Collaborating

You can collaborate with team members within the RhodeCode Enterprise interface as it allows you to collaborate through the following functions.

  • Reviewing and approving pull requests
  • Notifying code reviewers
  • Creating or forking pull requests
  • Forking changesets

Notifications

RhodeCode Enterprise has an integrated notification system which alerts users to requests that they have received. Notifications can occur for the following reasons:

  • Pull requests
  • Commit message mentions

Pull Requests Notifications

When someone opens a pull request on a file you own you will receive a notification in your RhodeCode Enterprise notification tray. Also, during the review process you receive notifications on the following actions:

  • New comments
  • Status changes
  • Inline code review comments

Each notifications provides a quick synopsis, click on it to be redirected to the original message.

Notify Other Reviewers

To notify users of items that require their attention you can use the mention function. The mention function allows you to use @username within RhodeCode Enterprise, where username is the user name of the person within RhodeCode Enterprise. The notification function can be used within the following items to highlight their need for attention:

  • Commit messages
  • Forks
  • Pull requests
  • Public and private gists

Note

Mentioned users will receive an email and a notification within their RhodeCode Enterprise notifications.

To notify a user in a commit message, use the following steps.

  1. Open a repository with commits in it
  2. Click on the commit message or revision number
  3. Add an @username in an inline comment or in your approval comment and commit

To notify a user of a pull request, use the following steps.

  1. Open the repository you wish to fork
  2. Select Open new pull request
  3. Add the @username in the Pull request viewers input field.
  4. Select Send Pull Request

Fork a Repository

To fork a repository please use the following simple steps:

  1. Select Admin > |reposbold|
  2. Select the repository you wish to fork.
  3. Select options > Fork
  4. On the create fork page you can specify the following fork properties:
    • The fork name
    • A description
    • If the fork is private or public
    • The copy permissions

Create a Pull Request

Once you have finished your work on a fork, you should create a pull request. As part of the pull request you compare you changes to the latest version of the file, then merge your changes and send the pull request for review. The pull request need to be approved by the repository administrator.

To open a pull request and send for review, use the following steps:

  1. Select Admin > |reposbold|
  2. Select the repository you wish to fork.
  3. Select options > Create pull request
  4. On the New Pull Request page, enter the following information * The pull request name * The pull request description * Add the reviewer names in the Pull Request Reviewer field
  5. Select the Change set flow. This must be set to allow RhodeCode Enterprise create the diff file between the two versions.
  6. Select Send Pull Request

The pull request can either be merged into the original repository, or it can be declined due to issues during the review process. In both cases the reviewers can can comment about the pull request and give valuable feedback about what needs to be changed before the feature gets included in the main repository.

Fork and Create a Pull Request

Pull requests are part of the fork/pull development principle. To begin working on an addition to a project you create a fork of that project. A fork is essentially a local version of the main branch. You then work independently on the fork, and when your changes are complete you then pull them into the main project.

As part of pulling your work from the fork back into the main branch, you must carry out a pull request review process. This involves merging the fork and the main branch, then sending the work to your team for review. Once reviewed and passed the work on the fork is then committed to the main branch and becomes part of the product.

The following steps are an overview of the work flow process:

  1. Create a fork of a project to work independently.
  2. When the work is complete, create a pull request. The pull request gets a copy of the latest version of the file.
  3. Compare your changes with the latest version of the file, which could contain changes that others made.
  4. Merge the two versions, ensuring no conflicts occur.
  5. Submit the pull request to your team for review.
  6. Fix any issues.
  7. The repository administrator approves the pull request, and commits them to the main branch.

Approve Pull Requests

Whenever someone sends a pull request it is necessary for the repository owner / repository admins to review the pull request before it may be merged into the original repository.

New pull requests always trigger a notification for all repository admins. Open your notification and follow the link to get redirected to the repository position within RhodeCode Enterprise. If you have multiple open pull requests simply open the repository menu and click on “Pull Requests” in the sub-navigation to see all open pull requests including their review status.

To review a pull request, use the following steps:

  1. Select Admin -> Repositories
  2. Choose the repository in which you wish to review a pull request.
  3. Select Pull Requests -> Show pull requests to display a list of open pull requests
  4. Open the pull request you want to review.
  5. Review the changes, and leave comments ot mark issues if necessary.
  6. Select Vote for pull request status and select the pull request status from the following options:
    • Not reviewed
    • Approved
    • Rejected
    • Under review
  7. Click on the Close Checkbox to finally close the pull request and if approved, merge it into your repository.
  8. Click on Comment to finish the pull request.