User manual

Chapter 12
Using Git to manage software changes
It is highly recommended that the software changes be managed using Git.
Some of the benefits of using Git are:
Make changes safely in a separate development branch
Undo changes easily, even if changes are to a large number of files
Automatically merge your changes with those available in Koha's
online repositories
Share your changes with others, including Koha's release manager
Here is a listing of some Git commands we will use:
git checkout:
To create a development branch.
git add:
Add one or more changed files to a commit.
git commit:
Records the changes along with a description or comment
entered by the committer.
git format -patch:
Creates a patch -a file that contains all the changes in a
single file. The patch can then be shared with others, including Koha's release
manager. The release manager may choose to include the patch in upcoming
versions of the software.
git send -email:
Sends an e-mail to Koha's release manager with the patch.
For more information on Git commands, refer to these links:
http: / /git- scm.com /documentation.
Understanding the software customization
process
And finally, here is how we go about making a change:
Creating a branch: As a first step, we use the git checkout command
to create and switch to a new development branch. We can create one
or more commits in this branch.
Changing application files: We change one or more files using vi or other
editors. These files may be Perl modules, Perl scripts, JavaScript, CSS, or
template files.
Making database changes: We make database changes in MySQL scripts
in the installer folder.
( 2331