Utterly Frustrated.

Hi All,

I have spent a total of 93 hours now trying to get Visual Studio 2005
to access, via HTTP, a Visual SourceSafe 2005 repository running on
Vista Home with IIS 7.0 installed. At my hourly rate, I could have
bought a modest new vehicle in the USA with the money wasted. As I
mentioned in my other post, what is ironic is that I normally spend
10+ hours / day doing research in access control models, security, and
distributed file systems, so I am extremely frustrated that I cannot
get this to work.

My setup:


[Source: VS2005/VSS 2005/Vista Home] <----HTTP-----> [Target:VSS/2005/
Vista Home/IIS 7.0]

On the Target machine, I created a VSS database at F:\FOO

On the Target machine, I shared F:\FOO as \\MyResearchOrg\FOO

On the Target machine, I used VSS Admin to enable Internet access for
\\MyResearchOrg\FOO.

On the Target machine, I looked at the WebDAV icon for a while in IIS
7.0. It looks nice. There is some kind of permissions thing, and I
have no clue how Add Authoring Rule affects my situation (in detail),
so I enabled everything I saw just in case.

On the Source machine, which for the moment, was same as Target
machine, and I used VS2005 wizard to create a virgin Win32 project
called FOO at C:\FOO. I checked in C:\FOO into the newly-created VSS
database on the target machine using:

http://www.myresearchorg.com
\\MyResearcchOrg\FOO

It *looks* like that worked.

I went to a *different* Source machine and did Open Solution inside
VS2005. When dialog comes up, I say the repository is somewhere on
Internet. I open database by specifying:

http://www.myresearchorg.com
\\MyResearcchOrg\FOO

A pop-up asks for username/password for the HTTP server (I currently
have IIS 7.0 configured for basic authentication on that Target
server), I type it in, and the funky greenish-gray VSS folders show up
in dialog. I browse to FOO.root, go deeper, see FOO.sln.

So good so far.

When I double-click FOO.sln, I get the exact same behavior identified
on this link, only, I have tried everthing on that link with no
success.

http://tinyurl.com/2tekqs

Is there anyone who can help with this?

TIA,

-Le Chaud Lapin-

Le
Thu Mar 13 00:47:11 CDT 2008

On Mar 11, 3:46=A0pm, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
[snip]
> When I double-click FOO.sln, I get the exact same behavior identified
> on this link, only, I have tried everthing on that link with no
> success.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2tekqs
>
> Is there anyone who can help with this?

I checked my IIS log files and it seems that sometimes my username is
being send from web client to web server and sometimes not. The
following lines were generated in the log file during routine initial
checking of files from client machine to server machine's VSS
repository. As you can see, for a while, there are no problems (HTTP
code 200), and then soon, there are problems (HTTP code 500), and for
all the 500's, my username is absent and the Win32 code on server side
is 5, which is "Access Denied". I have tried enabling access to
everything possible on server side, as mentioned. It should be noted
that this is "hands off" behavior, where VS2005 is simply doing
whatever it does when one does initial check-in of code into a
repository over the Internet.

Why is it omitting my username (Bunny) midway?

TIA,

-Le Chaud Lapin-

2008-03-13 05:37:12 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 24
2008-03-13 05:37:12 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 24
2008-03-13 05:37:12 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 23
2008-03-13 05:37:12 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 56
2008-03-13 05:37:12 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 26
2008-03-13 05:37:12 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 36
2008-03-13 05:37:12 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 105

<misbehave>

2008-03-13 05:37:40 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
+MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 26916
2008-03-13 05:37:46 ::1 OPTIONS / - 80 - ::1 Microsoft-WebDAV-
MiniRedir/6.0.6001 401 2 64 30505
2008-03-13 05:37:46 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
+MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 590
2008-03-13 05:37:46 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
+MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 504
2008-03-13 05:37:46 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
+MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 315
2008-03-13 05:37:47 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
+MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 829
2008-03-13 05:38:00 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
+MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 549
2008-03-13 05:38:00 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
+MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 283
2008-03-13 05:38:00 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
+MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 658

</misbehave>

2008-03-13 05:38:01 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 159
2008-03-13 05:38:01 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 102
2008-03-13 05:38:01 192.168.1.50 POST /SourceSafe/VssService.asmx - 80
Bunny 192.168.1.50 VCSoapClient 200 0 0 114

Le
Thu Mar 13 01:42:07 CDT 2008

On Mar 13, 12:47=A0am, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:

> <misbehave>
[snip]
> 2008-03-13 05:37:46 192.168.1.50 PUT /SourceSafe/VssUpload_db1/
> b7d12641-d5b8-4c30-af72-8c2f73c66ef6/{AC79024C-
> D826-403E-9732-93DD4946D4E6} - 80 - 192.168.1.50 SourceSafe+Remote
> +MSSCCI+Client/1.0 500 19 5 590
[snip]
> </misbehave>

When I use explorer.exe to right-click and bring up "Properties"
against VssWebDownload adn VssWebUpload, I see that the Read Only box
is checked for both. It says

"Read-only (Only applies to files in folder)"

I clear the Read-only check box.
Let properties dialog box go away.
Bring it back.
Read-only is still checked.

