Glossary

 

access control list (ACL) A GitCentric security feature consisting of a set of permissions that controls the access of groups to repositories. GitCentric group ACLs and AccuRev Element ACLs (EACLs) are two totally different mechanisms.
ASSIGN_USER_PRIVILEGE A property of the AccuRev Server configuration file, acserver.cnf, that identifies the groups and/or users allowed to perform AccuRev operations like promote, chmod, keep, and move as another user using the -u command option (accurev -promote -u <username>, for example). In GitCentric, the gcSyncUser is typically identified using this property.
backed In AccuRev, an element in a workspace or stream has backed status if it is not currently active there. This means that the workspace/stream inherits the version of the element that is currently in the workspace/stream’s parent stream (also called the backing stream).
branch The active line of development in a Git repository. A Git branch is roughly equivalent to an AccuRev stream and is mapped to a stream in GitCentric.
bridge The GitCentric server configured with the Tomcat web server that is part of the GitCentric installation package. The bridge is responsible for keeping an AccuRev stream synchronized with its mapped Git branch.
catalina.log Tomcat web server log in the /tomcat/logs directory where you installed the AccuRev Web UI used for troubleshooting a running GitCentric system.
change package In AccuRev, a set of entries that records the changes to one or more elements that were made to implement the feature or address the bug described in an issue record. Each entry in the change package describes changes to one element: the changes between the basis version and the head version. A change package is sometimes referred to as CPK.
checkout In AccuRev, an operation that makes a file active in a workspace without recording any new changes to the file in the AccuRev repository.
CLI path The full path to the AccuRev Client executable that can communicate with the AccuRev Server. For example:
/opt/accurev/bin/accurev.
clone In Git, the operation that creates a complete copy of a Git repository on your local directory.
commit In Git, the operation that records changes in the local repository. See pull and push.
depot The portion of the AccuRev repository that stores the entire history of a particular directory tree. The AccuRev depot is roughly analogous to a Git repository.
EID, element-ID The unique, immutable integer identifier by which AccuRev tracks the changes to a particular file or directory. An element’s name or pathname can change, but its element-ID never changes.
element A file or directory that is under AccuRev version control. See version.
element access control list (EACL) An AccuRev security feature consisting of a set of entries (permissions) that controls the rights AccuRev users (including the service account) have to AccuRev elements. Examples of EACL permissions include View Elements and Modify Elements. GitCentric access control lists (ACLs) and AccuRev EACLs are two totally different mechanisms. See also access control list (ACL).
eventStream An attribute of an AccuRev stream that controls whether or not a trigger fires when the stream content changes. Any stream mapped to a Git branch must be an event stream.
eventStreamHWM The transaction number of the last change made to the content of an AccuRev stream. The last change made to a stream is referred to as the stream’s high water mark, or HWM.
export The GitCentric process used to populate a Git branch with the contents of the mapped AccuRev stream. An initial export occurs during repository creation using the GitCentric GUI. Incremental exports occur each time you promote changes to a mapped stream. See also import.
file storage area The portion of an AccuRev depot in which AccuRev maintains a permanent copy (storage file) of each newly created file version. See metadata.
gcSyncUser The name given to a special service account user, used for communication between GitCentric and AccuRev. The gcSyncUser is typically a member of an AccuRev group such as scm_bridge_group, which is assigned to the ASSIGN_USER_PRIVILEGE property in acserver.conf.
Gerrit Code Review A free, web-based team software code review tool developed at Google that integrates with Git version control software. It is incorporated into AccuRev’s GitCentric product.
Git A distributed revision control and source code management (SCM) system initially designed and developed by Linus Torvalds.
Git repository A distributed data structure that contains a local copy of the central repository with complete history and tracking facilities. See also clone.
gitcentric.war The WAR file for the GitCentric GUI, which includes the open-source, third-party Gerrit Code Reviewpackage. Expanded in the tomcat/webapps directory where you installed GitCentric.
GitCentric database A database on the AccuRev Server that contains the AccuRev stream-Git branch mappings as well as a history of all import and export activity.
GitCentric stream An AccuRev stream that is mapped to a branch in a Git repository (and is an event stream).
high water mark The last change made to a stream is referred to as the stream’s high water mark, or HWM. See eventStreamHWM.
hook In Git, a way to fire a custom script to perform some action. A Git hook is analogous to an AccuRev trigger.
import The GitCentric process used to populate or update an AccuRev stream with the contents of the mapped Git branch. An initial import occurs during stream creation using the GitCentric GUI. Incremental imports occur each time you push commits to the central repository. See also export.
inherit In AccuRev, the facility by which versions in higher-level streams automatically propagate to lower level streams. If an element is not currently active in a stream or workspace, the stream or workspace inherits the version of the element that appears in its parent stream.
kando The engine that powers GitCentric. It provides a framework for synchronizing data between the AccuRev SCM and other products such as Git.
kandoMaintain A command line utility used to perform occasional administrative operations.
map ("mapping") An association between an AccuRev stream and a Git branch. See also mount point.
merge In AccuRev, an operation that combines the contents of two versions of the same element. To merge the contents of text files, AccuRev uses a “3-way merge” algorithm: it compares the two files line-byline with a third file, the version that is the closest common ancestor of the other two.
metadata Information stored in the AccuRev repository other than the contents of file versions. Metadata is stored in the repository database. File contents are stored in the file storage area.
mount point The directory within an AccuRev stream that is mapped to a Git branch. Access to directories and files in the stream are restricted to the contents of the mount point and its child directories.
overflow A condition identified during a restore of the GitCentric database. An overflow condition occurs when the GitCentric database is backed up before the Git repositories are copied. In this event, it is possible that the GitCentric database and the Git repository copies are out of synch, specifically, the GitCentric database probably does not have a complete set of AccuRev transaction-Git commit pairs reflecting the latest commits in the Git repositories.
parent stream In AccuRev, the stream that is just above a given workspace or stream in a depot’s stream hierarchy. The given workspace/stream inherits versions from the parent stream. (Also backing stream and basis stream.)
project In Gerrit Code Review, project often refers to a repository, such as Watched Projects. In GitCentric, project is used in its more generic sense: a planned or defined undertaking.

