Q&A Site for CodeSpaces.com
We have set up a simple Questions and Answers site that will (ultimately) replace for Code Spaces forums.
Its inspired by StackOverflow and is powered by the wonderful open source platform Shapado (http://gitorious.org/shapado).
Why?
We are trying to become more vocal and active in the development community and we think a site like this will not only serve to help our customers but also to reach out to the development community at large, especially Git and Subversion users.
I hope you will sign up and help us make this a great resource.
Removing the Flash Charts from Code Spaces 4
Now that everyone is using there iPad to manage their Code Spaces account we are getting a lot of requests to remove the Flash content from the Dashboard and Planning tabs.
We have identified a good charting package that is all Javascript and renders perfectly on all major browsers, yep Internet Explorer too!
The package we are going to use, is HighCharts and from our initial testing and some internal applications I think you are all going to appreciate the upgrade, even if you aren't using an iPad ;-)
The only other thing that remains is the Gantt chart which we might end up writing ourselves, unless any Javascript Gantt component vendors are out there...
A few minor updates.
We have just pushed a small update to the production servers. the fixes include:
- Internet Explorer 6,7 and 8 rendering issues on the Dashboard
- Internet Explorer 6,7 and 8 Gantt Chart didn't always show
- Create Milestone button on the Planning Tab didn't work
As always your feedback is greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Floyd
New Payment Option - PayPal
Hi Guys,
This is a quick post to let you know that we have introduced a new payment option, PayPal!
You go through the same process as normal but select the PayPal option on the payment page, everything else is the same.
Cheers
Floyd Price
Code Spaces
A Visual Guide to Version Control
If your new to the concept of Version Control check out this great article over at betterexplained.com
For all your graphic designers our there, this on is for you.
SVN Status Codes
If like me you do a lot of your SVN work in the command line you will be familiar with the SVN status codes, you know when you do an svn status you see a list of files, some have been modified (M), some have been added (A), and other are well in a state of limbo (!).
This is a quick explanation of most of the codes and what it means to your the user if you see them
For those of you who use a nice GUI to manage your working copies, Look Away Now
>svn status ? file1.txt ! file2.txt A file3.txt M file4.txt A+ file5.txt G file6.txt C file7.txt D file8.txt U file9.txt ...
So the above console output isn't quite what you would see every day but it illustrates most of the status codes you will run in to when working with your working copy from the command line.
? - This file is not under version control
As the sumary suggests the ? code is SVN's way of telling your that a file exists in the working copy that isn't under version control and as such will not be send to the server on the next commit.
If you want to add a file you will do use the svn add command
svn add file1.txt
There are many cases when you don't want a file to be under version control for instance if tis a config file that contains passwords, in this case you can tell svn to ignore the file using the svn:ignore property like so:
svn propedit svn:ignore
A - This file will be added to version control, after the commit
you have done an svn:add already and this file is going to be part of the next commit
! - This file is under version control but is missing from the working copy
I see this all the time, and can happen in a number of scenarios but its basically svn's way of telling you that a file that should be in the working copy isnt!
This usually happens when you (or your editor) removes a file but does not tell svn, to delete a file the correct way you must submit an svn delete command
svn delete file1.txt
However this will only work if the file is still there, in the scenario where it has been removed and svn is showing a ! in the status, you can force delete it with :
svn delete file1.txt --force
M - Working copy has been modified
This is the most common status code on an active project, its simply means that a file has been modified and the updated version will be committed next time you do a commit.
G - Changes on the repository were automatically merged into the working copy
You will see this when you do an update (svn up) rather that a status but its important all the same, svn is telling you that is automatically merged changes that somebody else has made into your working copy, In most cases this is a good queue to re-test your own changes (or run that test suite again).
C - Changes on the repository could not be merged in the working copy, manual intervention required
Like G this is svn's way of telling you that changes exist on the server but unlike G the svn client was not able to automatically merge in the changes, its now up to you the developer with the assistance of the developer who made the change in the repository to collaborate and decide which lines of code stay and which ones go.
As of svn version 1.5 interactive conflict resolution was introduced which will allow you to resolve conflicts when you perform an SVN up, providing you have the SVN_EDITOR environment variable set you can open the effected file and see the conflict:
I will write a detailed article about conflict resolution in a later post as it is somewhat out of the scope of this brief guide but for now I would suggest you look at the SVN book for further details.
There are many more status codes, and I welcome your comments on them but for me these are the ones I come across most in my travels and from 2 years of manning the Code Spaces support desk these are the ones that catch out users who are new to Subversion.
TweetAdd Work Items by Email
As well as the super extensive API we offer you can also enable Work Item creation by email.
