Some people prefer to get the VIVO code directly from the GitHub repositories, instead of downloading the distributed release files. The master branch of the repositories always contains the latest release code, and is available for anyone to access.

If you prefer not to wait for the next stable release, you can get the VIVO code as it is being developed. The develop branch has not been fully tested and is not recommended for production use, but it can be useful for people who want a "close-up" look at how VIVO is progressing.

VIVO code and Vitro code

The principal difference between the release files and the repositories is the location of the Vitro code, in relation to the VIVO code.

Working from the release files

In the VIVO release files, the Vitro code is embedded within VIVO.

When you create the build.properties file, you set vitro.core.dir accordingly.

Working from the GitHub repositories

When you use the code from the repositories, it is customary to place the Vitro code beside the VIVO code.

When you create the build.properties file, vitro.core.dir must be set to reflect this difference.

/Users/jeb228/vivo-rel-1.7
    build.xml
    config
    doc
    example.build.properties
    languages
    lib
    productMods
    rdf
    README.md
    revisionInfo
    src
    test
    themes
    utilities
    vitro-core
        doc
        opensocial
        README.md
        revisionInfo
        solr
        utilities
        webapp

/Users/jeb228/git
    Vitro
        doc
        opensocial
        README.md
        solr
        utilities
        webapp
    VIVO
        build.xml
        config
        doc
        example.build.properties
        languages
        lib
        productMods
        rdf
        README.md
        src
        test
        themes
        utilities

Revision Information

Working from the release files

In the VIVO release files, the VIVO directory contains a file called revisionInfo. This file states the release version of VIVO, and a seven-character hashcode that can be used to locate the release tag in the GitHub repository. The VIVO/vitro-core directory contains a similar file, with similar information about the Vitro release.

Working from the GitHub repositories

The revisionInfo files are not stored in the GitHub repositories. Instead, when you run the build script, queries are made to Git to find the most recent tag, and the hashcode of the most recent commit. In this way, VIVO can report the level of code that was used to build it.