Submitty Server Version Control Repositories

  1. If your instructor has prepared a repository for you, you will see how to clone the initial repository when you click to submit your assignment. It will look something like this:

    git clone https://submitty.myuniversity.edu/git/s19/csci1200/hw1/myusername SPECIFY_TARGET_DIRECTORY
    

    Copy and paste this line into a terminal on your computer. Replace SPECIFY_TARGET_DIRECTORY with a path and directory name on your computer. Run the command.

  2. You will be prompted to enter your username and password.

    NOTE: You may be required to use an Authentication Token instead of your password.

    If the command fails, check the assignment instructions. Your instructor may not have created the initial repositories yet and you should check back later. Contact your instructor if you think the repositories should be available now.

  3. Your initial repository may be empty (no branches and no files). If this is the case you should do your work in the main branch. This may happen by default, or you may need to first type:

    git checkout -b main
    

    to create and checkout the initial main branch. Create/copy files/directory structure into the repository directory following the assignment instructions.

    Note: Please also read the section below on Instructor Provided Code.

Public Repositories (e.g., Github)

TODO:

Private, Instructor-Created Repositories (e.g., Github Classroom)

TODO:

Private, Student-Created Repositories (e.g., Github)

TODO:

Committing Your Work

  1. To check what changes you’ve made since your last commit, run:

    git status
    

    Make sure you’re on the main branch. You’ll see messages about any files you have “modified”, files you may have “deleted”, files that are “new” (you’ve already indicated they should be added to the repository), and files that are “untracked” (and will be ignored, unless you add them to the repository).

  2. If you’ve created a new file and you do want it to be in the repository, you need to tell git about it:

    git add FILENAME
    
  3. Confirm the details of the edits you’ve made to the above files:

    git diff
    
  4. When you’re happy with the contents that you’re committing, type:

    git commit -m 'SPECIFY YOUR COMMIT MESSAGE'   
    

    Be sure to write a good commit message, this will be entered in the log and is helpful if you ever need to revert your work!

Pushing your Commits to the Server and Submitting Your Assignment

Currently your work is only on your local machine.

  1. If there have been edits to your repository on the server, you may need to first pull those changes to your local machine:

    git pull
    

    Note: Please also read the section below on Instructor Provided Code.

    Note: Please also read the section below on Team Work with GIT.

  2. Then to push your work to the server:

    git push
    

    If you are on the main branch on your local machine, this will push your local main branch to the main branch of origin, which is the machine from which you originally cloned the repository.

    NOTE: Yay! Your work is now backed up. If your local machine explodes, you can download your code from the server.

    However, your code is not yet submitted, and won’t be automatically tested/graded by Submitty. And your instructor/TA won’t be directed to manually grade you work either.

  3. If you would like to submit this version of your work (for automatic and/or manual grading), go to the Submitty website for this assignment and press the blue “Grade My Repository” button.

    Submitty will checkout the latest version of your code committed and pushed to the server, and will run any automated tests and automated grading on the assignment. When complete, you will see the results of this testing and grading on the website.

    If you notice any problems with your work, you can modify the code on your local machine, commit those changes, push the commit to the server, and then press the blue “Grade My Repository” button again.

  4. TODO: We eventually plan to add a ‘hook’ to trigger repository grading in some situations (on each push to the server, and/or just before the assignment deadline). But currently this remains a manual step.

Other Useful GIT Commands

Working with Instructor Provided Code

If your instructor distributes initial provided code and/or updates this provided code, follow those instructions. If your instructor chooses to distribute code via a provided branch, your interaction will look like this:

  1. Go to the top level of the directory, and check your current status:

    git status
    

    Make sure you are on the main branch, and all of your changes have been committed. NOTE: Please refer to GIT documentation as needed.

  2. Grab all branches from the remote server:

    git fetch -p
    

    You can see what branches exist on your local machine and the server with:

    git branch --all
    

    If the instructor has made changes to the provided branch, you should see messages indicating that.

  3. You can review the commit messages on the provided branch:

    git log remotes/origin/provided
    

    (press spacebar to scroll, ‘q’ to quit, if the log is lengthy)

  4. You can review the differences between your current branch (main) and the provided branch:

    git diff remotes/origin/provided
    

    (press spacebar to scroll, ‘q’ to quit if the diff is lengthy)

  5. If you would like to merge the updates to the provided code with your current branch:

    git merge remotes/origin/provided
    

    If the changes don’t overlap with edits you have made (in different files, or in non-overlapping sections of the same files), the merge should complete automatically. If you have conflicts, you’ll need to handle that now. NOTE: Please refer to GIT documentation as needed.

Team Work with GIT

TODO: Let’s write some tips for working on teams… including using branches and handling merge conflicts.


See also: Instructor: Facilitating Student Submissions via GIT

See also: System Administrator: Setting Up Internal Git