10. Version Control System — GPS 6.0.1 documentation

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# 10. Version Control System

GPS offers the possibility for multiple developers to work on the same project, through the integration of version control systems (VCS). Each project can be associated to a VCS, through the VCS tab in the Project properties editor. The Project Properties Editor.

GPS does not come with any version control system: it uses underlying command-line systems such as Subversion or ClearCase to perform the low level operations, and provides a high level user interface on top of them. Be sure to have a properly installed version control system before enabling it under GPS.

The systems that are supported out of the box in GPS are:

Auto

  GPS can be setup to auto-detect the actual VCS to use for each project. This is done by selecting Auto in the VCS tab of the Project properties editor. The Project Properties Editor. This is also the default behavior when no VCS is specified in the project.

ClearCase

  The standard ClearCase interface, which is built-in and uses a generic GPS terminology for VCS operations.

  Note that, at the moment, only Snapshot Views are supported in the ClearCase integration; Dynamic Views are not supported.

ClearCase Native

  Which is fully customizable and uses by default the terminology specific to ClearCase.

  Note that, at the moment, only Snapshot Views are supported in the ClearCase integration; Dynamic Views are not supported.

CVS

  The Concurrent Version System.

  GPS needs a corresponding patch command that usually comes with it.

Git

  Distributed fast source code management. Support for Git on GPS is partial. Basic commands are supported but the full power of Git (like working with the index) is only available on the command line.

  GPS needs a corresponding diff command that usually comes with it.

Mercurial

  An experimental plugin for supporting Mercurial.

Subversion

  The Subversion version control system. Note that on Windows this version is intended to be used with Cygwin/Subversion and fully supports the Cygwin path names.

  GPS needs a corresponding patch and diff command that usually comes with it.

Subversion Windows

  The Windows native Subversion version control system. The external Subversion commands are expected to be built for the Win32 subsystem. This version does not support Cygwin path names.

  GPS needs a corresponding patch and diff command that usually comes with it.

The default VCS that GPS will use is “Auto” by default, and this can be configured through The Preferences Dialog.

It is also possible to add your own support for other version control systems, or modify one of the existing interfaces, see Adding support for new Version Control Systems for more information.

It is recommended that you first get familiar with the version control system that you intend to use in GPS first, since many concepts used in GPS assume basic knowledge of the underlying system.

Associating a VCS to a project enables the use of basic VCS features on the source files contained in the project. Those basic features typically include the checking in and out of files, the querying of file status, file revision history, comparison between various revisions, and so on.

Note: the set-up must make sure that the VCS commands can be launched without entering a password.

## 10.1. The VCS Explorer

The VCS Explorer provides an overview of source files and their status. A file edited in GPS will be automatically added on the VCS Explorer with a Modified status (see below).

The easiest way to bring up the VCS Explorer is through the menu VCS->Explorer. The Explorer can also be brought up using the contextual menu Version Control->Query status on files, directories and projects in the file and project views, and on file editors. The Version Control Contextual Menu.

The VCS Explorer contains the following columns:

Project / File
  This is a two levels tree, the first level contains the name of the project and the second the name of files inside the project. Next to the project name the VCS name, if any, is displayed. This is the only information available for a project. The columns described below are for the files only. This column can be sorted by clicking on the header.
Status

  Shows the status of the file. This column can be sorted by clicking on the header. The different possible status for files are the following:

  Unknown

    The status is not yet determined or the VCS repository is not able to give this information (for example if it is unavailable, or locked).

  Not registered

    The file is not known to the VCS repository.

  Up-to-date

    The file corresponds to the latest version in the corresponding branch on the repository.

  Added

    The file has been added remotely but is not yet updated in the local view.

  Removed

    The file still exists locally but is known to have been removed from the VCS repository.

  Modified

    The file has been modified by the user or has been explicitly opened for editing.

  Needs merge

    The file has been modified locally and on the repository.

  Needs update

    The file has been modified in the repository but not locally.

