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VersionControl&Multi-UserDevelopmentURL:https://www.mendix.com/evaluation-guide/app-lifecycle/version-control

1HowDoesMendixSupportMulti-UserDevelopment?MendixStudioProandMendixStudiocombinemulti-userdevelopmentacrossdifferentskilllevels.TeammemberscanchooseMendixStudioorMendixStudioPro,dependingontheirneeds.MoreinformationcanbefoundinAppDevelopment.

Atthestartofaproject,allteammemberscanworktogetheronthemainlineoftheversioncontrolrepository.MendixStudioProuserscanshareappupdateswiththerestoftheteamusingtheupdateandcommitpatternviatheversioncontrolrepository.AllchangesmadebyteammembersusingMendixStudiowillbesharedviatheversioncontrolrepositorywhentheMendixStudioProuserrequestsanupdatefromtheversioncontrolrepository.

AssigningadedicatedbranchforteamcollaborationusingMendixStudioprovidesfullcontroloverwhichchangesaremadeinMendixStudio.

Forexample,whenaBusinessDevelopercreatesanewsetofpagesandassociatedassetsusingMendixStudio,thenewappversioncanbesharedinabranchline.Businessusers(forexample,aBusinessAnalyst)canthenuseMendixStudiotoreviewandchangethecontentofapp.Whenfinished,thebranchcanbemergedattherequestoftheBusinessDeveloperinMendixStudioPro.Thisprovidesthedeveloperfullcontroloverthemodelchanges.Effectively,thisensuresthatexperienceddevelopersonthetheteamcontrolwhichelementsaremergedbackfromthebranch.

Formoredetails,seeCollaborativeDevelopmentintheMendixStudioProGuide.

2HowDoesVersionControlWorkinMendix?MendixsupportstheuseofacentralizedversioncontrolrepositorybasedonSubversion(SVN),whichistheMendixTeamServer.EveryprojectbuiltusingtheMendixPlatformcomeswiththeTeamServerversioncontrolsystem.TheTeamServerusesSVNtechnologyandenablesmultipledeveloperstoworkonthesameproject,continuouslymergingmodelchangesintorevisionsheldinsidetheversioncontrolrepository.

ThisdiagrampresentstheMendixversioncontrolarchitecture:

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Developerscanmanagerevisionsandconflictsaswellascreatebranchlines,whichcanbemergedbacktoamainlinebranchasrequired.Everychangeintheplatformisrecordedandcomparedagainstotherrevisionstodetectconflictsandmanageupdates.UsersareinvitedtoappprojectsviatheDeveloperPortalandassignedsecurityroles,whichallowthemappropriateaccessrightstothemodelsheldinTeamServer.

3HowDoICross-ReferenceUserStories&ApplicationChangeCommits?MendixprovidesanintegrateddevelopmentexperiencebetweentheTeamServerversioningrepository,theapplicationProjectDashboard,andMendixStudioandMendixStudioPro.TheintegrationoftheMendixTeamServerversionrepositorywithboththeappProjectDashboardandMendixStudioProhasthefollowingsignificantadvantages:

Itprovidesteammemberswithanintegratedwaytotrackrequirementsthroughoutthewholedevelopmentanddeliverycycle.Whenyoustartworkingonyourapplication,youjustopenMendixStudioProtoseetheuserstoriesplannedforthecurrentSprintandstartworkingonthem.

WhenteammemberscommitappmodelchangestotheTeamServerfromwithinMendixStudioPro,theycanselecttheuserstoriestheyhavebeenworkingon.TheTeamServerwillautomaticallycreatelinksbetweenuserstoriesandthemodelchangesmade,providingawaytonavigatefromcommitstotheassociatedrequirements.

End-userscanprovidefeedbackstraightfromtheuserinterfaceoftheapp,andthisfeedbackcanbetransferredintoauserstory.Asadeveloper,youcandirectlygototheformmentionedinthemetadataofthefeedbackandimplementtherequestedchange.

TeammemberscanstartdiscussionsinMendixStudioandtheappprojectBuzzonimplementedfeatures(forexample,onadashboardpageorbusinesslogicinamicroflow).

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Fromthesediscussions,newuserstoriescanbecreatedandimplementedinMendixStudioPro.Whenlinkingthemodelcommitstotheuserstory,thefullfeedbackcycleisreadyandalsocross-referenced.

4HowDoIUseMyOwnSVNRepositoryInsteadofMendixTeamServer?NexttothedefaultcentralMendixTeamServerversioningrepository,youcanchoosetoconfigureyourownon-premisesSVNrepositoryinsteadasaversioningrepositoryforyourprojects.

Fordetailsonsetup,seeHowtoWorkwithanOn-PremisesVersionControlServerintheMendixStudioProHow-to's.

5HowDoesMendixSupportBranchingandMerging?

MendixEvaluationGuide(https://mendix.com/evaluation-guide) 4/5

Adevelopmentprojectalwaysstartswithasingledevelopmentline,whichiscalledthemainline.Thisisthedevelopmentlinethatwillleadwithinthedevelopmentprocess.

