under construction

Introduction

The Genoviz project uses Subversion for version control and managing the release cycle.

Note that the repository contains multiple branches and a main trunk of development.

There are two types of branches - release branches and development branches.

Release branches have names like "igb_6_4" and correspond to major releases of the software we have made for end users. These should never be removed from the repository and should not every be touched except by the group managing the release. (As of this writing, this is the development team at UNC Charlotte led by Ann Loraine. If you have any questions about this, contact her.) 

Development branches are development workspaces and may ultimately be merged backed into the trunk provided they pass testing. If you have a great new idea for an IGB feature or change the the user interface, first make a branch and implement your changes there.

DO NOT develop on the trunk unless your proposed new feature is bug fix or is highly unlikely to introduce new bugs to existing systems and features. If you have any questions about this, please contact the IGB development team directly or via the developers' list.

Why branch for new features?  

There are two major reasons underlying why you should implement new features on a development branch rather than the trunk:

• IGB is a mature software application with thousands of users and hundreds of features. New developers usually undergo a long learning curve as they master the code base. New developers who don't know anything about molecular biology, genomics, or next-generation sequencing undergo an even longer learning curve as they get familiar with IGB basic functionality. If you are new to the IGB and Genoviz code base, you will need freedom to experiment and make mistakes without annoying other developers or disrupting the release cycle. Creating a branch gives you a workspace where you and your close collaborators can work, experiment, and back out of changes as needed. However, this doesn't mean you'll be developing in isolation - you can always merge in changes from the trunk. Before you get started, read this: Version Control with Subversion, Chapter 4. Branching and merging. 
• IGB is a graphical user interface and therefore requires extensive manual testing every time a change is made either to the user interface or the underlying code base. Before merging a branch back into the trunk, you must demonstrate that the new feature is well-tested and bug-free. The Loraine group at UNC Charlotte has a testing team that can help you, but please be aware that resources are limited. If your new feature requires extensive testing and is not already covered in one of the group's funded grants, you will need to provide funding to support the testing effort. Contact Ann Loraine for details.

The main trunk of development should not be used to "try things out" or experiment with new ideas and architectures. If you want to try something new that is likely to cause many other features to break, then first make a branch and develop it there. Only developers with a lot of experience working with the IGB code base should check in changes to the trunk. 

Many users are building the code on the trunk and should not be changed unless 

• Development phase - Only conservative changes unlikely to introduce many new bugs are made on the trunk. Developers working on radical changes to the code base should develop on a branch, merging changes from the trunk as they go. Following testing, changes from the branch may be merged into the trunk and the branch discarded. See Version Control with Subversion, Chapter 4. Branching and Merging.
• Branching the code - development proceeds "on the trunk" and "on the branch." Only minor "bug fix" changes are made to the branch. 
• Alpha release - all known bugs we plan to fix are fixed on the branch (and trunk), and we set up an IGB "pre-release" download page for the IGB community to try out the new software, give us feedback. Testing continues.
• Beta release - the new version of IGB is released "in beta" and becomes the major IGB available from the main Java Web Start download set at bioviz.org/igb. Sites that use the Bioviz Java Web Start pages on their sites also pick up the new changes. (This includes Affymetrix, Huntsman Cancer Institute, and other sites.) Testing continues.
• Final release - the official release of the new IGB version happens. Meanwhile, and any bug reports from the community are addressed. "Bug fix" (minor) releases may also occur, as needed. 

In parallel to releases on the Java Web Start page at Bioviz.org, we also release compiled versions of the IGB software on sourceforge.net. This is for users who can't launch IGB using Java Web Start or want to take advantage of IGB's command line features. Some users' IT infrastructure blocks Java Web Start programs from launching, and so these users download an "igb.zip" file which they then unpack and then use to run IGB by double-clicking one of the "run_igb" scripts.

Trunk versus branch 

more on this later!