  Contains merge conflicts

    The file contains conflicts from a previous update operation.

Log
  This column indicates whether a revision log exists for this file.
Activity
  The name of the activity the file belongs to. See The VCS Activities for more details.
Working rev.
  Indicates the version of the local file.
Head rev.
  Indicates the most recent version of the file in the repository.

The VCS Explorer supports multiple selections. To select a single line, simply left-click on it. To select a range of lines, select the first line in the range, then hold down the `Shift` key and select the last line in the range. To add or remove single columns from the selection, hold down the `Control` key and left-click on the columns that you want to select/unselect. It is also possible to select files having the same status using the Select files same status menu entry. See The Version Control Contextual Menu.

The explorer also provides an interactive search capability allowing you to quickly look for a given file name. The default key to start an interactive search is `Ctrl-i`.

The VCS contextual menu can be brought up from the VCS explorer by left-clicking on a selection or on a single line. The Version Control Contextual Menu.

## 10.2. The VCS Activities

The VCS Activities give the ability to group files to be committed together. The set of files can be committed atomically if supported by the version control system used.

The way to bring up the VCS Activities view is through the VCS->Activities menu.

The VCS Activities view contains the following columns:

Activity / File
  The name of the activity or files belonging to an activity. This column can be sorted by clicking on the header.
Status
  Shows the status of the file. This column can be sorted by clicking on the header. See The VCS Explorer for a full description.
Log
  This column indicates whether a revision log exists for this file.
Working rev.
  Indicates the version of the local file.
Head rev.
  Indicates the most recent version of the file in the repository.

The VCS Explorer supports multiple selections. To select a single line, simply left-click on it. To select a range of lines, select the first line in the range, then hold down the `Shift` key and select the last line in the range. To add or remove single columns from the selection, hold down the `Control` key and left-click on the columns that you want to select/unselect.

There are different contextual menu entries depending on the position on the screen. On an empty area we have a simple contextual menu:

Create new activity
  Create a new activity. The name can be edited by double clicking on it.

On an activity line the contextual menu is:

Group commit
  This is a selectable menu entry. It is activated only if the VCS supports atomic commit and absolute filenames. See The VCS node for full details.
Create new activity
  Create a new activity. The name can be edited by double clicking on it.
Re-open activity / Close activity
  If the activity is closed it is possible to re-open it and if it is opened it is possible to close it manually.
Delete activity
  Remove the activity.
Commit activity
  Commit the activity. If group commit is activated then the commit log content is generated using a template file fully configurable. See Files. If group commit is not activated then the log content for each activity file is the file log catenated with the activity log. After this operation the file’s log are removed but the activity log is kept as documentation.
Query status
  Query the status for all the source files contained in the activity.
Update
  Update all the source files contained in the activity.
Compare against head revision
  Show a visual comparison between the local activity files and the most recent version of those files in the repository.
Build patch file
  Create a patch file (in text format) for the activity. The patch file contains a header (the activity log and file’s logs) and the diff of each file. The header format is fully configurable using a template file. See Files.
Edit revision log
  Edit the current revision log for activity. This log is shared with all the activity files.
Remove revision log
  Remove the current revision log for activity. This menu is present only if the activity revision log exists.

On a file line the contextual menu contains:

Create new activity
  Create a new activity. The name can be edited by double clicking on it.
Remove from activity
  Remove the selected file from the activity and delete the activity log.
Edit revision log
  Edit the current revision log for the selected file.

## 10.3. The VCS Menu

Basic VCS operations can be accessed through the VCS menu. Most of these functions act on the current selection, i.e. on the selected items in the VCS Explorer if it is present, or on the currently selected file editor, or on the currently selected item in the Tools->Views->Files. In most cases, the VCS contextual menu offers more control on VCS operations. The Version Control Contextual Menu.

