advise on the result on the this rcs scenario

[Mark Cooke]

Hi,

Can someone please let me know if my interpretation of this is correct, 
my boss my set-up an rcs repository at work and after countless 
conversations, I feel that his needs would be better suited to using to 
cvs, rather than rcs.

Here's the scenario:

We have a central rcs repository, this is exported via a windows shared 
to each workstation, as the company doesn't want to install a web server 
on each machine and does not want every developer to checkout the files 
to a working directory on their local machine,
they are making everyone use the same webroot (again exported via shares 
to each workstation) to develop on.
This happens to be on the same server as the repository.
So each person has had to checkout all the websites to this webroot 
share (yes they are all checking it out the the same location).

Every developer must lock the file, do the changes then check the file 
back in, whilst this way of working is a little strange, it seems to work.
So in theory we do not ever need to update the the working directory, as 
we are all working on the same file, in the same directory.

Here's the dilemma, we now have one college works from home twice a 
week, he copies all the sites he will be working on to a cd, takes them 
home and does his changes on them.
In the mean time we are busy back at work and may change some of the 
files he took home.
We do the usual check then out, lock, edit, check in.

Now here comes the problem, my boss is convinced that when my work 
college comes back on Monday, he can checkout the webroot version of the 
files he has been working on, and copy his files over the top, check 
them back in and it will commit his changes, *without* messing/loosing 
up changes.

If I'm correct the only way to avoid disaster, is for his to check out 
and lock the webroot version, do a manual diff against his version and 
manually commit the changes, then check them back in, this will keep all 
the changes.

Sorry if this sounds a bit muddled..

All I'm realy after, if confirmation that my result and resolution (for 
this scenario) is correct.
Yes I know this set-up is asking for disaster, but the boss set it up 
and will not alter it, but I feel that we should be using cvs instead.