Plastic Newbie Needs Insight (DVCS + Baseline Repository)

[Xorcist]

So I'm brand new to Plastic SCM, and pretty new to Source Control in general. I've used Tortoise SVN (but only minimally, and didn't care for it). I started looking at Plastic SCM a while back, but had to switch focus for a couple months. Now that I have some free time, I'd like to try and get Plastic up and running at my company.

 

Basically I just need to know how to get started. What I would like to do is have a main repository for each project on our company server, which will only have checkins/merges from a qualified Integration Manager. I would like each developer to have their own local repositories which they can work on, and have developers pull/push from each other during development before handing off "good code" to the Integration Manager. Is this do-abled?

 

I know how to create a repository and setup a workspace. But I'm not entirely sure how to clone that repository for each developer on the project, so they get their own copy of the main repository. Bascially when someone starts on the project, how would that person acquire the initial copy of the most current baseline, locally, to start doing their own development? At the same time how would the Integration Manager (who would also have his/her own local copy of the repository) inject a "good build" into the company's main repository for that project?

 

I really just want to try and stage the development so it goes from developer local, to integration local, to baseline remote

 

If I'm confusing matter's (or this setup just isn't a good way to do things) please let me know.

[calbzam]

Hello,

 

Your case is perfectly doable with PlasticSCM. In a scenario like yours we recommend using branch per task pattern (http://codicesoftware.blogspot.com/2010/08/branch-per-task-workflow-explained.html). 

Each developer can work locally in a secondary branch and then, the Integrator Manager, can merge with the main branch when he considers necessary. One or more developers can work in the same branch and their changes don´t affect the main branch.  You have always a stable main branch. In your case, for example, you can use a "branch per developer" methodology.

 

PlasticSCM has a very interesting feature to work in distributed scenarios:Sync View.(http://codicesoftware.blogspot.com/2011/08/this-is-how-i-use-synch-view.html)

The sync view is a very simple yet powerful functionality in that enables you to connect two different repositories (which can “live” in different servers, separated by oceans, running on different OS, using different database backends… well, the usual) and check what’s need to be updated on each of them. You can replicate the last version and work locally, and then push your changes to the main repository. Plastic also allows parcial replication and a powerful permissions system.

 

In our doucumentation (http://www.plasticscm.com/infocenter/documentation.aspx) we have deep explanations about DVCS and branch per task methodology. If you have more problems configuring your scenario, or something about replication is not very clear, don´t hesitate to ask

 

 

Best regards,

 

Carlos