Working with Version Control Systems in the MPLAB® X IDE
Choosing a version control system to work with MPLAB® X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and store your project files is the first step. Working with the interaction of the repository and MPLAB X IDE is the next step.
Saving Project Files
Not all MPLAB X IDE project files need to be saved in a repository; some are automatically generated. The following table lists project files that either need or do not need to be committed to a version control repository.
Table: Project Files Saved to Repository
| Directory or File(s) | Commit? |
|---|---|
| Project directory | |
| .generated_files directory | ❌ |
| Makefile | ✔ |
| Source files | ✔ |
| build directory | ❌ |
| dist directory | ❌ |
| nbproject directory | |
| configurations.xml | ✔ |
| project.xml | ✔ |
| Makefile-* | ❌ |
| Package-* | ❌ |
| private directory | ❌ |
| Green Check: required to generate the project image. Red X: these directories/files are regenerated and therefore do not need to be saved. | |
See MPLAB X IDE documentation for more information on the project structure.
For more on using local file history and/or source control, see the table of contents for the NetBeans help topics under IDE Basics > Using the IDE Help System > Versioning Applications with Version Control.
Resolving Conflicts in Version Controlled Files
Inevitably, conflicts will arise between a file you are trying to check-in and the same file in the revision system repository that others have modified.
To understand how conflicts can be resolved, see the example below.
Example: Conflict in configurations.xml
To resolve conflicts on the file configurations.xml:
- Conflicts will be announced in the MPLAB X IDE (a) warning dialogs and/or (b) the output window.
- Click on the Files tab in the Projects window. Expand the nbproject folder. Find the file named configurations.xml. It should be in red font, signifying conflicts.
- Right-click on configurations.xml and select RCS > Resolve Conflicts, where RCS is your revision control system. This will open the Merge Conflicts Resolver window.
- The Merge Conflicts Resolver window allows you to fix conflicts. For more information, see the table of contents for the NetBeans help topics under IDE Basics > Using the IDE Help System > Versioning Applications with Version Control.
- After fixing the errors, close the project. If the right-click context menu for the project does not work, close the project using File > Close Project.
- Reopen the project. The conflicts should be resolved.
Building a Project with Read-Only Files
To build a project where files have been checked into a repository and some may then be read-only:
- Commit the minimum number of files to source control. This is explained in Saving Project Files.
- Make the files nbproject/configurations.xml and nbproject/project.xml writeable.