 

promote In AccuRev, the operation that transitions a version from being active in one workspace or stream to being active in the parent stream (or some other stream). The promote operation creates a new virtual version in the parent stream. The virtual version provides an alias for the real version, the version that was originally created in some user’s workspace. The promote operation is analogous to the push operation in Git.
pull In Git, the process of refreshing your Git clone by copying the latest commits from the central Git repository. The pull operation is analogous to the update operation in AccuRev.

Tip: Consider using git pull -rebase to provide serialized commits, avoiding the need to separately merge remote changes in your branch.

push In Git, the process of updating the central Git repository by copying commits from your Git clone to the central Git repository. The push operation is analogous to the promote operation in AccuRev.
repository See clone and repository .
rollback A condition identified during a restore of the GitCentric database. A rollback condition can occur when there is a large interval of time between when the copy of the Git repositories was created and the GitCentric database backup was performed. In this event, the GitCentric database will have mapped Git commits of which the repositories are unaware.
service account The AccuRev user account that is used by a specific branch-stream GitCentric mapping to synchronize Git repositories and AccuRev streams. By convention, the service account is an AccuRev user created for this role named gcSyncUser and is a member of a group such as scm_bridge_group, which is set to the ASSIGN_USER_PRIVILEGE property in the AccuRev acserver.conf file. Each branch-stream mapping can have its own service account with different permissions to control access to data. See gcSyncUser.
SHA-1 The Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) in Git that refers to the unique identifier, or name, given to each object in the Git object model, blobs, trees, commits, and tags.
snapshot In AccuRev, an immutable stream that captures the set of element versions of another stream at a particular time. A snapshot cannot be renamed or modified in any way. This term can also be used to describe an import of a repository without commit history into an AccuRev stream.
SSH The Secure SHell (SSH) network protocol for secure data communication between two networked computers. In GitCentric, SSH is used for communication between local Git repositories and the central Git repository using public/private key pairs.
stream In AccuRev, the data structure that implements the set of element versions in a particular depot. A stream is roughly equivalent to a Git branch and is mapped to a Git branch in GitCentric.
transaction A record in the AccuRev repository that indicates a particular change: promoting of a set of versions, changing the name of a stream, modifying an issue record, and so on. Each transaction has an integer transaction number, which is unique within the depot.
update In AccuRev, the operation that copies new versions of elements into a workspace from its parent stream. The update operation is analogous to the pull operation in Git.
version In AccuRev, a particular revision of an element, reflecting a content change (files only) or a namespace change (files and directories). All versions are originally created in workspaces, and can subsequently be promoted to dynamic streams. The original (workspace) version is termed a real version. Each promotion to a dynamic stream creates a virtual version, which serves as an alias for (pointer to) the original real version.
workspace In AccuRev, a location in which one or more users performs his or her work on files that are under AccuRev version control. Each workspace consists of a workspace stream in the AccuRev repository and a workspace tree in the user’s disk storage.