Branches
A branch () is a chronologically ordered sequence of Commits saved in the database. The sequence of commits form a history of things that has happened to Items in the database including, for example, saved versions, tag assignments, and deletions. An important commit in a branch is the one saved most recently — that is, the latest commit on the sequence.
When browsing and searching in the branch, one finds the latest version of each item saved on the branch as well as the items’ currently assigned tags. Two branches in the same repository will typically not return the same latest version or assigned tags for an item if work on the item is being done in parallel on the branches. The two branches can be synchronized by merging changes to items made in the first branch into the second branch and vice versa.
The branch itself is typically used as a representative in the Model Manager workspace to specify that you want search or browse the latest item versions 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 without any additional qualifications, 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 repository. This is the branch that all save actions targeting that repository use by default.
You can change the default branch in case you have created multiple branches in a repository. 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 type of item data that can be searched in the branch. Select Item fields and content in the list to enable the full Model Manager search functionality for the branch. Select Only item fields to restrict the filtering support to those that target the field values of models and files, not filters targeting their contents. See also Searching in Branches.
Clicking the Save button () saves the Name and Search fields for the branch.