Using Git in Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver supports Git, an open source distributed version control system, to manage source code. With the integration of Git in Dreamweaver, you can independently work on your code from anywhere, and later merge your changes to a central Git repository. Git helps you track all the modifications in a file, and lets you revert to the previous versions as well.

Git repositories are also helpful when you work as a team, as Git allows you to easily create and maintain branches. For example, if you are a designer who wants to work on a design change for your site. At the same time, if another team member accommodates change requests for the same site, you both can work independently using Git. In this case, you both can independently create a branch and make your changes in your respective local repository. The local repository contains the full history of all the changes that you made to the source. You can pause and merge your changes with the central repository at any point in time. Merge ensures that the central repository always has the latest code with both your changes.

Read on to know how to get started with using Git in Dreamweaver.

If you are a new Git user, you must first download a Git client and create a Git account. A Git client is essential before you use Git from within Dreamweaver.

If you are a user who already has a Git account, sign in to your account. Ensure that you have downloaded the Git client to your system. 

Perform the following steps to get started with Git in Dreamweaver:

The Git Panel

It is recommended that you install the Git client with the default configuration settings. Dreamweaver then automatically picks the path to the executable.

You can now launch Dreamweaver and associate your site with a Git repository.

Dreamweaver supports Git operations through the Git panel (Windows > Git). As a Dreamweaver user, you can use this panel to perform common Git operations such as commit, push, pull, fetch.

 You can view this panel in Dreamweaver only after you download the Git client on your computer.

Associate your site with Git

To start using Git in Dreamweaver, you must first associate your Dreamweaver site with a Git repository. A Git repository is like a folder that you create to help you track file changes. You can have any number of Git repositories on your computer. Each repository on your system is independent. That is, the changes saved in one Git repository do not affect the contents of another.

You can associate your website with a repository either by creating a repository or by cloning an existing repository. When you initialize or create a repository, an empty Git repository is created in your current working directory, with a .gitignore file in the folder.

However, when you clone an existing Git repository, all the files from your parent repository are cloned to your local system.

Read on to know how to initialize a Git repository or clone a repository.

Initialize a Git repository

When you begin working with Git in Dreamweaver, the first step is to create a repository. When you initialize a Git repository for your site, you create a Git repository where you can add the files associated with your Dreamweaver site.

Clone an existing repository

If you're already working with an existing Git repository hosted on Github or Bitbucket or other popular hosting services, you can perform the following procedure to clone the repository from within Dreamweaver. When you clone an existing repository, you create a copy of the target repository in your local system.

Using Git for version control

Now that you have associated your Dreamweaver site with a Git repository, you can view the files in Git from the Files panel (Git view). Git categorizes the files in your local repository as:

• Untracked files: Files that you have not committed to the Git repository even once. After you initialize a Git repository, the files are untracked until you commit them.
• Unmodified files: Files that are not modified.
• Modified files: Files that are edited.
• Staged files: Files that are modified and ready to be committed.

Using Git, you can track the modifications for the files. When you modify the files in your local system, the modified files appear in a different color in the Files panel. When you double-click and open the file in Code View, you can also see the gutter mark against the lines that have been modified. You can go ahead and commit your modified files in Git to synchronize the changes.

When you commit your files, Git allows you to enter log messages for each commit and review the changes using the diff feature. You can also view the version history for each file and for the entire repository.

Read on to learn how to track your edits within Dreamweaver, and commit your changes in Git.

Track edits in Git

In the Files panel in Dreamweaver, notice the Git icon that allows you to toggle between the FTP view and Git view. Click the Git icon to toggle Git view.

If you had initialized a Git repository, and did not commit your files, the files remain untracked. However, if you had committed your files after initializing your repository, Git recognizes those files.

If you had cloned all your files from another repository, the files are again recognized by Git.

When you modify a file and select Save, the Files panel displays the modified files in a different color. To view the exact changes in the Code View, double-click the modified file.

A guttermark indicates those lines where changes have been made. Guttermarks in green indicate new code that has been added. Guttermark in yellow indicates modified code, while guttermark in red indicates a code line that has been deleted.

When you click the yellow guttermark, the application displays the change in the code. The deleted line of code appears in red while the newly added code appears in green.

Notice an R symbol at the left corner of the deleted lines of code. To add the deleted code back to your file, click the R symbol.

Use the guttermarks to view the diff and review your changes before committing the changes to the Git repository.

View the diff for modified files

When you open the Git panel, you can see a list of the modified files. You can click a file in this list and view the changes made to the file after the previous commit (diff). To view the diff for a file, do one of the following from the Git panel:

• To view the edits at a file level, click each file. The red highlights indicate the previous version, while the green highlights indicate the change that you have made now.
• Select the file for which you want to view the diff. Click  (Diff icon). The Git Diff dialog box appears, which has the changes highlighted in red and green.

Commit changes

Revert changes

If you have already committed your changes and you want to revert to the previous version of a file, do the following:

Create tags

You can create tags whenever you commit your changes in Git. You can use tags to mark important commits. For example, a check-in for a major change requested by your client. The tags act as a pointer to a specific commit.

View file history

Every time you commit a file in Git, you can view the history of the file along with the details of the commit. This capability helps in identifying important commits, and tags associated with commits.

