Pull request step-by-step

Pull requests allow developers to collaborate with each other on a code change before merging it into another branch on a GIT repository.

Pull request is a fully integrated solution of the code browser component. It supports all the basic functionality such as creating, viewing, updating, abandoning, rebasing and merging of pull requests. Using a pull request, you notify others about a feature or fix change that needs attention.

Important: You can access the pull request feature only when the repository owner enables the feature and sets the code review policy on the Settings > Policies tab.

Configure "Pull Request" for repositories

In order to use pull requests in your Git repository, you need to set up proper permissions in your repository so that your policies are being followed. Configure the repository from the Settings tab.

  1. Click SOURCE CODE from the Project Home menu.
  2. Browse and open the Git repository in the code browser.
  3. Select Settings > Policies.
  4. Select Pull request for Repository Category.

    The Protected Branches and Review Rules fields show up. For more information about Repository Category, Protected Branches and Review Rules, see Review code.
    Add one or more protected branches. Type the branch name, select the branch and click Add.
    Select one of the review rules from the drop-down list.
  5. Click Save.

Create a pull request

When you are ready to merge the change, or at least to start getting feedback, you should create a pull request. You can do this easily from the Branches tab by clicking on the Create button for your feature branch.

  1. Go to the Branches tab on a Git repository page.
  2. Click Create.
  3. Select the source branch which is wanted to be merged.
  4. Select the target branch to which you want the changes to be merged.
  5. Give an appropriate subject line and description that will be used as a commit message for a merged pull request.

    Optionally you can provide a summary of the pull request. This supports markdown formatting.

    The Commits tab at the bottom of the page displays the list of commits made in the selected source branch. The Files tab shows the difference between the source and target branch.

  6. Click Create Pull Request.
  7. Submit whole topic: You can now bundle related changes (code reviews) by topic and submit the whole topic for review instead of just submitting changes one-by-one. Just open a review, click the Set Topic link and enter the topic name.
  8. As a reviewer, click the pull request that you want to review from the list of open pull requests on the Reviews tab.

Review a pull request

In addition to the requested reviewers, anyone with access to the repository and who wishes to comment on the pull request can review and post their comments on the pull request details page.

  1. On the pull request details page, you can switch between three views: Messages, Commits and Files. Click the Commits tab to view the list of commits. Click the Files tab to review the code changes made in each file. You have the option to view the difference between the source and target branches.
  2. Once you have reviewed the changes, on the Messages tab, enter your comments and give an appropriate voting as well.
    Note: The message section supports markdown formatting with a preview option.
  3. Cherry Pick: Apply the changes introduced by existing commits: You can also cherry pick and apply changes introduced by existing commits to another branch. For example, you can now use this Cherry Pick function in TeamForge's native code browser to apply a commit in master to a release branch.

Inline editing of files

  1. Quick changes to files, if required only to few files, can be done using the inline edit feature from within the code browser without having to clone an entire repository. Browse the repository, locate and open the file in the View tab, click Edit to open the file in the File Editor, make your changes, Create code review and Publish your changes for review.
  2. You can also add new files to a review and delete files from a review by clicking the Edit Files icon and then the "+" and "-" icons respectively.
    Type the name of the file to see results matching the file name, select a file and click Add File.
    Type the name of the file you want to delete to see results matching the file name, select the file and click Delete File.
  3. Click the Complete File Edits icon.

Merge (close) a pull request

Once the pull request is reviewed, it is ready to be merged, that is the Merge button on the pull request details page is enabled only if the pull request satisfies all the repository specific qualification criteria. For example, it is possible to merge pull requests even without any voting if “no voting” has been defined as gating criteria. Also, it might require both voting AND acceptance by Continuous Integration; basically it totally depends on the gating criteria of the repository in question.
Note: These criteria are set by the repository owner in Settings > Policies tab for the Pull Request Repository Category.

  1. Click the Merge button to merge the source branch into the target branch.
    • If the source branch is not updated with the latest changes, a merge conflict is detected prompting you to rebase your request.
    • Click the Rebase button. Once rebased, the pull request has to be revalidated after which you can merge the pull request into the target branch.
  2. The newly-merged pull request is added to the list of merged pull requests.
    Note: Once merged, on the Graph view, you can see that the merged branch has been added to the graph. A link to the pull request is also provided.

View pull requests

  1. Click the Reviews tab on a GIT repository page. The pull request details page displays the list of Open, Merged and Abandoned pull requests under appropriate tabs.
    • For each pull request, the author, title, number of thumbs up/down, and the time elapsed since the pull request was created, are shown.
    • On the Abandoned pull request details page, you have the option to restore or delete an abandoned pull request. To restore or delete an abandoned review, open the review in the code browser and click Restore or Delete respectively from Actions.

Tagging

  1. To create Git tags and tag specific points in history as being important (to mark release points, for example, v1.0, and so on), select the TAGS tab and click Create Tag.
  2. Type a tag name and revision number and add a Release Notes for the tag. Click Create Tag.
    Once you create a tag, you can use it to donwload source code as a zip/tar file and view the tag information in Changes and Graph tabs.
Parent topic: Review code
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