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chrislee8

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SSTab problem with its contents

I use SSTab in my form, each tab has its own controls as contents

I use Sourcesafe for the project. When I checked out the file, I click on each tab, its contents show up normally, correctly.

When I check the files back in, its contents don't show up while switching tab. Whatever in the tab as checked in remains there, even I click on other tabs! And the codes are working fine. the app is driven by the code, not the controls. the controls in the form is only for displaying purpose.

What is wrong with my SSTab?

Thanks
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TimCottee
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Chrislee8, there is nothing wrong with your SSTab, this is "normal" behaviour. When you check the project/form into sourcesafe it is protected and is read-only. This also makes the controls locked so that they cannot be editied. The effect of this is that even tough you appear to be able to switch tabs, you are not able to view the controls which appear on the different tabs. This has no effect on your compiled code and equally when the form is checked out of sourcesafe you are able to manipulate the controls in the normal manner.
Tim is 100% correct.

To prove this to yourself that the problem is not sourcesafe,  add a tab control to a form, save the form and exit VB.  set the form to read-only and you'll observe this effect without sourcesafe.

Personally, I find it a bit dissatisfying that the tabs switch without letting you know that the corresponding information will NOT be displayed.  Either the tabs should be disabled, or the control should show you what's behind the tab (even if you can't edit it.)  However, since tab switching actually changes properties, I can understand why the latter cannot be achieved.

Just a hint...
To see what's "behind" a tab, check it out of sourcesafe, switch tabs, then undo your checkout after you've seen what you're looking for.

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chrislee8

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thanks for inputs,

but, that is no good then, right? say I make the project into .exe file and run it, it only shows the contents in one of the tabs? so what the tab is for then?

i am very confused.
As Tim said, "This has no effect on your compiled code"
There should be no effect on your compiled code as I said before, if you are experiencing problems of this sort then I can say without any reservation that this is not in anyway related to sourcesafe. Effectively all that is happening is that your visual basic files that are stored in the working directory are marked as read-only. This has the effect of locking the controls on the form and making the code pane un-editable. Visual sourcesafe then has the "true" copy of your code and the objects. In this state, the code and the objects can be read and displayed in the locked form. When you compile, it is not the visual representation of the objects that is compiled, the information describing these objects and your source code is retrieved from the .frm and .frx files and translated into executable instructions. This will then run as written, which is why I say that if you have this sort of problem it can only be code related as the objects in the executable are NOT the objects that you actually see in the IDE at design time.
this is what I found out myself:

i created a test project, with a tab control, each tab contains a unique lable caption. there is no code at all.

the tabs works fine without adding to the sourcesafe. this I know.

Tabs don't work once I added the SourceSafe project and checked in.
Tabs don't work even I created a exe file and run it. the files are still checked in.

Tabs work when I created the exe file after I checked out the files.

so That means if I want my tab to be running correctly, I need to check out the files, create the exe file. check back in to lock the files. now the tabs should be good.

so that means it is not my code related. I think.
it is 100% sourcesafe related(even it is not sourcesafe problem).

I think this is how tab is designed to work, check out(unlock) the file, create the exe, then check in(lock) the file.

Please correct me if I still misunderstand.
Even I don't agree with you 100%, I think we at some point know what is going on. Thank you for your helps.
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TimCottee
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http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q150/4/17.ASP describes this and suggests that you check the form out before compilation. This is the only reference I can find so perhaps this is something that has been overlooked in the past couple of years. I know it applies to VB4 but as the control probably hasn't changed significantly in that time it perhaps has not been fixed.
yeah, it clears my confusion!!!

thanks for your confirmation.
well, checking out first and compile doesn't harm, it just annoying when the tab is get involoved.

have a good day.

I just tried out a tab strip on a project I'm working with and had no problems compiling it while checked into SourceSafe.

Can you further define the problem so I can learn?
no, I don't have problem compiling them after checked in.
the problem is the while switching tab, the contents on the right tab didn't show up.

it is very basic, I created a new project, i put a tabbed control on the form, on each tab, I make seperate label, while these files not added to ss and/or not checked in, label shows up correctly while switching tabs. once I checked the form in, either I run it or compile and run the exe file, the lable won't show up correspondingly.
I had to check the file out, compile it. then check the file in. now the lables show up right.