2. The Developer Experience

The Developer experience includes accessing workspaces, creating new versions of files (edit/keep/promote), updating workspaces, and merging two versions of a file.

Starting AccuRev

Perform this step if AccuRev is not already running.

To start AccuRev, double-click the AccuRev shortcut () on your desktop.

Alternative: In a Command Prompt window, enter acgui.

Going to Your Workspace

Perform this step if your workspace is not already open in the AccuRev GUI.

1.	Click the Open Workspace button on the AccuRev toolbar.

Alternative: Select File > Open Workspace.

2.	Select the workspace that you want to open from the Open Workspace dialog box and click Ok.

The workspace is displayed in the default File Browser mode, Explorer mode.

All of the files in your workspace have a status of (backed). This means that you have not yet modified these files and that they are in synch with the version in the backing stream.

3.	Click the Update button () to ensure that your workspace is up-to-date.

Editing Your Source Files

1.	If necessary, navigate through folders displayed in the Explorer pane; then select a file to edit.

2.	Click the Edit button on the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Edit from the context menu. You can, of course, edit files directly from your IDE.

3.	Make some changes to your source file.

4.	Save the file, and close the editor.

You did not have to "check out" the file before editing it. The status of the file is now (modified).

Keeping Your Modified Files

The Keep operation is a "private check in". It makes a copy of your modified file in secure storage maintained by the AccuRev Server. It also records the creation of a new version of the file in the AccuRev database. Keeping new versions in the workspace enables you to checkpoint and back up your own code, while preventing your changes from being seen by other developers.

1.	Select the file you modified.

2.	Click the Keep button () on the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Keep from the context menu.

Enter a comment in the Keep dialog box, and click Keep.

Note: The status of the file now includes the indicator (kept).

Sharing Changes with the Rest of the Team

The Promote operation allows you to share your changed file with other users.

1.	Select the file you just modified and kept.

2.	Click the Promote button () on the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Promote from the context menu.

3.	Enter a comment in the Promote dialog box, and click Promote.

Promote makes the version that you created with Keep available to be copied into other users’ workspaces the next time they update. The status of the file is once again (backed).

Creating a Second Workspace

1.	Select File > New > Workspace from the AccuRev main menu.

2.	From the Depot drop-down list, select your depot.

3.	As the Basis stream, select the stream with the same name as the depot.

4.	Click Next.

5.	As the Name of workspace to create, enter a new name (example: acme2).

6.	As the Location for the new workspace, click Browse and either choose an existing directory or create a new directory in the desired location (example: C:\Documents and Settings\Derek or /usr/home/derek).

7.	Make sure the Append workspace name to its location checkbox is checked.

8.	Click Finish.

The new workspace is created, and Update is invoked to copy the files you placed under version control to the workspace. Click the Close button on the update notification dialog box.

Working on Files in the Second Workspace

1.	Open the second workspace and select a text file to edit.

2.	Click the Edit button on the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Edit from the context menu.

3.	Make some changes to your text file.

4.	Save the file, and close the editor.

5.	Repeat steps 1-4 on one or more additional files.

6.	Select the Outgoing Changes mode () in the File Browser.

Tip: You can use the File Browser Outgoing Changes mode to list all the files that you are currently working on.

7.	Select the files you modified.

Tip: Use the Modified filter to display only those files you changed.

8.	Click the Promote button () on the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Promote from the context menu.

Updating Your First Workspace

Since you worked on files in your second workspace and promoted those changes to the same backing stream shared with your first workspace, your first workspace is now out of synch. Update the first workspace now to get those changes.

1.	Click the tab in the GUI window that contains your first workspace.

If you have closed that tab, re-open the workspace using:
File > Open Workspace

2.	Click the Update toolbar button.

This brings the changes you promoted while working in your second workspace into your first workspace.

Merging Two Versions of a File

1.	In your first workspace, select a file to edit.

2.	Click the Edit button on the toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Edit from the context menu.

3.	Make some changes to your text file, save the file, and close the editor.

4.	Select the file.

5.	Click the Keep button () on the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Keep from the context menu.

6.	Select the file.

7.	Click the Promote button () on the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Promote from the context menu.

8.	Switch to your second workspace.

Note that the file’s status now includes the indicator (stale).

9.	Edit the same file in the second workspace and save your changes.

The file’s status now includes the indicator (overlap). The yellow highlight emphasizes this status. This means that someone else has promoted a version before you did. In this case, the “someone else” is you, working in your first workspace. The file in your second workspace requires a merge before you can promote it.

10.	Select the Conflicts mode () in the File Browser.

11.	Select the file and click the Merge button () in the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Merge from the context menu.

The file is displayed in the AccuRev Merge tool.

12.

Proceed to merge the file. Use the up () and down () toolbar buttons to navigate from conflict to conflict; use the left () and right () buttons to resolve the current conflict by choosing changes from one of the versions. You finish the Merge by preserving the merged file, selecting Keep & Exit when all the conflicts have been resolved.

See The AccuRev Merge Tool on page 216 in the AccuRev On-Line Help Guide for more information.

To finish resolving the conflict with your merged changes, promote the file.

13.	Click the Promote button () in the File Browser toolbar.

Alternative: Right-click and choose Promote from the context menu.