VTK/Git

VTK version tracking and development is hosted by Git.

Official Repository

One may browse the repository online using the Gitweb interface at http://vtk.org/gitweb.

Cloning

These instructions assume a command prompt is available with git in the path. See our Git download instructions for help installing Git.

One may clone the repository using git clone through the native git protocol:

$ git clone git://vtk.org/VTK.git VTK

or through the (less efficient) http protocol:

$ git clone http://vtk.org/VTK.git VTK

All further commands work inside the local copy of the repository created by the clone:

$ cd VTK

For VTKData the URLs are

git://vtk.org/VTKData.git
http://vtk.org/VTKData.git

Branches

At the time of this writing the repository has the following branches:

• master: Development (default)
• release: Release maintenance
• nightly-master: Follows master, updated at 01:00 UTC
• hooks: Local commit hooks (place in .git/hooks)

Release branches converted from CVS have been artificially merged into master. Actual releases have tags named by the release version number.

Development

We provide here a brief introduction to VTK development with Git. See the Resources page for further information such as Git tutorials.

Introduction

We require all commits in VTK to record valid author/committer name and email information. Use git config to introduce yourself to Git:

$ git config --global user.name "Your Name"
$ git config --global user.email "you@yourdomain.com"

Note that "Your Name" is your real name (e.g. "John Doe", not "jdoe"). While you're at it, optionally enable color output from Git commands:

$ git config --global color.ui auto

The --global option stores the configuration settings in ~/.gitconfig in your home directory so that they apply to all repositories.

Hooks

The hooks branch provides local commit hooks to be placed in .git/hooks. It is shared by many public.kitware.com repositories.

See the general hooks information page to set up your local hooks.

Workflow

We've chosen to approximate our previous CVS-based development workflow after the initial move to Git, at least while things get settled. The basic rule is to rebase your work on origin/master before pushing:

git fetch origin
git rebase origin/master

or

git pull --rebase

The server will refuse your push if it contains any merges. Later we will move to a full branchy workflow based on topic branches.

We already provide support for topic branches and merges through the VTK Topic Stage described in the next section.

Topic Stage

We provide a "VTK Topic Stage" repository to which developers may publish arbitrary topic branches and request automatic merges. To follow this workflow, you should have git version 1.7 or greater.

The topic stage URLs are

• git://vtk.org/stage/VTK.git (clone, fetch)
• http://vtk.org/stage/VTK.git (clone, fetch, gitweb)
• git@vtk.org:stage/VTK.git (push)

See our Topic Stage Workflow documentation for general instructions. (Currently VTK does not have a next branch. Just skip that part of the instructions and merge directly to master.) When accessing the VTK stage, one may optionally substitute "ssh git@vtk.org stage VTK ..." for "ssh git@public.kitware.com stage <repo> ..." in the ssh command-line interface.

Stage Usage Summary
Initial Setup:	$ git remote add stage git://vtk.org/stage/VTK.git $ git config remote.stage.pushurl git@vtk.org:stage/VTK.git
Fetch Staged Topics:	$ git fetch stage --prune
Create Local Topic:	$ git checkout -b topic-name origin/master $ edit files $ git commit
Stage Current Topic:	$ git push stage HEAD
Print Staged Topics:	$ ssh git@vtk.org stage VTK print
Merge Staged Topic:	$ ssh git@vtk.org stage VTK merge topic-name

Note that the stage implementation is not VTK-specific and is used for other projects too. If the merge attempt conflicts it may print instructions for performing the merge manually. Ignore these instructions; you will not be able to push the merge commit directly. Instead, identify the commit that conflicts with yours, merge it into your topic locally, push the topic to the stage again, and then repeat the merge request.

Github

The VTK repository is mirrored on github. Experimental branches that are not ready for staging can be published on github for review.

The first step in creating a github branch is to create an account on github and make a fork of http://github.com/Kitware/VTK. Since this fork will be a mirror of the VTK master, there is no need to clone it on your local machine. Instead, you will just want to set github as an alternative remote in your existing local copy of the VTK git repository.

To set github as an alternative remote, use the following commands:

Github Usage Summary
Remote Setup:	$ git remote add github git://github.com/yourname/VTK.git $ git config remote.github.pushurl git@github.com:yourname/VTK.git
Update the Remote:	# update from Kitware's master and push to github $ git pull $ git push github HEAD
Push Branch to Github:	$ git checkout -b some-branch github/master # edit files and commit changes $ git push github HEAD

The second step above should be done regularly on your master, in order to keep your github fork up-to-date with the VTK master. Do not use github's graphical interface for merging commits, it creates new commits by rebasing the commits you select against your VTK fork. These new commits will be very difficult to merge back into VTK master.

The checkout command in the third step will automatically set github as the default remote for the new branch, so providing github as the remote in the "git push" command is just a precaution. Also, since it bases the branch on your github fork, you should perform step 2 before creating the branch to make sure that your fork is up-to-date. This is just a suggestion, as it is always possible to rebase or merge at a later time.

The default remotes for each of your branches are controlled by entries such as this in your .github/config file:

[branch "my-branch-name"]
	remote = github
	merge = refs/heads/master

You can edit this file to make github the default remote for your existing branches. Or you can always use "git push github HEAD" to push each branch to github.

Publishing

Pushing

Authorized developers may publish work directly to vtk.org/VTK.git using Git's SSH protocol. To request access, fill out the Kitware Password form.

See the push instructions for details.

For VTK, configure the push URL:

git config remote.origin.pushurl git@vtk.org:VTK.git

For VTKData, configure the push URL:

git config remote.origin.pushurl git@vtk.org:VTKData.git

Update Hook

The vtk.org repository has an update hook. When someone tries to push changes to the repository it checks the commits as documented here.

Patches

Contributions of bug fixes and features are commonly produced by the community. Patches are a convenient method for managing such contributions.

One may send patches after subscribing to our mailing list:

• VTK Developers Mailing List

See our patch instructions for details.

Troubleshooting

fatal: The remote end hung up unexpectedly

• If git push fails with "fatal: The remote end hung up unexpectedly", you probably forgot to set the push url with "git config" see #Pushing.

Restoring files locally

Q: "I cloned the VTK repository. Now I "rm -rf Hybrid". How do I get it back?"
A: git checkout Hybrid
Q: "I modified a file locally. I want to revert it."
A: git checkout myfile.cxx

Resources

Additional information about Git may be obtained at sites listed here.