Nested branches

christian · Post by **christian** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 12:43 pm

Does Vault track the ancestry of branches two or more generations deep? For example $/Mainline branched to $/Branches/Child and then $/Branches/Child branched to $/Branches/GrandChild. Will Vault remember that $/Branches/GrandChild originated from $/Mainline?

Viewing branch ancestry does not seem to be that well supported in Vault. Are there plans in the near future for this area to be enhanced?

Thanks
Christian

Post by **jclausius** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 12:57 pm

Christian:

Here is an explanation of Vault's branching / history. Imagine a file existing in a folder $/Main/ ( $/Main/file.cpp version 3 )

Now, $/Main/ is branched to $/Branch1/. A view of history for $/Branch1/file.cpp is now version 4 because of the branch. History will show file.cpp for version 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Next, file.cpp is edited two more times ( versions 5 & 6 ), and $/Branch1/ is branched to $/Branch2/.

So history on $/Branch2/file.cpp should contain

Version 1 - added
Version 2 - edited
Version 3 - edited
Version 4 - branched from $/Main/file.cpp
Version 5 - edited
Version 6 - edited
Version 7 - branched from $/Branch1/file.cpp

Can you elaborate on what you would like to see expanded?

christian · Post by **christian** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:28 am

Thanks as always for the swift reply Jeff.

Ok, I'm trying to feel my way around using Vault so I suspect that some of my comments are going to stem from a lack of knowledge of how to use what's already available, so please bear with me (and point me in the right direction!).

Currently to view branch ancestry I have to right-click->Show history on the file, on the actions tab uncheck all actions except Branch and then hit OK. Then by reading the history items I figure out the ancestry.

To make things easier may I suggest the following enhancement:
Right-click file and select properties. On the properties dialog have another tab labelled "Paths" (think Source Safe). This shows a tree view with the branch ancestry for the item. Using the example you provide you would see:

$/Main/file.cpp
-->$/Branch1/file.cpp
----->$/Branch2/file.cpp

Having this available as a property of the file/folder would allow you to see ancestry regardless of where in the repository you happen to select the item. Contrast this with viewing history on $/Main/file.cpp where you wouldn't see from the history presented that this file has been branched.

Is this something that you can add?

Thanks
Christian

Post by **jclausius** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 8:40 am

OK. I mis-understood your original post. You are making a suggestion for a feature request to show branch ancestry outside of history.

I've logged the request. Note, this is the first request of this type.

christian · Post by **christian** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:34 am

Can you appreciate why this is a useful feature?

It’s really tough at the moment to be able to see where a file/folder is being used in the repository when you've branched. It’s like not having the Share tab when trying to establish where a file is being shared.

I also think this feature would rather compliment the feature requested in my other post http://support.sourcegear.com/viewtopic.php?t=2521

Thanks
Christian

Post by **jclausius** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:39 am

Yes, it is easy to understand how this could be usedful in "tracking" objects throughout a repository.

christian · Post by **christian** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:43 am

Ok, I'll look out for an update in a month or two ;-)