Getting Started
In the project setting tab you will see a check box labeled "Email In Work Items" once checked your project email address will become active.
Usage
Using the email address displayed in the project settings tab you can email work items directly in to your project, this is a great way to give your users mechanism to send in bugs.
You can also get notification messages when this happened if you have check the the appropriate options in your user profile
As always we are really keen to here your thoughts about this, so please Contact Us
Code Spaces API
We have had an API in Code Spaces for about a year now, but until now have neglected to tell a single soul... about 100 of you have spotted it and asked for details so finally here is a fancy guide.
We will be creating sample code for Ruby, C# and Java developers (and any other language you guys ask for) in the coming days.
Getting Started
In the Code Spaces admin section select the project you want to work with and select the API Settings tab.
You will notice a brief list of available functions and a check box to enable the API for this project.
Check the Enable API box and the functions you wish to use.
Now you have enabled the API you will need to use the API Key.
The Api is a simple RESTful service and uses the following URL conventions:
https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/[resource].xml
When you hit this URL you will be prompted for a username and password, the username is your API key and the password is blank.
Resources
List Work Items - Retrieve a list of work items.
URL (GET) :
https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/work_items
Edit Work Items - Update existing work items.
URL (PUT) :
https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/work_items/wi_id/
Create Work Items - Create a new work items.
URL (PUT) : https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/work_items/
Project Details - Retrieve information about the current project.
URL (PUT) : https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/work_items/
List Project Components - Retrieve a list of Project Components.
URL (GET) : https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/project
List Project Milestones - Retrieve a list of Project Milestones.
URL (GET) : https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/project_milestones
List Project Users - Retrieve a list of Project Users.
URL (GET) : https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/users
List Work Item Priorities - Retrieve a list of Work Item Priorities
URL (GET) : https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/work_item_priorities
List Work Item Statuses - Retrieve a list of Work Item Statuses
URL (GET) : https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/work_item_statuses
List Work Item Types - Retrieve a list of Work Item Types
URL (GET) : https://[your_account].codespaces.com/api/work_item_types
Svn Backups 1
Further to Adrian’s recent announcement about v2.6 I would also like to add that the SVN Backups tab is now available via the Admin tab, which gives you direct access to your SVN backups.
Please let us know if you have any feedback for any of these enhancements?
Cheers,
Floyd Price
Code Spaces
Code Spaces v2.5 3
We are pleased to announce the availability of Code Spaces v2.5, this is the first in a series of updates that will bring us to v3.0 over the coming months.
This update includes many foundational enhancements, performance updates and extra scaling options, including:
- Infrastructure Update
All the Code Spaces SVN, App and database servers are now running on Amazon EC2 and as such we have updated all components to take advantage of the almost limitless scaling opportunities.
- Changes to Plans
With our new found abundance of space and processing power we have updated the Code Spaces Plans, in a nut shell all plans now have unlimited projects and repositories and the FREE plan now has 500MB of disk space (10x what it was).
- Card Walls
A new tab has been introduced to Code Spaces between the Dashboard and Work Items called “Card Wall”. A Card wall is a visualization of Work items, and allows work items to be displayed as cards in virtual swim lanes that represent categories such as Work Item Status, or Assigned To. Within the context of a milestone Card Walls give Agile teams the ability to plan, estimate, do Stand Ups, etc all from the Code Spaces UI. The Card Wall section also allows for convenient dragging and dropping between swim lanes, so re-allocating or prioritizing work items couldn’t be easier.
- Browser Rendering Issues
All known IE6, 7 and 8 rendering issues have been resolved. Firefox 3+ exhibited rendering issues on the Code Spaces Dashboard where the timeline would bleed through any components above like menus or dialogs. This has been resolved.
- Email Notifications
Users can now receive email notifications from activity in the Code Spaces forums. Admins can now specify user notification preferences in the User Admin section.
- Return URLs
Previously the Code Spaces application would redirect to the login page when an login was required which is great, however the context of the request was lost and the user would not be returned back to the page they requested after a successful login, this has now been resolved.
- Backup Changes
We now use the snapshot feature of Amazons Elastic Block storage to take block level backups every 10 minutes, we are also taking actual backups of each repository as a commit occurs meaning we have a much greater capacity to respond to failure.
A few other not so noteworthy bugs have been fixed and many performance improvements have been applied.
As i mentioned this is one of many updates that we will be applying over the coming months, v2.6 is scheduled to go live in exactly one month from now ;-)
As always please Contact Us if you have any suggestions ;-)
Many Thanks,
Floyd Price
Code Spaces
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Code Spaces is an online development and collaboration service that includes: Subversion Hosting, Project Management, Work Items, Forums, and much more.
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