Using the GitLab Platform in the Browser

This chapter introduces the GitLab environment through the browser. Note that the screen outputs may vary to that shown as the web interface is regularly updated, however the concepts should remain the same.

Why use the Browser?

Sometimes it’s easier to make quick changes directly from the GitLab web interface than to use more advanced techniques to edit a project locally. We also use it as a way to introduce the concepts for the first time.

Accessing your Project(s)

Once you have an account on The Open Group GitLab server, you will need to access the project(s) in which you want to participate.

How you do this depends on whether you are connecting through your web browser, or working locally using a Git client. You may need to be explicitly added as a project member, and need to contact the project owner.

Accessing through the Web Browser

In the browser click The Open Group logo in the top left of the screen to go to your Home page, which will then show your “Projects”. This allows you to see the projects for which you are a member, and those you accessed recently.

Figure 1. GitLab Projects View

Anatomy of a Project

Let us look at a very simple project, the Cats and Dogs project, one of a couple of playground projects set up to allow you to experiment.

Figure 2. Cats and Dogs Project Overview

The top of the left panel has a number of buttons. This includes a list of Issues assigned to you, and your To-Do list.

The following are shown in Figure 2:

1	The To-Do list The To-Do list displays a chronological list of items that are waiting for your input, all in a simple dashboard. In the dashboard you are able to mark to-do items as done. Detailed information on the To-Do list is provided in the web environment.
2	The Issues list The Issues list shows all issues assigned to you across all projects.
3	The sidebar The sidebar contains all the features available to a project. The main ones of immediate interest are: Pinned items where you can pin frequently accessed items Plan, including dashboards to display the issues lists, an issue board, manage issue labels, and manage milestones Manage, including dashboards with details of activity, manage members of project, and project labels Code, including dashboards for files, commits, branches, tags, contributors, graph views, and the ability to compare branches or commits

My Hello World Example Part 1

This is a simple exercise to get you started.

Create a project, called "My Hello World", with a README file
Make changes to the README file
Preview the changes
Commit the changes
View the commit history and diffs

Creating a Project with a README File

You can select the “New project” button, or use the plus icon in the navigation panel. This gives a choice for a blank project, create from template, or import a project. Click on Create blank project. This will present a screen, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. GitLab New Project View

On the “Blank project” tab, enter the following information:

The name of your project in the “Project name” field. You cannot use special characters, but you can use spaces, hyphens, underscores, or even emoji. When adding the name, the “Project slug” will auto populate. The slug is what will be setup as the URL path to the project. If you want a different slug, input the project name first and then change the slug.
The path to your project in the “Project slug” field. This is the URL path for your project that the GitLab instance will use. If the “Project name” is blank, it will auto populate when you fill in the “Project slug”.
The “Project description (optional)” field enables you to enter a description for your project’s dashboard, which will help others understand what your project is about. Though it’s not required, it is a good idea to fill this in.
Changing the “Visibility Level” modifies the project’s viewing and access rights for users. If you are unsure, leave as “Private”.
Selecting the “Initialize repository with a README option” creates a README file so that the Git repository is initialized, has a default branch, and can be cloned (recommended)
Finally, click “Create project”.

Figure 4 shows the setup for My Hello World project:

Figure 4. Creating My Hello World Project

After you click on “Create project” this will then instance the project as shown in Figure 5:

1	At this stage a single commit (save) has been made in the repository, which has created the README.md file
2	Clicking on the “Initial commit” in the center of the dashboard will show the details, as in Figure 6

Figure 5. The Initialized My Hello World Project

The Initial Commit in My Hello World Project

Figure 6. The Initial Commit in the My Hello World Project

Making Changes to the README File

Clicking on the filename, as in Figure 7, will put you into a simple editor, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 7. Click on the Filename to Edit

Figure 8. The Basic Web Editor

Clicking on the blue “Edit” button, takes you into a simple editor with buttons to set text attributes, as shown in Figure 9. There is also a “Preview” tab to check the output, as shown in Figure 10. There is some sample text to start with. We will remove most of it and add some lines at the top.

Figure 9. Editing the File

Previewing the Changes

Figure 10. Preview the Edits

Committing the Changes

Once you are ready, you should enter some notes about the change in the “Commit message” box, and save the change by selecting the “Commit changes” button, as shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11. Add a Commit Message and Commit

The screen will confirm the changes were committed, as in Figure 12.

Figure 12. Confirmation of Changes Committed

1	Click on the commit summary text to view the detailed change, as shown in Figure 13.

Viewing the Commit History and Diffs

Figure 13. View the Commit Details

My Hello World Example Part 2

This is another simple exercise introducing the concepts of issues, branching, and merging.

Create an issue for the My Hello World Project requesting a change to the README file
Create a new branch for the My Hello World Project

This is a way to work on different versions of the project at the same time.
Make changes to the README file in the new branch and review the main branch
Create a merge request to merge your branch into the main branch
Review the merge request to merge your branch into main
Complete the merge and check the resulting README file

Creating an Issue

When working collaboratively it is good practice to create an issue for the change you plan to propose to make to a document. Issues can allow sharing and discussion of proposals before, and during their implementation. Issues contain a variety of content and metadata, allowing flexibility in how they are used.

To submit a new issue, use the plus icon in the navigation panel, and select “New issue”.

In Figure 14 the following is shown:

1	The issue has been assigned
2	The “Description” of the issue includes a simple checklist that is used to track the progress of the issue, including development and review

Figure 14. Creating an Issue

Scroll down and click on Create Issue. After creating an issue, the issue is displayed again, as in Figure 15.

Figure 15. Issue Opened

Creating a New Branch

To create a new branch, from the issue itself, select the pulldown “Create merge request”; this will reveal the option to “Create branch”.

Figure 16. Select Pulldown in the Issue

See Figure 17:

1	Select Create branch on the pulldown
2	Select the Create branch option on the pulldown
3	Click on the Create branch button

The default branch name is automatically created from the issue.

Figure 17. Create Branch from the Issue

You will then be returned to the dashboard, but notice:

1	The confirmation that you pushed to the new branch
2	The branch indicator now shows that you are viewing the new branch

Figure 18. New Branch Created

If we revisit the issue that was originally opened, and scroll down through the issue we can now see, in Figure 19:

1	The new branch is recorded under “Related branches”, along with the issue, also under Activity

Making Changes to the README File in the New Branch

In branch 1-revise-the-readme-file-for-the-part-2-simple-exercise, edit the README file (via Code → Repository, check the branch selector, then click on the README.md file and Edit → Edit Single File)

See Figure 20:

1	The “Preview” view is shown
2	Confirms the branch that is being worked on
3	The “Target Branch” also confirms the branch that is being worked on

Click on “Commit changes” to save the changes, confirmation of which can be seen in Figure 21.

Figure 20. Edit the README in the Branch

Figure 21. The Changes have been Committed

Review the Main Branch

Click on the project name in the top left of the sidebar, which returns you to the start page in the project on the “main” branch, as shown in Figure 22.

1	Shows the branch that is being displayed
2	Shows that the README file does not contain the changes being proposed
3	Is a shortcut to “Create merge request”

Figure 22. Review the Main Branch

Creating a Merge Request to Merge your Branch into the Main Branch

Click on “Create merge request”.

The result is shown in Figure 23:

1	Is the “Title” for the request If you are planning on making further changes, you can select the checkbox to mark as draft; this will prevent the change from being merged until the merge request is marked as ready.
2	Is the “Description”; using the phrase Closes #<issue number> will automatically close the issue referenced when the merge is completed
3	Lets you assign the merge request to another person, or to yourself
4	Lets you decide whether or not to delete the branch after the merge is completed; this is useful since otherwise many stale branches can be left in the repository

Figure 23. Create the Merge Request

In this example we click to show this is a draft and submit the merge request. In this case the subject will have the word "Draft:" added to it automatically, and the Merge will be blocked as shown in Figure 24. Marking a merge request as a draft can be used if you want the merge request to be reviewed. You can mention the reviewers in the comments below using the @ notation, and ask them to review and comment.

Figure 24. Merge Request Marked Draft Pending Review

Reviewing the Merge Request to Merge your Branch into Main

Click on “Merge Requests” in the sidebar, then click on the merge request. Then, as shown on the Merge Request page in Figure 25:

1	Click on the “Changes” tab
2	Review the diffs listing

Figure 25. Review the Merge Changes

If you have a comment for a specific line, you can click on the line number and a dialog will allow you to insert a comment in this view.

Figure 26. Comment Bubble Appears over Lines

In Figure 27 we have inserted a comment on Line 9.

Figure 27. Inserted Comment on a Proposed Change

You can then add the comment, and then others, or start a review. In Figure 28 we show the review options.

Figure 28. Start the Review

In this example, we agree to the proposed change, and in Figure 29:

1	We add the italic line example as proposed
2	The commit message has a default, which can be changed
3	We can confirm the branch where the file is changed
4	We commit the change

Figure 29. Edit the File to Incorporate the Change

Returning to the Merge Request page, we see in Figure 30:

1	The comment thread has been resolved
2	There are now two commits in the branch to be merged
3	There is a record of the comment thread
4	The additional commit is also recorded

Figure 30. Updated Merge Request Page

We can now click on Mark as Ready which will remove the "Draft:" prefix from the merge request, and show its ready to merge. In our example we will return to the Issues page, and tick the checkboxes to denote the review is completed and changes have been finalized.

Figure 31 shows:

1	All tasks on the checklist have been completed
2	The issue will be automatically closed when the merge request completes
3	Click on the related merge request (see Figure 32)

Figure 31. Update the Issue

Completing the Merge and Checking the Resulting README File

Figure 32 shows:

1	The merge will close issue #1
2	It will merge the branch into main
3	The “Merge” button is active and after the merge it will delete the source branch

Figure 32. View the Merge Request

Clicking on the “Merge” button updates the view, as shown in Figure 33 confirming:

1	The merge has completed
2	The changes were made into the main branch
3	Issue #1 is closed

Figure 33. View the Completed Merge Request

Clicking on the “main” branch link, we return to the project summary showing the main branch, as shown in Figure 34:

1	The merge is shown as the last commit on the main branch
2	The README file has been updated to include the changes
3	The number of issues and merge requests is now zero

Figure 34. View the Main Branch Overview

Summary

Here is what we accomplished in this introduction to the GitLab environment using a web browser:

Created a GitLab project
Changed a file and saved (committed) those changes
Opened an issue to propose a change
Started and managed a new branch with the change
Marked the branch as a draft
Reviewed and commented on the proposed change in the branch
Resolved the comment on the proposed change
Updated the changes on the branch as a result of the review
Updated the issue to note the tasks were complete
Merged the branch, deleting the source branch, and automatically closing the issue
Confirmed the change had been merged into the main branch