Branches
A branch () is a chronologically ordered sequence of Commits saved in the database. The sequence of commits form a history of everything that has happened to Items in the database.
An important commit in a branch is the one saved most recently — that is, the latest commit on the sequence. When browsing and searching the database with respect to this commit, you will find the latest versions of models and files as well as their latest assigned tags.
The branch itself is typically used as a representative for the latest item versions (that is, the version found for the most recent commit) in Model Manager:
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Expand a branch node () in The Databases Tree to browse the latest versions of all items, given that Items is selected in the Show menu () in The Databases Window Toolbar.
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Select a branch in The Select Location Dialog Box to search the latest model and file versions in the Open, Select File, Select Model, and Model Manager windows. This is also the default choice in these windows.
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Select a branch in The Select Location Dialog Box to export the latest versions from the Export dialog box.
You can create a new branch from an existing parent branch by branching off from a particular source commit. This introduces an alternative commit history that runs in parallel with that of the parent branch — see Branching.
When referring to the latest versions of items in a Model Manager database, it is always understood as being with respect to a particular branch.
Creating a New Branch
Default Branch
An initial, default, branch () is automatically created for a new database. This is the branch that save actions use by default.
You can change the default branch in case you have created multiple branches. Select the corresponding branch tree node in the Databases tree, right-click, and select Set Default Branch ().
Branch Settings
The Settings window for a branch shows:
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Database. The label of the database that the branch belongs to.
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Repository. The name of the repository that the branch belongs to.
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Name. The name of the branch.
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Search. The item data that can be searched on the branch. See Searching in Branches.
Clicking the Save button () saves the Name and Search fields for the branch.