~bzr-pqm/bzr/bzr.dev

======================
Bazaar in five minutes
======================

Introduction
============

Bazaar is a distributed version control system that makes it easier for
people to work together on software projects.

Over the next five minutes, you'll learn how to put your files under
version control, how to record changes to them, examine your work, publish
it and send your work for merger into a project's trunk.

If you'd prefer a more detailed introduction, take a look at
`Learning More`_.


Installation
============

This guide doesn't describe how to install Bazaar but it's usually very
easy. You can find installation instructions at:

- **GNU/Linux:** Bazaar is probably in your GNU/Linux distribution already.
- **Windows:** `installation instructions for Windows`_.
- **Mac OS X:** `installation instructions for Mac OS X`_.

For other platforms and to install from source code, see the Download_
and Installation_ pages.

.. _installation instructions for Windows: http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/WindowsDownloads
.. _installation instructions for Mac OS X: http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/MacOSXBundle
.. _Download: http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/Download
.. _Installation: http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/InstallationFaq


Introducing yourself
====================

Before you start working, it is good to tell Bazaar who you are. That
way your work is properly identified in revision logs.

Using your name and email address, instead of John Doe's, type::

  $ bzr whoami "John Doe <john.doe@gmail.com>"

Bazaar will now create or modify a configuration file, including your
name and email address.

Now, check that your name and email address are correctly registered::

  $ bzr whoami
  John Doe <john.doe@gmail.com>


Putting files under version control
===================================

Let's create a directory and some files to use with Bazaar::

 $ mkdir myproject
 $ cd myproject
 $ mkdir subdirectory
 $ touch test1.txt test2.txt test3.txt subdirectory/test4.txt

**Note for Windows users**: use Windows Explorer to create your
directories, then right-click in those directories and select
``New file`` to create your files.

Now get Bazaar to initialize itself in your project directory::

  $ bzr init

If it looks like nothing happened, don't worry. Bazaar has created a
branch_ where it will store your files and their revision histories.

.. _branch: http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/Branch

The next step is to tell Bazaar which files you want to track. Running
``bzr add`` will recursively add everything in the project::

 $ bzr add
 added subdirectory
 added test1.txt
 added test2.txt
 added test3.txt
 added subdirectory/test4.txt

Next, take a snapshot of your files by committing them to your branch. Add
a message to explain why you made the commit::

  $ bzr commit -m "Initial import"

As Bazaar is a distributed version control system, it doesn't need to
connect to a central server to make the commit. Instead, Bazaar stores your
branch and all its commits inside the directory you're working with; look
for the ``.bzr`` sub-directory.


Making changes to your files
============================

Let's change a file and commit that change to your branch.

Edit ``test1.txt`` in your favourite editor, then check what have you done::

 $ bzr diff
 === modified file 'test1.txt'
 --- test1.txt   2007-10-08 17:56:14 +0000
 +++ test1.txt   2007-10-08 17:46:22 +0000
 @@ -0,0 +1,1 @@
 +test test test

Commit your work to the Bazaar branch::

  $ bzr commit -m "Added first line of text"
  Committed revision 2.


Viewing the revision log
========================

You can see the history of your branch by browsing its log::

  $ bzr log
  ------------------------------------------------------------
  revno: 2
  committer: John Doe <john.doe@gmail.com>
  branch nick: myproject
  timestamp: Mon 2007-10-08 17:56:14 +0000
  message:
    Added first line of text
  ------------------------------------------------------------
  revno: 1
  committer: John Doe <john.doe@gmail.com>
  branch nick: myproject
  timestamp: Mon 2006-10-08 17:46:22 +0000
  message:
    Initial import


Publishing your branch with SFTP
================================

There are a couple of ways to publish your branch. If you already have
an SFTP server or are comfortable setting one up, you can publish your
branch to it.

Otherwise, skip to the next section to publish with Launchpad_, a free
hosting service for Bazaar.

.. _Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/

Let's assume you want to publish your branch at ``www.example.com/myproject``::

 $ bzr push --create-prefix sftp://your.name@example.com/~/public_html/myproject
 2 revision(s) pushed.

Bazaar will create a ``myproject`` directory on the remote server and
push your branch to it.

Now anyone can create their own copy of your branch by typing::

 $ bzr branch http://www.example.com/myproject

**Note**: to use SFTP, you may need to install ``paramiko`` and
``pyCrypto``. See http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/InstallationFaq for details.


Publishing your branch with Launchpad
=====================================

Launchpad is a suite of development and hosting tools for free
software projects. You can use it to publish your branch.

If you don't have a Launchpad account, follow the `account signup guide`_
and `register an SSH key`_ in your new Launchpad account.

.. _account signup guide: https://help.launchpad.net/CreatingYourLaunchpadAccount
.. _register an SSH key: https://launchpad.net/people/+me/+editsshkeys

Replacing ``john.doe`` with your own Launchpad username, type [#]_::

 $ bzr push lp:~john.doe/+junk/myproject

.. [#] Use of the ``lp:`` URL scheme requires bzr 0.92 or later.

**Note**: ``+junk`` means that this branch isn't associated with any particular
project in Launchpad.

Now, anyone can create their own copy of your branch by typing::

 $ bzr branch lp:~john.doe/+junk/myproject

You can also see information about your branch, including its revision
history, at https://code.launchpad.net/people/+me/+junk/myproject


Creating your own copy of another branch
========================================

To work with someone else's code, you can make your own copy of their
branch. Let's take a real-world example, Bazaar's GTK interface::

  $ bzr branch lp:~bzr/bzr-gtk/trunk bzr-gtk.john
  Branched 292 revision(s).

Bazaar will download all the files and complete revision history from the
bzr-gtk project's trunk branch and create a copy called bzr-gtk.john.

Now, you have your own copy of the branch and can commit changes with
or without a net connection. You can share your branch at any time by
publishing it and, if the  bzr-gtk team want to use your work, Bazaar
makes it easy for them to merge your branch back into their trunk branch.


Updating your branch from the main branch
=========================================

While you commit changes to your branch, it's likely that other people will
also continue to commit code to the parent branch.

To make sure your branch stays up to date, you should merge changes from
the parent into your personal branch::

  $ bzr merge
  Merging from saved parent location: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~bzr/bzr-gtk/trunk
  All changes applied successfully.

Check what has changed::

  $ bzr diff

If you're happy with the changes, you can commit them to your personal
branch::

  $ bzr commit -m "Merge from main branch"
  Committed revision 295.


Merging your work into the parent branch
========================================

After you've worked on your personal branch of bzr-gtk, you may want to
send your changes back upstream to the project. The easiest way is to
use a merge directive.

A merge directive is a machine-readable request to perform a
particular merge.  It usually contains a patch preview of the merge
and either contains the necessary revisions, or provides a branch
where they can be found.

Replacing ``mycode.patch``, create your merge directive::

 $ bzr send -o mycode.patch
 Using saved parent location: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~bzr/bzr-gtk/trunk

You can now email the merge directive to the bzr-gtk project who, if
they choose, can use it merge your work back into the parent branch.


Learning more
=============

You can find out more about Bazaar in the
`Bazaar User Guide <../user-guide/index.html>`_.

To learn about Bazaar on the command-line::

  $ bzr help

To learn about Bazaar commands::

  $ bzr help commands

To learn about the ''foo'' topic or command::

  $ bzr help foo