Branching Options

Branching occurs when an item in the child view changes if its behavior is set to Branch On Change. When an item branches, a separation occurs between the item and its corresponding item in the parent view. These separate items also begin to have different branch revision numbers.

When creating a branching view, if you select:

Branch All The behavior of every item that is in the view at the time the view is created is set to Branch On Change.
Branch None The behavior of every item in the view at the time the view is created is not set to Branch On Change. Changes to any item with a floating configuration can be propagated to the parent view.

When you branch a view, any manual shares between items in the same view are not retained in the view’s child view.

Note: Any item with a frozen or fixed configuration is read-only when its behavior is not set to Branch On Change. Read-only means that no data about this item within the view can be changed. For example, although you may be able to edit a file, you cannot check it in or change its properties.

As you add, move, share, and modify items, their behaviors can change.

Branching is Disabled

When the check box for Branch On Change is disabled the item cannot branch. One of the following is true:

  • The item is original to the current view, not shared into it. In other words, it is the root item in its own reference tree.
  • The item has already branched. (An item can branch only once per view.)
Branching Is Set to Branch On Change

When Branch On Change is both enabled and selected, branching occurs the next time the item changes. At that time, a separation occurs between the item in the new view and its corresponding item in the parent view. The item that becomes separated from its corresponding item in the parent view takes on the following behaviors:

  • Its Branch On Change check box becomes disabled.
  • Its revision number's dot notation expands to include two more numbers.
Branching Is Not Set to Branch On Change

When the Branch On Change check box is enabled but cleared, branching does not occur when you change the item.

If the item’s configuration floats, the change is propagated to the parent view.

If the item’s configuration does not float, the item cannot be changed because the parent view cannot be updated. The item is treated as though it were read-only. For example, if the item is a file, you can edit it but you cannot check it in or change its properties.