delta to classify as local. (The separator can be a comma or any nonalpha character.)

NOTE: The online help for Delta, as well as the README.TXT are incorrect. They specify that you can use the following syntax for LOCALDRIVES:

   set localdrives = d,e,f

Other variations that appear include:

   set localdrives = d, e, f

Neither of these statements will work. Delta will not parse them correctly, and the effect will be as if LOCALDRIVES were not set at all.

"Bad command or filename" Message

If you get this message in the output window, it usually means that you don't have your Delta directory on your path. It is generally best to put Delta as the first directory in the path statement found in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. For example:

   PATH=C:\DELTA;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\

Delta itself is actually a Windows interface which, depending on what you want it to do, generates a batch file, which it executes. This batch file uses various Delta programs, which will not run if the path is not set up correctly.

"Sleeping..." Message

Sometimes Microsoft Delta is not able to complete a command immediately for one of the following reasons:

Someone else has locked the status file.
-or-
Delta can't get through to the server.

If this happens, Delta displays a prompt asking if you want to keep trying. If you selected "Answer Yes to All Questions" from the Windows interface or used the /f (force) option from the command line, Delta doesn't prompt you. Instead, it displays the "Sleeping..." message and continues trying to complete the command.

Additional reference words: 1.00 KBCategory: kbusage kbdocerr KBSubcategory: Delta