Just for fun, I check the "Hidden" check box.
Do a refresh of Windows Explorer.
Directory is still present (perhaps this makes sense?)

In any case, it seems that I should be able to clear the Read-only
check box.

-Le Chaud Lapin-

Le
Thu Mar 13 23:15:23 CDT 2008

On Mar 13, 12:47=A0am, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 11, 3:46=A0pm, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi All,
> [snip]
> > When I double-click FOO.sln, I get the exact same behavior identified
> > on this link, only, I have tried everthing on that link with no
> > success.
>
> >http://tinyurl.com/2tekqs
>
> > Is there anyone who can help with this?
>
> I checked my IIS log files and it seems that sometimes my username is
> being send from web client to web server and sometimes not. =A0The
> following lines were generated in the log file during routine initial
> checking of files from client machine to server machine's VSS
> repository. =A0As you can see, for a while, there are no problems (HTTP
> code 200), and then soon, there are problems (HTTP code 500), and for
> all the 500's, my username is absent and the Win32 code on server side
> is 5, which is "Access Denied". =A0I have tried enabling access to
> everything possible on server side, as mentioned. =A0It should be noted
> that this is "hands off" behavior, where VS2005 is simply doing
> whatever it does when one does initial check-in of code into a
> repository over the Internet.
>
> Why is it omitting my username (Bunny) midway?

For the benefit of other engineers who might be struggling to get this
to work, I found this:

http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/360/what-is-new-for-webdav-and-iis-70/

"Anonymous PROPFINDs are allowed for file listings, but file uploads
require an authenticated user. This is a change from IIS 6.0, where
anonymous file uploads could be enabled by opening up your security.
In WebDAV for IIS 7.0 we changed this behavior so that all WebDAV
activity would require authentication, but we allow for the use of
anonymous PROPFINDs for backward-compatibility with some WebDAV
clients. (More specifically, the PUT, MKCOL, PROPPATCH, COPY, MOVE,
and DELETE verbs all require authentication.) "

Not sure if that is the problem, but it helps to know. Note that
there is no place in the help documentation of IIS 7.0 where this is
indicated. If you want to know, you have to read random blogs put out
by Microsoft engineers on the web to find it. :)

-Le Chaud Lapin-

David
Thu Mar 13 23:39:25 CDT 2008


On Mar 13, 9:15=A0pm, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 13, 12:47=A0am, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Mar 11, 3:46=A0pm, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > Hi All,
> > [snip]
> > > When I double-click FOO.sln, I get the exact same behavior identified
> > > on this link, only, I have tried everthing on that link with no
> > > success.
>
> > >http://tinyurl.com/2tekqs
>
> > > Is there anyone who can help with this?
>
> > I checked my IIS log files and it seems that sometimes my username is
> > being send from web client to web server and sometimes not. =A0The
> > following lines were generated in the log file during routine initial
> > checking of files from client machine to server machine's VSS
> > repository. =A0As you can see, for a while, there are no problems (HTTP
> > code 200), and then soon, there are problems (HTTP code 500), and for
> > all the 500's, my username is absent and the Win32 code on server side
> > is 5, which is "Access Denied". =A0I have tried enabling access to
> > everything possible on server side, as mentioned. =A0It should be noted
> > that this is "hands off" behavior, where VS2005 is simply doing
> > whatever it does when one does initial check-in of code into a
> > repository over the Internet.
>
> > Why is it omitting my username (Bunny) midway?
>
> For the benefit of other engineers who might be struggling to get this
> to work, I found this:
>
> http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/360/what-is-new-for-webdav-and-iis-70/
>
> "Anonymous PROPFINDs are allowed for file listings, but file uploads
> require an authenticated user. This is a change from IIS 6.0, where
> anonymous file uploads could be enabled by opening up your security.
> In WebDAV for IIS 7.0 we changed this behavior so that all WebDAV
> activity would require authentication, but we allow for the use of
> anonymous PROPFINDs for backward-compatibility with some WebDAV
> clients. (More specifically, the PUT, MKCOL, PROPPATCH, COPY, MOVE,
> and DELETE verbs all require authentication.) "
>
> Not sure if that is the problem, but it helps to know. =A0Note that
> there is no place in the help documentation of IIS 7.0 where this is
> indicated. If you want to know, you have to read random blogs put out
> by Microsoft engineers on the web to find it. :)
>
> -Le Chaud Lapin-- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


That has always been the case for IIS.

Before IIS6, you would not even be able to search and find this
necessary information from IIS Engineers. If it was not in
documentation then tough.