1. In the Git panel, do one of the following:

• Select the required file, and click  (Show File History icon).
• Right-click the file from the Files panel and select File History.

The system displays the Git File History of the selected file. You can also view the details of the commit for this file from the same dialog box.

View repository history

Apart from viewing the history of a file in Git, you can also view the changes made at the repository level. You can view all the changes and commits made at the repository level. To view the repository history, perform the following steps:

Using Git for collaboration

One of the most distinct features of Git is branches. Unlike most version control systems, a Git branch can be equated to an independent line of all your associated files or code. By default, your repository has one branch named “master”. The master branch is the main or definitive branch. You can create branches from master, and make edits in each of the branches.

You can also create a branch off another branch, where you are making a copy of the parent branch. You can independently work on both the branches in the same Git repository. For example, you can work on a new feature for your site on one branch while addressing some change requests in another branch.

Git also allows you to merge branches if you want to incorporate the changes from your current branch to a target branch. When you merge two branches, both the branches continue to exist independently. You can continue to work with the parent and the target branches.

In Dreamweaver, when developers and designers work together for a site, each user can create a branch off the master and make changes independently. Whenever required, they can easily merge their changes with another branch, and continue to work with both the branches.

To know more about creating and managing branches in Git, read the following sections:

Create branches in Git

Merge branches

Working with remote repositories

Remote repositories in Git are versions of a project that are hosted in another network. You can access remote repositories by creating a connection with the repository. Depending on the access rights specified in the remote repository, you can either have a read-only access or write access to that repository.

When you work in a team, remote repositories help you push and pull data to and from other repositories. From the Dreamweaver Git panel, you can create a remote connection, perform several Git operations such as Fetch, Git Push, Git Pull, and Remote Refresh.

Read the following procedures to know how to create and manage remote repositories.

Add a remote repository

You can add a remote repository to share files, your work progress, and to access your project files hosted in another network. By adding a remote repository, you establish a remote connection with the target repository. Dreamweaver allows you to create remote repositories from the Git panel.

Before you add a remote repository, ensure that the other repository has public settings enabled.

Manage remote repositories

After you add a remote repository and establish a connection, you can fetch and pull the files from the remote repository to your local repository. You can also push your files to the remote repository. However, you must first fetch files from the remote repository before you perform a Git Push action for the first time.

Remember to commit all your files in the local repository before you attempt to push your files. If your local repository has staged files, Git Push remains unsuccessful. 

You can perform the following Git operations from within Dreamweaver:

Fetch all

Click  to fetch all the files from all your remote connections. It is recommended that you perform a Git Fetch before you perform Git Push or Git Pull. This action only fetches the files from remote, and does not modify your local repository.

Pull files from remote repository

You can pull changes from a single repository or from a group of repositories. When you click the Git Pull icon, the system displays the Git Pull dialog box with various options.

Push files to the remote repository

After you connect with remote repositories, when you modify and commit the modified files, Git records these changes. The Git Push icon in the Git panel immediately displays the number of files that have been modified. These files can now be pushed to the remote repository.

When you perform a Git Push, the commits that you made to the local repository are pushed to the remote repository.

To push your files from within Dreamweaver:

Searching files in the Git panel

The Search bar in the Git panel allows you to search for files using the filename. This capability is especially useful when you have large number of files associated with your site.

To search for a file, simply type the filename in the Search bar. The file or files containing your search query is displayed immediately.

Add files to the ignore list

When you do not want Git to act on a file, you can add the file to .gitignore. Git then ignores the files in this folder whenever you perform any action including commit, push, and pull. You must commit the .gitignore file to your repository so that any other user cloning your repository is also aware of the files in the .gitignore folder.

To add files to .gitignore, go to the Files panel in Dreamweaver. Select and right-click the file that you want Git to ignore, and select Git > Add to .gitignore.

At any point in time, if you want to remove a file from .gitignore, select the file from the Files panel. Right-click and select Git > Remove from .gitignore.

Ensure that you commit the .gitignore file to the local and remote repositories after modifying this file.

Accessing Git through command line

In the previous sections in this article, you learnt how to use the Git panel (UI) to perform tasks like associating a Git repository to your site, creating and managing remote connections, pushing files to a repository, or pulling files from a repository. You can also perform these actions and more using git commands.

To perform any Git operation using the terminal, do one of the following:

• Click Window > Git, and click the Open Bash/Terminal Console icon.
• From the Files panel, toggle the Git View. Click the Open Git Terminal icon next to the repositories drop-down list.

To view the common git commands, see the Git Cheat Sheet. 

 Some actions like git stash and combining commits after push are currently possible only from the command line.

When you perform certain actions such as initializing a Git repository from the command line, these actions are also reflected in the Dreamweaver interface.

However, you can also modify files using command line when the Dreamweaver application is closed. In this case, you see the following message when you launch Dreamweaver the next time:

Set Git preferences in Dreamweaver

Git preferences in Dreamweaver allow you to define some settings for using Git in Dreamweaver. You can use the Preferences dialog box to set Git preferences like path to the terminal, timeout settings, and so on.

 Restart Dreamweaver for your updated preferences to take effect.