Create a Workspace
To work on a visual application, you must have a workspace; it's your ticket into the Designer.
Note:
Typically, the Visual Builder instance added to your visual application's environment uses the same identity domain as your Visual Builder Studio instance. If you choose a Visual Builder instance from a different identity domain as your deployment environment, you'll see a warning about setting up the Allowed Origins configuration. Talk to your administrator to make sure your instance's domain is added to its list of allowed origins, as described in Allow Other Domains Access to Services.A workspace is typically associated with a Git repository—either one you create from scratch or, if you plan to collaborate with someone who has already started developing an application, a copy of the Git repo they've been working in. Because Git repos store your source files, it's helpful to familiarize yourself with some concepts underlying Git.
How to Use Git Branches to Isolate Changes
Your visual application's Git repository is automatically created when your project is first set up. In most cases, this project repository includes the default branch (usually, main
) and an associated branch where your changes are stored. The default branch is typically the source from which your visual application is built.
Because the default branch represents the source of truth—code that is tested and ready to be pushed to production—it is usually protected and any changes to this branch will require approval. If you want to make changes to the default branch (main
, for example) but don't have permission to push to it, you'll make your changes in a separate branch based on main
, then create a merge request to get your changes reviewed. After your changes are approved, you'll merge the changes in your branch to the main
branch and make your updates public. Even if a public branch isn't protected, it's good practice to always work on a private branch and merge your changes to a public branch only after review.
You create a separate branch based on the main
branch when you create a workspace. You can have separate branches for each new feature or change to your visual application. You can even use separate branches to create two different versions of one feature. For example, you might want to work on two different versions of a table. By creating a branch for each version, you can work on one version in one branch with (say) Workspace A mapped to it, then switch to another branch using Workspace B to work on the other version. This way, you can use workspaces to isolate the branches with your changes. After you decide which version you want to use, you can share the branch with others and delete the branches you no longer need.
Watch this video to learn the basics, like remote and local repositories, as well as how they tie in to workspaces:
What's a Scratch Repository?
When you create a workspace, you have the option to create a scratch repository, instead of a new repository or a clone of the project's Git repository. You may want to create a scratch repository when you are experimenting and you're pretty sure you'll never want to merge your changes into an existing repository. A scratch repository is a private repository that only exists in your workspace. Only you can use the scratch repository, and it's deleted when you delete the workspace. If you want to let your team members use your scratch repository, you'll need to push the scratch repository to a new remote repository.
No build pipeline is set up for you if you create a scratch repository when creating your workspace. If you want to deploy your visual app, you might want to create a new repository and branch, instead of a scratch repository. When you create a workspace with a new repository, a build pipeline is automatically generated for you.
To deploy changes from a scratch repository, you'll need to first push the scratch repository to a new remote repository. After the new repository is created, you or your project administrator will need to set up build jobs for the repository.
Create a Workspace for a New Visual Application
Create a visual application when you want to start developing a new visual application with a new Git repository.
VB Studio creates a visual application workspace and opens it up in the Designer, so you can start to create your web apps and define their data sources. A new visual application does not contain any artifacts, but the application's file structure and some resources are created for you by default. You can use the Welcome screen to help you decide which artifacts you want to create first:
Description of the illustration welcome.png
Create a Workspace by Cloning an Existing Repository
If you want to work on a visual application that's already been started, even by another developer, you can clone the original Git repository and use it as a starting point for a new workspace.
VB Studio creates a workspace and opens it up in the Designer, so you can start to create your web apps and define their data sources.
Create a Workspace by Importing an Application Archive
If a team member gives you an archive of a visual application, you can import it to create a workspace containing all the files in their branch of the application's Git repository. When you create a workspace by importing a file, you create a new Git repository and branch.
- On the Organization page, select the project where you want to import the visual application.
- In the VB Studio left navigator, click Workspaces .
- Click Import.
- In the Import from file dialog, drag your visual application archive file from your local system to the drag-and-drop area. Or, click the drag-and-drop area and use the file browser to locate the archive on your local system.
- In the Workspace name, enter a name for your workspace.
- If multiple environments are available, select the Development Environment. Only environments that are in the same identity stripe as the logged-in user are listed. (If only one environment is available, it is automatically selected for you.)
- In Git Repository, choose between creating a new repository where you and others can work on the imported visual application and using a private scratch repository that is visible only to you.
- To create a new repository for your imported visual application, click Create new repository (based on the one you're importing), then enter a name for the new repository and the branch you want to use.
- To use a scratch repository for your imported visual application, click Use scratch repository (selected by default).
- Click Import.
When VB Studio creates a workspace and opens it up, you'll see the contents of the archive you just imported in the Designer, and you can start working from there.
Create a Workspace Without an Environment
Workspaces almost always require an environment against which you develop and deploy your application—but you can create a workspace without an environment simply to explore VB Studio's visual development capabilities within the Designer.
Note:
When your workspace doesn't have an environment, you won't be able to create business objects or deploy (share and publish) your app—though you can click Publish in the header to merge your changes to the default branch (main
) in the project's Git repository. To explore VB Studio without any restrictions, you need to add a Visual Builder instance to your VB Studio instance's environment.
To create a workspace without an environment: