Combine two stacks/substacks

[Anya]

I want to collaborate on a livecode project but we have the issue that we can only work on one copy, one at a time.
We would like to be able to work on substacks individually and merge them by linking them to one mainstack which would be the base project. Not sure if I am even able to do this in livecode, or if I just have to stick with the single working copy.

[dunbarx]

You can certainly work on separate stacks, even separate controls. The issue is collaborating and merging.
Read this thread all the way through:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=26237

Craig

[Anya]

many thanks, I have had a read through that topic.
Does the community version have the functionality to combine two developers' work? I saw conflicting answers in the thread that only indy and above does, and then that it didn't matter
Additionally, how would I go about doing this? Is there a specific way to copy in or merge stacks? I'm not sure if I've misread something or haven't understood something there, but it doesn't seem to specify.

[FourthWorld]

many thanks, I have had a read through that topic.
Does the community version have the functionality to combine two developers' work?

There are so many ways to work collaboratively, it may be best to see if we can find the one that best fits your circumstance.

Can you tell us a bit about your workflow? How many developers? How many stacks/windows? Which platforms will you be deploying too? Which OS is your favorite to work on? What systems for collaboration support have you enjoyed in the past?

The LC universe is broad enough, and LC flexible enough, that I think we can help you find just what you're looking for.

[dunbarx]

We would like to be able to work on substacks individually and merge them by linking them to one mainstack which would be the base project.

The way you said that, can it be that the functionality of each subStack stands on its own? Just as we separate routines into separate handlers, for modularity and ease of management, if it is true that you can separate the tasks that each subStack is responsible for, then merging later on is simple.

The issue is when more than one author is working on, near or related to the same code. Then you need careful revision control and terrific communication among the participants.

Craig

[Anya]

The way you said that, can it be that the functionality of each subStack stands on its own? Just as we separate routines into separate handlers, for modularity and ease of management, if it is true that you can separate the tasks that each subStack is responsible for, then merging later on is simple.

Yes, the functionality of each substack is individual. it is a standard/common mainstack interface that we hope to achieve, with substacks relating to individual clients with individual functionality/data/etc.

Can you tell us a bit about your workflow? How many developers? How many stacks/windows? Which platforms will you be deploying too? Which OS is your favorite to work on? What systems for collaboration support have you enjoyed in the past?

two developers, one on mac and other on windows. This is the first project we have worked on together, and we have no past experiences with collaborative working in this context. Finished product will need to be able to be used as a stand alone program with either windows or mac systems.
I thought the different development OS would make it hard, but so far we've just been passing the one copy between us and individually working on the code with no issues.

I think more my issue here is we have no idea how to attach or merge substacks with a mainstack if we were to create completely independent substacks. It will be a constantly changing and updated program with new data and stacks being added as needed.

[FourthWorld]

Thank you for that background, Anya. Most of the work I've done has been in teams of 3 to 5 devs, and we haven't yet needed Github to keep things working well. I think you can too.

This was especially useful:

I think more my issue here is we have no idea how to attach or merge substacks with a mainstack if we were to create completely independent substacks. It will be a constantly changing and updated program with new data and stacks being added as needed.

Every stack has a mainstack property, and it can be set. You could, for example, work on stacks as separate files, and for delivery make on a substack of another with:

Code: Select all

set the mainstack of stack "SomeStack" to "MainStackName"

There are options in the Standalone Builder to do that automatically at build time as well. In the User Guide see "Including Additional Stacks" in the section "Building a Standalone Application", on p511.