Developing FreeCAD with GitKraken

Intro
Want to contribute to FreeCAD source code but don't know how to use the Git revision system? Git is very powerful and a bit complex... good thing you only need to understand some rudimentary structural theory of how it works and half a dozen of its commands to get by! Even better, you can use a GUI to work with git as a method of understanding it (at least for some) which may make it much less intimidating a learning curve. This is where Gitkraken may work for you. Gitkraken is a proprietary program free to use for non-commercial use that runs on Electron, a cross platform framework (Linux, MacOS, Windows).

Setup git Development
  Download GitKraken (There are different ways to download GitKraken depending on your OS. I use an Arch Linux based distro called Manjaro and added it through my package manager)  In your web browser go to: https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD  Click the Fork button. This will clone the FreeCAD/FreeCAD repo to your own account. In other words the URL to access your fork of FreeCAD is: https://github.com/GITUBUSERNAME/FreeCAD.git   Open GitKraken and go to File > Clone Repo  GitKraken will now git clone your repository   Now an important point: Please read the different between origin vs. upstream remote repos. Essentially your fork of FreeCAD is the origin repo. The official FreeCAD git repo FreeCAD/FreeCAD is your upstream. You now need to set the upstream repo as FreeCAD.  Go to File > Open Terminal</li>  Enter the following to set up your upstream remote repo git remote add upstream https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD.git </li>  Now check what remote branches you have set by typing: git remote -v </li>  You should see something like this in the terminal: origin	https://github.com/foobar/FreeCAD (fetch) origin	https://github.com/foobar/FreeCAD (push) upstream	https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD.git (fetch) upstream	https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD.git (push) </li>  Switch back to GitKraken interface.</li>  On the left side of the screen you will see a sidebar with a section labled Local double click on the master branch (this will make sure you're on the master branch AKA git checkout master </li>  Click on the Push] icon on the top right side of the interface. This will push your Local master to your Remote origin master</li> </ol>

Deciphering the GitKraken Interface
For more in-depth understanding of the GitKraken interface checkout the Getting Started Guide.
 * Orientation:
 * Local = local machine
 * Local master = your local copy FreeCAD <= symbolized as Blue in Screenshot)
 * Remote = Remote GitHub repos
 * Remote Upstream = Official FreeCAD repo (AKA FreeCAD/FreeCAD) <= Symbolized as Green in Screenshot
 * Remote Origin = Fork of FreeCAD/FreeCAD (should look something like: github.com/YourGitHubUsername/FreeCAD) <= Symbolized as Red in Screenshot

Rebasing
Now all your repos are in sync!
 * Checkout the Local Master branch by double clicking on it (this is the equivalent of typing git branch master in the terminal)
 * Move the mouse to the where latest Upstream commit is, right click mouse and choose Rebase master on upstream/master (this will pull down the Upstream changes in to your Local master)
 * Move the mouse and press the Push button. GitKraken (This pushes from your 'Local master' to 'Remote Origin master')



Making Pull Requests
Gitkraken allows you to make PRs through it's UI instead of you having to go to your FreeCAD fork on GitHub and using the GitHub interface to submit the PR. Gitkraken will then push your local branch to your GitHub account and then automagically open a Pull Request dialog window https://i.imgur.com/7wglV1T.png
 * Find you local branch on the interface
 * Right click the branch name and find the option to Find <your-branch-name> and start a pull request

Also the official documentation on the Gitkraken site on how to make a PR link

Resolving Merge Conflicts

 * GitKraken compatible 3rd party external merge tools
 * If none of the above options in GitKraken work for you, it's possible to specify 3rd party git merge tools within your ~/.gitconfig

Squashing Commits
Squashing is when you have several commits you want to condense down in to one commit. From the GitKraken manual: Squashing is available for commits that meet the following requirements: Selection contains more than one commit The youngest commit (by commit date) is also the current HEAD commit Genealogically consecutive Chronologically consecutive The oldest commit in the list has a parent If all these conditions are met, the Squash option appears when you right click the commit node. See screencast at: https://support.gitkraken.com/img/documentation/working-with-files/commits/squash.gif

Follow Other FreeCADers Branches
Remotes are forked repositories of FreeCAD/FreeCAD by fellow FreeCADers. You can use Gitkraken to follow how FreeCAD devs code and commit to their own branches before they send git Pull Requests to the main FC repo. Here is how you can follow other users: Whenever new commits are made or branches are rebased by said user you will see it represented in the gui.
 * 1) In the left side panel there is a Remotes category. Press the +
 * 2) A dialogue will come up that can give you the option to choose which remote you want to follow. Recommended remotes are: wmayer, yorikvanhavre, ickby, sliptonic, kkremitzki etc....
 * 3) Choose 'Add Remote'