Explorer
  Open or raise the VCS Explorer. The VCS Explorer.
Update all projects
  Update the source files in the current project, and all imported sub-projects, recursively.
Query status for all projects
  Query the status of all files in the project and all imported sub-projects.
Create tag...
  Create a tag or branch tag starting from a specific root directory. The name of the tag is a simple name.
Switch tag...
  Switch the local copy to a specific tag. The name of the tag depends on the external VCS used. For CVS this this the simple tag name, for Subversion the tag must conform to the default repository layout. For a branch tag this is /branches/<tag_name>/<root_dir>.

For a description of the other entries in the VCS menu, see The Version Control Contextual Menu

## 10.4. The Version Control Contextual Menu

This section describes the version control contextual menu displayed when you right-click on an entity (e.g. a file, a directory, a project) from various parts of GPS, including the project view, the source editor and the VCS Explorer.

Depending on the context, some of the items described in this section won’t be shown, which means that they are not relevant to the current context.

Remove project
  Only displayed on a project line. This will remove the selected project from the VCS Explorer.
Expand all
  Expand all VCS Explorer project nodes.
Collapse all
  Collapse all VCS Explorer project nodes.
Clear View
  Clear the VCS Explorer.
Query status
  Query the status of the selected item. Brings up the VCS Explorer.
Update

  Update the currently selected item (file, directory or project).

Commit

  Submits the changes made to the file to the repository, and queries the status for the file once the change is made.

  It is possible to tell GPS to check the file before the actual commit happens. This is done by specifying a File checker in the VCS tab of the project properties dialog. This File checker is in fact a script or executable that takes an absolute file name as argument, and displays any error message on the standard output. The VCS commit operation will actually occur only if nothing was written on the standard output.

  It is also possible to check the change-log of a file before commit, by specifying a Log checker in the project properties dialog. This works on change-log files in the same way as the File checker works on source files.

Open

  Open the currently selected file for writing. On some VCS systems, this is a necessary operation, and on other systems it is not.

View entire revision history

  Show the revision logs for all previous revisions of this file.

View specific revision history
  Show the revision logs for one previous revision of this file.
Compare against head revision

  Show a visual comparison between the local file and the most recent version of that file in the repository.

Compare against other revision

  Show a visual comparison between the local file and one specific version of that file in the repository.

Compare two revisions

  Show a visual comparison between two specific revisions of the file in the repository.

Compare base against head

  Show a visual comparison between the corresponding version of the file in the repository and the most recent version of that file.

Compare against tag/branch

  Only available on a Revision View and over a tag/branch. Show a visual comparison between the corresponding version of the file in the repository and the version of that file in the tag/branch.

Annotate

  Display the annotations for the file, i.e. the information for each line of the file showing the revision corresponding to that file, and additional information depending on the VCS system.

  When using CVS or Subversion, the annotations are clickable. Left-clicking on an annotation line will query and display the changelog associated to the specific revision for this line.

Remove Annotate
  Remove the annotations from the selected file.
Edit revision log
  Edit the current revision log for the selected file.
Edit global ChangeLog
  Edit the global ChangeLog entry for the selected file. Working with global ChangeLog file.
Remove revision log
  Clear the current revision associated to the selected file.
Add
  Add a file to the repository, using the current revision log for this file. If no revision log exists, activating this menu will create one. The file is committed in the repository.
Add/No commit
  Add a file to the repository, using the current revision log for this file. If no revision log exists, activating this menu will create one. The file is not committed in the repository.
Remove
  Remove a file from the repository, using the current revision log for this file. If no revision log exists, activating this menu will create one. The modification is committed in the repository.
Remove/No commit
  Remove a file from the repository, using the current revision log for this file. If no revision log exists, activating this menu will create one. The modification is not committed in the repository.
Revert
  Revert a locale file to the repository revision, discarding all local changes.
Resolved
  Mark files’ merge conflics as resolved. Some version control systems (like Subversion) will block any commit until this action is called.
Switch tag/bracnh
  Only available on a Revision View and over a tag/branch name. Will switch the tree starting from a selected root to this specific tag or branch.
Merge
  Only available on a Revision View and over a tag/branch name. Merge file changes made on this specific tag/branch.
View revision
  Only available on a Revision View and over a revision.
Commit as new Activity
  An action to prepare a group-commit in just one-click. This action will:

create an anonymous activity,

> add all files selected into the VCS Explorer into the newly
>   created anonymous activity,

open the activity log,
  Just fill the activity log and commit the anonymous activity.
Add to Activity
  A menu containing all the current activities. Selecting one will add the current file to this activity. This menu is present only if the file is not already part of an activity.
Remove from Activity
  Remove file from the given activity. This menu is present only if the file is already part of an activity.
Directory

  Only available when the current context contains directory information

  Add/No commit
    Add the selected directory into the VCS.
  Remove/No commit
    Remove the selected directory from the VCS.
  Commit
    Commit the selected directory into the VCS. This action is available only if the VCS supports commit on directories, The VCS node.
  Add to Activity
    Add the selected directory into the VCS. This action is available only if the VCS supports commit on directories, The VCS node.
  Query status for directory
    Query status for the files contained in the selected directory.
  Update directory
    Update the files in the selected directory.
  Query status for directory recursively
    Query status for the files in the selected directory and all subdirectories recursively. Links and hidden directories are not included.
  Update directory recursively
    Update the files in the selected directory and all subdirectories recursively. Links and hidden directories not included..
Project

  Only available when the current context contains project information

  List all files in project
    Bring up the VCS Explorer with all the source files contained in the project.
  Query status for project
    Query the status for all the source files contained in the project.
  Update project
    Update all the source files in the project.
  List all files in project and sub-projects
    Bring up the VCS Explorer with all the source files contained in the project and all imported sub-projects.
  Query status for project and sub-projects
    Query the status for all the source files contained in the project and all imported sub-projects.
  Update project and sub-projects
    Update all the source files in the project and all imported sub-projects.
Select files same status
  Select the files having the same status as the current selected file.
Filters

  Only available from the VCS Explorer. This menu controls filtering of the items displayed in the list.

  Show all status
    Do not filter out any file from the list in the VCS Explorer.
  Hide all status
    Filter out all the files from the list in the VCS Explorer.
  Show <status>
    When disabled, filter out the files with the given status from the VCS Explorer.

## 10.5. Working with global ChangeLog file

A global ChangeLog file contains revision logs for all files in a directory and is named `ChangeLog`. The format for such a file is:

    **ISO-DATE  *name  <e-mail>***

    <HT>* **filename**[, **filename**]:
    <HT>revision history

where:

ISO-DATE
  A date with the ISO format YYYY-MM-DD
name
  A name, generally the developer name
<e-mail>
  The e-mail address of the developer surrounded with ‘<’ and ‘>’ characters.
HT
  Horizontal tabulation (or 8 spaces)

The name and <e-mail> items can be entered automatically by setting the GPS_CHANGELOG_USER environment variable. Note that there is two spaces between the name and the <e-mail>:

    On sh shell:

       export GPS_CHANGELOG_USER="John Doe  <john.doe@home.com>"

    On Windows shell:
       set GPS_CHANGELOG_USER="John Doe  <john.doe@home.com>"

Using the menu entry Edit global ChangeLog will open the file `ChangeLog` in the directory where the current selected file is and create the corresponding `ChangeLog` entry. This means that the ISO date and filename headers will be created if not yet present. You will have to enter your name and e-mail address.

This `ChangeLog` file serve as a repository for revision logs, when ready to check-in a file use the standard Edit revision log menu command. This will open the standard revision log buffer with the content filled from the global `ChangeLog` file.

## 10.6. The Revision View

The revision view is used to display a revision tree for a given file. Each node contains information for a specific revision of the file.

the revision number
  This corresponds to the external VCS revision number.
author
  The author of this revision.
date / log
  For root nodes this column contains the check-in date and eventually the list of tags and branches associated with this revision. For children nodes this contains the log for the corresponding revision.

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