What Is a Workspace?

All of your work in VB Studio is done in the context of a workspace, a completely private area where you can work on your extension. Before you can use the Designer to create an App UI or configure an Oracle Cloud Application, you must first select or create a workspace, which defines:

• The Git repository where your files will be stored. Physically, you work within a copy of the Git repository, called the local repo, and push your changes periodically to the remote repo, which belongs to the project you’re working within.
• The branch containing the source files you want to use.
• The Oracle Cloud Applications environment where you plan to publish your extension.
• A sandbox, if you’re using one, which contains data model changes that haven't been published yet. (The data model changes that have been published are already available to your extension.)

Description of the illustration workspacesandrepos.png

This figure shows how Sue and Fadi, who both belong to the same project, can have multiple workspaces focused on different extensions. VB Studio projects are usually defined by an administrator, one per discrete software effort. For example, you might have one project for building a bespoke visual application, and another project for all the configurations your team is making to Human Capital Management (HCM). In this figure, notice how each workspace uses separate branch within a clone (the local repo) of the project’s Git repository (the remote repo), periodically using standard Git commands like Commit, Push, and so on to copy updates to the remote repository, like this:

Description of the illustration gitcommands.png

If you're not familiar with working in Git, this video will help you learn the basics:

When working within a workspace, keep the following in mind:

• The development environment must already be set up and defined in the VB Studio project before you can create a workspace. You have several options for creating a workspace; which method you choose depends on how you’re working within the project:
  Description of the illustration cr8workspace.png

  See Get Started for guidance on when to create a new workspace (that is, a new extension), when to import, and when to clone.

• Best practice dictates that all team members work on a single extension dedicated to a particular Oracle Cloud Application, as opposed to multiple people working in different extensions for the same App. In other words, for a single Oracle Cloud Application, like Digital Sales, everyone should contribute to the same extension (that is, the same Git repository) by cloning the extension's Git repository. See
• If you’re planning to create a new App UI, choose None as the base application:
  Description of the illustration newworkspace.png

  Once you’ve used None as the base app, that doesn’t mean you’re limited to just working on a brand new App UI in your extension. If you later decide that you want to configure an App UI within the same workspace, you can always add that App UI as a dependency, then create a new branch in your workspace to make those changes. (You add something as a dependency when you want to a) configure it (that is, make changes to it), or b) access its resources, like service connections or Layouts, while building your own App UI.) Likewise, if your workspace is originally based upon an Oracle Cloud Application that is also an App UI, like Digital Sales, you can still create a brand new App UI in your extension by clicking +App UI:

  
  Description of the illustration appuispanel.png
• You're the only one who can access your workspace. Changes to files you make in your workspace aren't visible to other team members until you a) merge them to the project's Git repo, b) choose to Share them with others for testing, or c) Publish them. See Preview, Share, and Publish Your Extension for more.
• Your base application is determined by either 1) the application specified in the Base Application field in the New Application Extension dialog; or 2) the Oracle Cloud Application you were viewing when you clicked Edit Page in Visual Builder Studio to jump over to Visual Builder Studio. If you choose None as the base application in the New Application Extension dialog to create a new App UI, you are in effect extending the Unified Application, which underlies all App UIs in the Oracle Cloud Application ecosystem.