Branch and Merge enables users to create “sandbox environments” (aka branches) to run experiments on designs without impacting your main POR models that are being worked on by other engineers within your main branch. Once you’ve made all changes and if you would like to apply these changes to your main repository for other users to see that - you can always do so at any time by merging two branches together.
Best Practices
Before running tests, experiments, or requests on models create a new branch from your main branch
When checking in files include brief quality messages to enable others to understand the changes made
Creating A Branch
If you would like to branch out to make changes to models without impacting your main branch you can do so by:
Click on the New Branch button located within the top right corner of your project-files page
2. Within the new branch pop up - select the branch you would like to branch out from and name the new branch
When selecting the From Branch a copy of the state from the branch will be created and will include all the reversion history and metadata
3. Select Create and you're all set to start working from the new branch
Select Create and you're all set to start working from the new branch
Viewing and Reverting to a Previous Project State and Commit
Every time a change is made in any branch - such as moving, deleting, and/or changing files - commits are made to capture these changes - this helps capture a project's history and enables users to revert to previous commits. Clicking into these commits enables users to view the files impacted and any other relevant information such as a timestamp, who made the change, and optional messages.
Click the Commit icon on the left menu dock
2. Here you'll be able to view all the commits and the branch it was made in, navigate to the commit you'd like to explore and click on it
3. This will open up the commits information - to view the project at the time this commit was made select View Commit
4. You can explore the project at the time of this commit
5. If you'd like to revert to this commit select the Revert button on the upper right corner of the screen
6. Within the pop-up screen confirm the action by clicking Revert
Merging Branches
Once you’ve made all the changes in a branch you can merge these into your main branch.
Select the Commits icon on the left menu dock
2. Click on the Merge button on the upper part of the page
3. Toggle to the branch you've made changes to in the first section and in the second selection toggle to the branch you'd like to merge the changes into
4. Name the merge in the Title section
5. Within the Files section, Bild will automatically show all the changes in the branch. You can toggle between the two branches to choose what version of each branch you'd like to keep by selecting the branch's button
💡 Ex. If you made changes to files A & B in Branch 2 but would only like to apply File A changes to Branch 1 - you would make sure to select Branch 2 for File A and Branch 1 for File B
6. Once you’ve updated your selection select Merge
Merging a secondary branch into a main ranch will not delete the secondary branch - you can always go back and view your secondary branch
Branch & Merge in the Desktop App
When toggling to different branches in the desktop app - your local repository will also be moved to reflect the branch you’ve selected.
Make sure to close out all designs in your cad software before you switch to a different branch
It's also recommended to close file explorer before switching to a different branch
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know what branch I’m currently in?
Within your web app and desktop app you can view the branch you're working on by looking at the branch selection located at the upper part of your screen
How do I toggle between different branches?
Click on the branch selection button and select the branch you'd like to switch to