After I spearheaded blogging within IIS6 and then worked on that IIS7
website, you now have better insights into how things worked, though
they are still not documented in any official documentation. If you
search on blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang or read my BIO you should
understand exactly what and how *I* think useful information on IIS
should be disseminated, but it will never be possible in official
channels/documentation.


//David
http://w3-4u.blogspot.com
http://blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang
//

Le
Thu Mar 13 23:50:20 CDT 2008

On Mar 13, 11:39=A0pm, David Wang <w3.4...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 13, 9:15=A0pm, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:

> After I spearheaded blogging within IIS6 and then worked on that IIS7
> website, you now have better insights into how things worked, though
> they are still not documented in any official documentation. If you
> search on blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang or read my BIO you should
> understand exactly what and how *I* think useful information on IIS
> should be disseminated, but it will never be possible in official
> channels/documentation.
>
> //Davidhttp://w3-4u.blogspot.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang

I read your blogs and other posts opportunistically, but I have a
friend/colleague who swears by them. :)

I'm going to start paying attention more.

Also, I noticed that, recently, Microsoft has got into the habit of
writing their documentation like this:

[Heading: Enabling FriggleFraps]

{Subheading: How To Activate}

"To activate FriggleFraps, set the FriggleFraps checkbox."

{Subheading: How To Deactivate}

"To deactivate FriggleFraps, deactivate the FriggleFraps checkbox."

At no place in the documentation do they say what a FriggleFrap is, or
if they do, it's something like "A Friggle is something that friggles,
and a Frap is something that fraps, and a FriggleFrap is a Friggle and
a Frap working together in perfect harmony". The engineer who writes
this stuff might have had FriggleFraps in his mind the last 6 1/2
years, and has become so familiar with them, he severely
underappreciate the disparity between what is in his head and what his
audience knows of what's in his head. You can imagine how obnoxious
this is to someone who has never heard of a FriggleFrap. In such
cases, IMO, Microsoft would be better off not writing and help files
at all. That way we'd waste no time and go straight to your blog and
the IIS site. :)

David
Fri Mar 14 06:19:00 CDT 2008

On Mar 13, 9:50=A0pm, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 13, 11:39=A0pm, David Wang <w3.4...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Mar 13, 9:15=A0pm, Le Chaud Lapin <jaibudu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > After I spearheaded blogging within IIS6 and then worked on that IIS7
> > website, you now have better insights into how things worked, though
> > they are still not documented in any official documentation. If you
> > search on blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang or read my BIO you should
> > understand exactly what and how *I* think useful information on IIS
> > should be disseminated, but it will never be possible in official
> > channels/documentation.
>
> > //Davidhttp://w3-4u.blogspot.comhttp://blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang
>
> I read your blogs and other posts opportunistically, but I have a
> friend/colleague who swears by them. :)
>
> I'm going to start paying attention more.
>
> Also, I noticed that, recently, Microsoft has got into the habit of
> writing their documentation like this:
>
> [Heading: Enabling FriggleFraps]
>
> {Subheading: How To Activate}
>
> "To activate FriggleFraps, set the FriggleFraps checkbox."
>
> {Subheading: How To Deactivate}
>
> "To deactivate FriggleFraps, deactivate the FriggleFraps checkbox."
>
> At no place in the documentation do they say what a FriggleFrap is, or
> if they do, it's something like "A Friggle is something that friggles,
> and a Frap is something that fraps, and a FriggleFrap is a Friggle and
> a Frap working together in perfect harmony". The engineer who writes
> this stuff might have had FriggleFraps in his mind the last 6 1/2
> years, and has become so familiar with them, he severely
> underappreciate the disparity between what is in his head and what his
> audience knows of what's in his head. You can imagine how obnoxious
> this is to someone who has never heard of a FriggleFrap. =A0In such
> cases, IMO, Microsoft would be better off not writing and help files
> at all. That way we'd waste no time and go straight to your blog and
> the IIS site. :)


I agree with your observations of documentation. I have long been
frustrated with "shallow" and bare-bones documentation like that. I am
not trying to make a blanket statement about technical writers because
I know of many who are very good at what they do -- but in my
expreience poor documentation like what you cite usually results from
a technical writer who doesn't really know the product area well
enough to document it but is strangely responsible for documenting it.
And the product developer/tester who tends to know the feature the
best are either not writing documentation or end up having their
revisions butchered by the technical writer.

It was at that point that I decided to just short-circuit everything
and started blogging what I want to document -- my own insights and
explanation of how things actually work from the nuts and bolts to the
very top. I have seen enough of my words minced by technical writers,
or waited months for documentation changes to publish onto MSDN (that
end up inaccurate because once again, someone "proofreads" my changes
and incorrectly alters it), that I just stopped providing any useful
content to them. Instead, I directly author and blog it.


//David
http://w3-4u.blogspot.com
http://blogs.msdn.com/David.Wang
//