Using Revision Control

Revision control allows you to keep a history of the changes that you have made to your database. Instead of needing to keep multiple sets of back up files, a single revision control database is maintained. At any point, you can revert back to a previously saved version.

GRAMPS uses the standard RCS system to handle revisions.

Revison control is enabled in the Revision Control tab of the preferences dialog. Once enabled, every save is logged into the revision control database. If you have enabled prompting for a comment, then a dialog box will be displayed on every save asking you to provide a comment about the changes you have made.

Figure 24. Providing a revision control comment

Reverting to a previous version

If revision control has been enabled, you have the option of reverting to a previous version of the database. Selecting the check box will allow you to select a previous version.

Figure 25. Opening a database

If the check box has be selected, GRAMPS will display a dialog box that will allow you to choose which version you would like to view. The dialog box displays the version number, the date the version was saved, who saved the database, and any comment supplied when the datbase was saved.

Figure 26. Choosing a revision

Choosing a previous revision does not replace your current database. If you do not save the retrieved database, it will not replace the current version. If for some reason you accidentally save the retrieved database when you did not want to replace the current version, you can always use the revison control mechanism to get back the version you replaced.

Revision control is applied only to the database itself, not to any media objects have been associated with the database.