OpenInsight Git

OpenInsight Git is an interface from OpenInsight to the Git source code management system.  It is included in OpenInsight 10.0 and above.

Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.

You can read more about Git on its web site at http://www.git-scm.com

For many, source code management is a black art reserved for large corporations who have hundreds of developers.  You may think that source code management systems are complicated, invlove many steps that have nothing to do with writing code and generally get in the way of being productive.  And, for the most part, you would be right!  OpenInsight Git has been designed to be as painless and transparent as possible.  There are rule that you will need to follow, but for the most part, there are many benefits to using source code management software.  For example:

  1. Backup of your source code
  2. Version control
  3. Change control
  4. Collaboration with developers remote to your location

OpenInsight Git was originally designed to integrate OpenInsight's development tools with the Git source code management software (SCM).  However, there is no reason why OpenInsight Git cannot work with other SCM's like Subversion or Mercurial.

OpenInsight Git's philosophy is simple.  It mirrors your OpenInsight source code, stored procedures, windows, messages, help, etc. as text files in Windows directories.  From there, your chosen source code management system does the rest.

Most of you will only use a fraction of the features that Git or any SCM offers.  And that is ok.  The important thing is to start using an SCM as soon as possible.  From a one man developer to a team of tens or hundreds of developers, using an SCM should be part of your daily work routine.

OpenInsight v10.0 introduces a feature that enables OpenInsight to fully integrate into the OpenInsight repository.  Any change saved in an OpenInsight development tool such as the Editor++, the Form Designer, BRW or O4W will automatically be pushed to the local Git repository, making the source management process much easier.

Documentation

OpenInsight Git User Guide v1.0

Git Extensions is a toolkit aimed at making working with Git under Windows more intuitive.

Git Extensions Documentation