Documentation on adding files needed

[E. Lewis]

This is either a bug, poorly designed GUI, incomplete documentation or a documentation error. It does not appear to be possible to add files for versioning control using Bazaar Explorer.

I have taken the following steps:

1) Open Bazaar Explorer Click "Start new project" (good GUI design would suggest that this should be the top panel, not the third panel down in the GUI).

2) Click "Initialize"

3) Browse to location of files to be put under versioning.

4) Click OK.

So far so good. Now, I want to add some files to put under version control.

The "Add Button" in the main menu bar is grayed. (Not possible to add files (yet)).

To get around this

5) Click "Open Existing Location" (Presumably the steps above identified a location for files to be put under version control.)

6) Click "Open"

Navigate to the location of files to be put under versioning. Note that a new directory "trunk" has appeared under location. Click on that.

A new dialogue comes up "Working tree is up to date at revison 0."

The "Add button" is now available. (I want to add some files.)

7) Click "Add".

A dialogue comes up that appears to be of no use. There is a section entitled "Unversioned Files" and another called "Status". Both are empty. There is no opportunity to add files to be put under versioning control.

Try again with a variant.

Quit and then start Bazaar Explorer.

Repeat (5) above. This time don't go to "trunk" but go to "trunk's" parent directory.

This brings up another dialogue that has two main windows, one with the "trunk" subdirectory showing and the other stating "No revisions in log." There are two other tabs, "Local Changes" and "Missing Revisions". These tabs offer no insight. The "Add" button in the main tool bar is grayed.

What next?

Unfortunately the site "Bazaar Explorer Visual Tour GNOME" is of no help. It shows what the screen are, but not what to do with them. There must be a work flow of some sort!

[Martin Pool (mbp)]

Hi Ed,

I think the step you are missing is that after initializing the
branch, you need to then put some files into it by other means, for
instance by copying them or by saving them into that directory from
your editor. After you do that and press Reload, they should come up
as Unversioned in the main window and as candidates in the Add dialog.

"Add" means "add an existing unversioned file" but perhaps it would
make sense to have a way to say "add an empty file then run my text
editor on it", if that's what you're looking for, or at least "run my
text editor in this directory."

However there do seem to be several opportunities to improve Explorer here:

 * make the above more clear in the documentation
 * after initializing a project or branch, open it
 * give some kind of hint in the program what to do after starting a new branch

--
Martin <http://launchpad.net/~mbp/>

[E. Lewis (ed-lewis)]

Thanks much. Your suggestion was most helpful; it works.
I agree with your several opportunities outlined above.

[Ian Clatworthy (ian-clatworthy)]

The WT browser now has action buttons for New File and New Folder fwiw.