We have a (small) problem in our development/build workflow. I'd like to request suggestions on either:
- how we can improve the workflow to avoid the problem, or
- how we can fix our build system so that the problem doesn't occur.
Our (simplified) development workflow for fixing a bug or adding functionality:
- clone the repo and create a private branch off the Integration branch
- fix the bug or develop the functionality (and test)
- merge the private branch to Integration
- create a tag to identify the fix
Our build system:
- clone the repo's Integration branch
- edit a 'version' file in the repo that contains the current build number and increment that number
- build the software
- commit the edited version file
- create a tag identifying the build number
- produce a list of changes since the previous build by diffing between the newly created tag and the previous build tag
The problem:
- if a developer merges to Integration and creates a tag while the build is in progress, his tag gets included in the diffs even though his changes aren't actually included in the build.
Below is a shell script that demonstrates the problem. A quick description:
- create an empty git repo 'origin'
- clone it to repo 'buildClone', create an Integration branch, add a source file and 'version' file with version = 1, tag that as build 1, push
- increment the version to 2 as if we were doing build 2, commit and tag as build 2 but don't push yet
- create a second clone 'develClone', create a development branch, modify the source file, commit, merge the branch to Integration, tag with 'develTag', push to origin
- in the build clone, pull and then push to origin
- increment the version file as if doing build 3, commit, tag as build 3, pull and push
- get the diffs between builds 1 & 2, and 2 & 3 - develTag should not be in the first set of diffs but it should be in the second set
So, my question: can anybody please suggest an improvement to our development or build workflows to fix/avoid the problem? The obvious change of omitting the pulls before pushing from buildClone doesn't work - git won't allow the push.
Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Graham
========================================== shell script ==========================
export GIT_COMMITTER_NAME=committer
export GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL=committer@xxxxxxxxxxx
export GIT_AUTHOR_NAME=author
export GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL=author@xxxxxxxxxxx
set -e # exit on error
set -x # for debugging
# clean up any previous leftovers and start afresh
rm -rf origin buildClone develClone
mkdir -p origin buildClone develClone
# create a bare repo in 'origin'
git -C origin init --bare
# and a clone for building
git -C buildClone clone ../origin .
# create an Integration branch and check it out
git -C buildClone checkout -b Integration
# create a source file, commit it, and push
echo "this is some source code" > buildClone/sourceFile
git -C buildClone add sourceFile
git -C buildClone commit --all --message "add source file"
git -C buildClone push --set-upstream origin refs/heads/Integration:refs/heads/Integration
# create a version file, commit it, and push (as if build 1 had just been completed)
echo "version=1" > buildClone/version
git -C buildClone add version
git -C buildClone commit --all --message "add version"
git -C buildClone push
# and add a tag to it
git -C buildClone tag build1
git -C buildClone push --tags
# edit the file to increment the version, and commit it (but don't push it yet)
sed --in-place --expression "s/1/2/" buildClone/version
git -C buildClone commit --all --message "increment version"
# and create a tag on the build
git -C buildClone tag build2
# develClone repo
# clone again for development work and checkout Integration branch
git -C develClone clone -b Integration ../origin .
# create a branch and check it out, edit the source file, commit it, and push it (as if a developer was making changes)
git -C develClone checkout -b develBranch
sed --in-place --expression "s/$/ with a change/" develClone/sourceFile
git -C develClone commit --all --message "edit source file"
git -C develClone push --set-upstream origin refs/heads/develBranch:refs/heads/develBranch
# merge the branch into Integration
git -C develClone checkout Integration
git -C develClone merge --no-ff --commit -m "merge develBranch to Integration" develBranch
# create a development tag
git -C develClone tag develTag
# and push everything
git -C develClone push
git -C develClone push --tags
# back in buildClone
# get any changes from origin that have occurred since we originally cloned
git -C buildClone pull --ff --no-edit
# and push everything
git -C buildClone push --force
git -C buildClone push --tags --force
# now do build 3
# edit the file to increment the version, and commit it (but don't push it yet)
sed --in-place --expression "s/2/3/" buildClone/version
git -C buildClone commit --all --message "increment version"
# and create a tag on the build
git -C buildClone tag build3
# get any changes from origin that have occurred since we originally cloned
git -C buildClone pull --ff --no-edit
# and push everything
git -C buildClone push --force
git -C buildClone push --tags --force
# finally, test the results
failed=false
# we do not want the following to contain develTag (but, of course, it does)
if git -C buildClone tag --contains build1 --no-contains build2 | grep develTag; then
echo "build2 contains develTag when it shouldn't"
failed=true
fi
# and we do want the following to contain develTag (but, of course, it doesn't)
if ! git -C buildClone tag --contains build2 --no-contains build3 | grep develTag; then
echo "build3 doesn't contain develTag when it should"
failed=true
fi
if $failed; then
echo "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! failed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
exit 1
fi
