GitHub Basics

Dyalog Ltd develops some tools using Git and hosts the source code and distributable packages using GitHub.

If you are unfamiliar with GitHub, some basic actions are explained below to help you get started.

Import Directly to the Workspace

If a tool is purely APL code (for example, a workspace or APL text source files) then it might be possible to bring it directly into the workspace using the experimental ]Get user command.

For example, to get the latest release of HttpCommand:

  1. Navigate to the HttpCommand releases page in GitHub.
  2. Under Assets, right-click on HttpCommand.dyalog.
  3. Select Copy Link from the drop-down menu.
  4. In a Dyalog Session, enter ]Get and paste the link in the same line. Press Enter.

 

      ]Get https://github.com/Dyalog/HttpCommand/releases/download/v5.1.15/HttpCommand.dyalog
#.HttpCommand
      (HttpCommand.GetJSON 'GET' 'https://catfact.ninja/fact').Data.fact
Your cat's heart beats at a rate almost double that of yours, from 110-140 beats per minute.

 

See ]Get -? for more information and examples.

Using the Latest Development Version

If no release is available, or if you want to use the latest development version of a tool, you can download the tool code as a compressed (zipped) folder:

  1. Open the project of interest.
  2. Click on Code.
  3. Select Download ZIP from the drop-down menu.

Developing a Tool

This is a very brief summary of the Fork and Pull Request collaborative development procedure. For more thorough introductions to Git and GitHub, see:

Changes over time can be viewed on the GitHub page for the project. For example, the changes for library-conga can be viewed at github.com/Dyalog/library-conga/commits/master.

To participate in the development of a tool, or to fix an issue that you've spotted:

  1. Ensure that you have a GitHub account and are logged in.
  2. Open the project of interest.
  3. Click on Fork (in the top right corner of the project window)
    This takes a copy of the project to your account for you to work on. We recommend that you use a tool such as Atlassian SourceTree (unless you are already a seasoned Git user, in which case you already know what to do) and "clone" the repository from there.
  4. Once you have made changes to your fork of the project, click on Pull requests (near the top left corner of the project window) – this informs us that your changes are ready for us to review and include in the project.

If you have any issues whilst trying to make updates, please contact us – we're happy to talk you through the necessary process.