Development Branch
If you deal with significant structural updates, you would prefer not to expose partial changes to end users until the project is complete. To address this we have introduced the Development Branch.
The goal is to hide changes from end users until you’re done with the work. The branch is a copy of the original database, while both share the same physical data. You can do (almost) any changes in the branch. When you’re done, you can promote changes to an original database. In case you don’t want to promote changes, the development branch can be deleted, for the deletion you should login to the development branch and follow the simple steps listed here>>
Please note, that TeamDesk doesn’t combine changes – you can either accept all changes from the development branch, overwriting changes in the original database or you can keep the original database unchanged.
Only one development branch can be connected to a database at a time. If you need to create a new development branch, the existing one should be deleted or promoted.
To enable Development Branch, enter Setup > Database > Create development branch.
After that you should read the displayed instructions before the development branch creation.
If the Disable all Users option is set in the Add users field, only you have access to the development branch and only you can promote it.
If it is needed, you can add users to this development branch. Just select the Enable selected user(s) option and choose users. These added users will be able to make changes and promote the development branch.
Click on the Create Development Branch button and the development branch will be opened.
When the DEV red banner is shown near the database name, it means that now you are working in the Development Branch.
As it is mentioned above, the branch and the original database share the same physical data. The main advantage is that you can do changes in the branch, while the other users work in the original database. So, you can do the adjustment in the development branch as long as you need. When it’s done, you can promote changes to the original database. But TeamDesk doesn’t combine changes – you can either accept all changes from the development branch, overwriting changes in the original database or you can keep the original database unchanged.
To promote changes, go to the Setup > Database > Promote development branch
Data sharing will imply certain restrictions however. You won’t be able to modify uniqueness or requiredness of the columns in the shared table (these restrictions won’t apply to new tables). The system will also disable periodic and time-dependent triggers and notifications on shared tables in a development branch and re-enable them when changes are promoted.
When the Promote Development Branch button is clicked, the original database is replaced by the development branch. As a result, all changes are implemented and all database users work in this renewed database.
If you don’t want to promote the changes, just delete the Development Branch. In this case the original database will not be changed.