Patent ID: 7444363

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for a user to check out a database item from a source code control system, comprising: comparing a database item stored in the source code control system with a database item stored in a database; determining whether the compared database item in the source code control system is identical to the compared database item in the database; if it is determined that the compared database item in the source code control system is identical to the compared database item in the database, checking out the database item; and if it is determined that the compared database item in the source code control system is not identical to the compared database item in the database: providing the user a choice to select one of the database item in the source code control system and the database item in the database; and checking out the selected database item; wherein a historic record of the checked out database item is maintained, permitting changes to the database item to be traced thus enabling determination of when a change was introduced.