Introduction
CM Synergy aka Telelogic Synergy is, "a task-based configuration management system". But the philosophy of the tool is radically different from other version control systems around. These differences sometimes add up and hit you hard; especially if you have prior experience with any of those other tools!
Synergy-ese (Essential)
CM Synergy uses different terminology from other CM tools. Some of these "new" terms are ill-chosen and may take some getting used to. If you are moving to CM Synergy from another tool or are forced to adapt (new job etc), then these rough translations may help you get to speed faster.
Task (almost)= objects
A task is just a collection of versioned objects. Synergy adds the idea that these objects are grouped together for a purpose and hence it is a "task".
Check-out
You check out objects and make changes to them. Synergy recommends that the checkouts must be made against a task. When you check out an object is that it gets added to the task. In effect, you are making the task as you work. When you check out stuff, it becomes a modifiable "working" copy on your hard disk.
Check-in
After you make those changes, you check them in. You can check in the task, Synergy tracks the objects associated with the task and checks in each of those objects. Alternatively, you can also check in objects individually.
Folder = Label, Tag (Do not draw the "directory" parallel!)
Tasks are put in folders. Since a task is a collection of objects, the folder will, effectively, contain the objects that make up those tasks.
Reconfigure = Update
Reconfigure is how you get files from the repository. A set of folders would have been allotted to you within Synergy; when you reconfigure, you would be getting the contents of those folders. The fancy Synergy-ese term for what you get when you reconfigure is the not-for-mortals-sounding "reconfigure template".
Project
A project is a list of the versions of all the files (objects) being used by you.
Finding Synergy
(TODO)
Advanced Synergy-ese (Non essential)
(TODO)
Sync
Reconcile
Get Out Of Jail Free!
(TODO)
Conclusion?
(TODO)
- Thomas Jay Cubb