Adeploymentfromthemainlinemustcontainallthe(released)functionsoftheapplication.Inadditiontothemainline,aprojectcanhavemultiplebranchlines.Branchesaremadefromaspecificcommit(revision)tothemainlineorabranchline.Creatingabranchmeansthatacopyismadeoftheselectedrevisionthatwillbeusedasthestartingrevisionforthenewdevelopmentline.Thisenablesthedevelopertochangethemodelinanisolatedline.Inmostcases,abranchlineisusedforsolvingissuesinareleasedversionoftheapplicationatthesametimeasongoingdevelopmentcontinuesinthemainline.Thisallowsfornewdevelopmentinthemainlinewithoutthereleaseoffunctionalitythathasnotbeenfinalizedortested.Afteryoucreateabranchandsolvetheissue(orcreateanewlargefeature),itispossibletomergethesechangeswiththemainline.

ThankstoMendix'smodel-drivendevelopmentapproach,mergingmodelstakesplacewithahigherlevelofaccuracythanmergingcode.ThisisbecauseMendixunderstandsthesemanticsofthemodels.Thisresultsinfewerconflicts,andifconflictsdoarise,theycanberesolvedinMendixStudioProthroughtheconsistencycheckingmechanismsdescribedabove.

MendixsupportscreatingandmergingbranchesintheMendixTeamServerversioningrepository.Nexttothis,itispossibletotagspecificrevisionswithareleaselabel.Thisallowsteamstouseindustrypatterns,likereleasebranchesandfeaturebranches.Bydefault,theMendixdeploymentpipelinesalsouserevisiontaggingtolabelversionrevisionswithspecificdeploymentpipelinemoments.Thiscanbeusedforauditingandversionrollbackpurposes.

ThisvideoshowshowyoucanmanagebranchlinesinMendixStudioPro:

VIDEO

Andthisvideopresentshowyoucanmergechanges:

VIDEO

6WhichVersionRepositoryAPIsAreAvailableforCustomVersioningIntegrations?TheMendixversioningfunctionalityisexposedthroughanAPIintheTeamServerrepositorysothatitcanbecalledbyotherplatformservicesorexternalapplications.Forexample,agetlatestcommitcalltotheTeamServerversioningrepositoryAPIforanappprojectwillreturnthelatestrevisionoftheartifactsfortheproject.

7HowDoesMendixSupportVersionDiffing?MendixStudioProhasbuilt-indiffingsupportontheapplicationmodel.Thismeansthatwhenthedeveloperretrieveschangesfromtheversioningrepositoryforalltheappdocuments(likepages,microflows,andintegrations),bothversionsarecompared.MendixStudioProchecksthattherearenoconflictingchangesandthenautomaticallymergesthetwoversions.Theresultingchangescanalwaysbereviewedbeforecommittingthelatestversiontotheversioningrepositoryagain.Thedeveloperhasfullcontroloftheprocess.

Whenthechangesresultinaconflict(forexample,youchangeapagewhichhadbeendeletedbyanotherdeveloper),MendixStudioProwillprovidefeedbackthatthisconflicthastoberesolvedfirst.Formoreinformationaboutconflictresolutioncapabilities,seethesectionWhatAretheConflictResolutionCapabilitiesinMendixStudioPro?below.

8HowCanIReviewChangesMadebyOtherDevelopersAfterPerforminganUpdate?

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WhenretrievingnewupdatesfromtheMendixTeamServerinMendixStudioPro,thedeveloperhasfullcontroloverwhichchangestoacceptorrevert.Aftertheupdate,allthechangesaremergedintothelocalmodel.WhenthereisamergeconflictbetweenthechangesmadebythedeveloperandtheupdatefromtheMendixTeamServer,thedeveloperreceivesanoverviewofallthemergeconflicts.ThisinformationcanbeusedtodeterminewhetherthelocalchangeshouldbeusedorthechangefromtheTeamServer.

Atalltimes,thedeveloperisincontrolofwhichchangesandmergeconflictsareaccepted.ChangescanberevertedtotheoriginalversionbeforecommittingthefinalversiontotheTeamServeragain.

9WhatAretheConflictResolutionsCapabilitiesinMendixStudioPro?MendixStudioProsupportsconflictresolutionbyshowingdetailedinformationaboutwhatthedifferencesbetweentwoversionsofadocumentare(forexample,whenyoueditalistonapage,thensomeoneelsefromtheteamdeletesthelistfromthatpage).Whenadocumentismarkedasconflicted,youcanseethereasonfortheconflictinMendixStudioPro.Basedonthisdetailedinformation,youcanresolvetheconflictbychoosing"myversion"or"theirversion"ofthedocument.

Inadditiontodocument-relatedconflicts,MendixStudioProcanalsohandleconflictsattheleveloftheproject.Youcanresolveaprojectconflictbychoosing"myversion"orbydeletingthedocumentsorfoldersinvolved.

Herearetwoexamples:

OnedeveloperdeletesadocumentandanothermakesachangeinsidethatdocumentBothdevelopersmoveadocument,buttheymoveittodifferentplacesintheprojecttree

Ifawholefolder(ormodule)wasdeletedandanotherdeveloperchangesadocumentinsidethatfolder,thefolderisrestoredlocallyandalsomarkedasconflicted.Thiswayyouknowthattheintentionwastodeletethatfolder,butitwasrestoredtoshowthecontextofthechangeddocument.

10HowCanIResolveConflictsinExternalFileslikeJavaClasses,Widgets&Images?Bydefault,MendixStudioandMendixStudioProalsoperformadiffcomparisononexternalfileslikeJavaclasses.Whentherearenewversionsorfileshavebeendeleted,thisisdirectlyhandledbyMendixStudioProitself.

Foradditionaldiffingorconflictresolutiononexternalfiles,externalSVNtoolslikeTortoiseSVNcanbeused.