Artifact 4f2f594a410ce3976071a008a4d6cd0e41f16968

File www/faq.wiki part of check-in [627de3bf16] - Documentation updates: Added FAQ and testimonials. by drh on 2009-01-25 21:16:55.

<h1 align="center">Frequently Asked Questions</h1>

<p>Note: See also <a href="qandc.wiki">Questions and Criticisms</a>.

<ol>
<li><a href="#q1">What GUIs are available for fossil?</a></li>
<li><a href="#q2">What is the difference between a "branch" and a "fork"?</a></li>
<li><a href="#q3">How do I create a new branch in fossil?</a></li>
<li><a href="#q4">How do I create a private branch that won't get pushed back to the
  main repository.</a></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<a name="q1"></a>
<p><b>(1) What GUIs are available for fossil?</b></p>

<blockquote>The fossil executable comes with a web-based GUI built in.  Just run:

<blockquote>
<b>fossil ui</b> <i>REPOSITORY-FILENAME</i>
</blockquote>

And your default web browser should pop up and automatically point to
the fossil interface.  (Hint:  You can omit the <i>REPOSITORY-FILENAME</i>
if you are within an open check-out.)</blockquote></li>

<a name="q2"></a>
<p><b>(2) What is the difference between a "branch" and a "fork"?</b></p>

<blockquote>This is a big question - too big to answer in a FAQ.  Please
read the <a href="branching.wiki">Branching, Forking, Merging,
and Tagging</a> document.</blockquote></li>

<a name="q3"></a>
<p><b>(3) How do I create a new branch in fossil?</b></p>

<blockquote>There are lots of ways:

When you are checking in a new change using the <b>commit</b>
command, you can add the option  "--branch <i>BRANCH-NAME</i>" to
make the change be the founding check-in for a new branch.  You can
also add the "--bgcolor <i>COLOR</i>" option to give the branch a
specific background color on timelines.

If you want to create a new branch whose founding check-in is the
same as an existing check-in, use this command:

<blockquote>
<b>fossil branch new</b> <i>BRANCH-NAME BASIS</i>
</blockquote>

The <i>BRANCH-NAME</i> argument is the name of the new branch and the
<i>BASIS</i> argument is the name of the check-in that the branch splits
off from.

If you already have a fork in your check-in tree and you want to convert
that fork to a branch, you can do this from the web interface.
First locate the check-in that you want to be
the founding check-in of your branch on the timeline and click on its
link so that you are on the <b>ci</b> page.  Then find the "<b>edit</b>"
link (near the "Commands:" label) and click on that.  On the 
"Edit Check-in" page, check the box beside "Branching:" and fill in 
the name of your new branch to the right and press the "Apply Changes"
button.</blockquote></li>

<a name="q4"></a>
<p><b>(4) How do I create a private branch that won't get pushed back to the
  main repository.</b></p>

<blockquote>You cannot.  All branches in fossil are public in the sense that
are all pushed and pulled together.  There is no way to tell fossil
to only push or pull a subset of branches.

Of course, as long as you never push, you can make as many private
changes as you want.</blockquote></li>

</ol>