workflow for using github for HoloLens app version control

wick · July 2016

I have a HoloHacks app that is being tweaked to get into the Store and I am having trouble understanding how to locally test a branch off the origin master in github. I am a n00b and am using the free version of Unity, VS, HoloLens emulator and github Desktop.

Could anyone provide a workflow for testing the branch locally, if there is one person developing and another person testing the branch? I am the tester and the admin for master. I haven't been able to see the changes of the branch in Unity and am not sure where to start troubeshooting - having a good workflow to follow would help me.

Thanks.

ContextVR · July 2016

@wick Here's an example workflow:

# developer workflow
cd project_repo_path
git checkout master
git fetch && git pull

# create local feature branch
git checkout -b username/feature

# work work work

# commit changes
git commit -m "Feature description"

# push feature branch to remote
git push -u origin username/feature

# create pull request on github

# tester workflow
git clone project_repo_url
cd project_repo_path
git fetch && git pull

# checkout remote feature branch locally
git checkout -t origin/username/feature

# test test test
# comment on pull request on github

# merge pull request on github

# update local master after merge
git checkout master
git fetch && git pull

# delete local feature branch
git branch -b username/feature

This should get you started, merges can be done locally through command line as well, but you may lose visibility, so I would recommend doing them via github, so it's visible to everyone on the team.

Hope this helps, post any specific issue here.

ahillier · July 2016

Hi @wick,
I'm not sure how you have your branching set-up in GitHub, as there are different ways for teams to organize their projects. The most basic set-up is have a separate repository for each project, where final check-ins are made to 'master' directly. In this set-up, you simply need to clone the repository and then press the 'sync' button in the desktop tool to pull the latest changes from master:

1) Open GitHub desktop tool and select the repository (or clone a new one, if you don't have any changes to check-in and want to ensure that you have a clean starting state. Cloning will always give you the most-up-to-date version).

2) With 'master' shown at the top drop-down, select the 'Sync' button.

For more complex projects (or multiple projects within the same repository), it can get more confusing. Here is the approach that I take when updating our Academy course content (where each course is a branch off of master), which requires a few more steps:

3) Change top drop-down from 'master' to the branch you want to test/update (ex: 'Holograms-230-SpatialMapping).

4) Change the update section's 'master' drop-down to the branch that you want to test/update.

Now there should only be one visible branch for syncing:

5) Sync the branch. If you have the 'History' tab selected at the top, you should see all of the check-ins that went in since the last time you did a sync (so you'll know where to concentrate your testing efforts).

Once you are done syncing your repository, you can navigate to the local repository folder on your PC. It should contain all of the files that are relevant to the branch currently selected in the desktop tool. You'll then want to load that project in Unity for testing.

If you never intend to check-in and the project is not huge, then always creating a fresh clone is probably the best way to ensure that you are working with the latest code base. You can also double-check that your local repository is up-to-date by comparing the 'History' section on your desktop with that of the online GitHub repository.

I hope this helps,
~Angela

ContextVR · July 2016

@wick Here's an example workflow:

# developer workflow
cd project_repo_path
git checkout master
git fetch && git pull

# create local feature branch
git checkout -b username/feature

# work work work

# commit changes
git commit -m "Feature description"

# push feature branch to remote
git push -u origin username/feature

# create pull request on github

# tester workflow
git clone project_repo_url
cd project_repo_path
git fetch && git pull

# checkout remote feature branch locally
git checkout -t origin/username/feature

# test test test
# comment on pull request on github

# merge pull request on github

# update local master after merge
git checkout master
git fetch && git pull

# delete local feature branch
git branch -b username/feature

This should get you started, merges can be done locally through command line as well, but you may lose visibility, so I would recommend doing them via github, so it's visible to everyone on the team.

Hope this helps, post any specific issue here.

wick · July 2016

Thank you @ContextVR. I have been using the Desktop GUI but will switch to command line to try this over the weekend.

ahillier · July 2016