[Zope] Are Versions Reliable?

[Edmund Goppelt]

I'm worried that Versions are not working properly on my Zope 2.3.0
web site.  I'm trying to figure out whether I should continue to use
versioning and/or whether I have a corrupt ZODB.

What has been your experience with Versions?  Is this a reliable
feature of Zope?  Have you ever been unable to roll back changes made
in a Version or been unable to commit a Version's changes?

Here's what happened: I recently committed a Version to the ZODB, but
Zope showed many of the objects as still having uncommitted changes
(the red diamond).  Further, Zope showed many items as having changed
that I know for a fact I did not edit (mainly Python scripts).  Worst
of all, the site became inaccessible to users, with Zope responding to
page requests with a VersionLockError.  Thankfully, Zope committed the
changes after I saved the Version changes a second time, but the fact
that Zope got confused about what had changed and what had not worries
me a good deal.

I don't understand why users were getting a VersionLockError--isn't
the point of Versions that you can try out changes without adversely
affecting your users?

What is the best way to safeguard my data and web site, in your
opinion?  What would cause Versions to fail in this manner?  Would
packing the database help?

-- 

Ed Goppelt