Moving From Dual-Bound to Single-Bound

If you have been using a dual-bound setup for source control, you might find that you want to change to a single-bound project. One reason you might decide to do this is branching, which previously was not available in MadCap Central, but is now supported for Git.

The steps for moving from a Git-Central dual-bound setup to a single-bound setup are slightly different than those for other provider configurations (i.e., Perforce Helix Core, Subversion, Team Foundation Server). Keep in mind that if you are using a branching solution with a non-Git providers, those branches are still not be supported in Central. You can only push branches to Central if you have a single-bound setup or a Git-Central dual-bound setup.

How to Move From Dual-Bound to Single-Bound for a Git-Central Setup

If your first binding is to Git and your second is to Central, complete the following steps locally in Flare.

  1. Each author on the team should commit all outstanding changes and synchronize each local branch with the corresponding remote branch.

  2. It's possible, or even likely, that not all writers on the team have all of the remote branches locally, and they don't necessarily need to. But between all of the team members, all of the remote branches that you want to keep should be pulled down to someone's local repository by selecting the remote branches and switching to them via Flare's Branch Management dialog. In fact, just one person on the team could do that. Then, once the first binding is removed using the steps below, the local branches can be published (i.e., pushed) to the remote Central repository.

  3. Each author on the team should then complete the following steps:

    1. Select Project > Project Properties.

      You can also remove the first binding by using the Settings view of the Source Control Explorer.

    2. Select the Source Control tab.

    3. Next to the Remotes field, click The browse ellipsis button opens to more options..

    4. Select the origin row (which represents your first binding) and click Remove. This leaves just the Central binding.

    5. Click OK.

    6. In the Project Properties dialog, click OK.

Note Your Git commit history will be retained when you move from a dual-bound configuration to a single-bound setup. That's because the history is recorded in your local Git repository where your project exists. Removing the first binding will have no effect on the commit history.

How to Move From Dual-Bound to Single-Bound for Non-Git Providers

If your first binding is to a non-Git provider (Perforce Helix Core, Subversion, Team Foundation Server), complete the following steps in your project.

  1. Each author on the team should commit all outstanding changes and synchronize.

    Note Since Central does not support branches or streams from non-Git providers, keep in mind that you will not be able to move those up to Central. However, you could begin creating new branches in Flare and pushing those up to Central.

  2. Each author on the team should then complete the following steps:

    1. Select Project > Project Properties.
    2. Select the Source Control tab.

    3. In the section showing your first binding, click Unbind Provider. (The second binding to Central is shown in a separate section; leave that binding alone.)

    4. Click OK.

    5. In the Project Properties dialog, click OK.