Bug 88127 - [RFE] Ability to collaborate on documents over GIT
Summary: [RFE] Ability to collaborate on documents over GIT
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: LibreOffice (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: Other All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: LibO-Enhancements
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Reported: 2015-01-06 20:28 UTC by David Juran
Modified: 2023-04-14 18:04 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

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Description David Juran 2015-01-06 20:28:25 UTC
I would like to suggest a feature that would provide the ability to collaborate on documents through git.

I'm aware this is in no way a small feature but I think it would be really useful to integrate a git storage backend in the UI. Below is a short (and far from complete) description of the feature.
 
This feature would allow users to store documents on e.g. github and multiple users to work on the same documents.
If a conflicting change has been checked in by a different user, the UI should automatically launch the "compare document" dialogue, allowing the user to merge the changes. Some kind if visualization of the git tree would also be useful and "Compare documents" could also be used to view differences between revisions.

A light-weight version of this feature would be to create a "less chatty" version of the .fodt format that would be more git-friendly e.g. by removing timestamps etc.
Comment 1 Robinson Tryon (qubit) 2015-01-06 21:50:59 UTC
(In reply to David Juran from comment #0)
> I would like to suggest a feature that would provide the ability to
> collaborate on documents through git.

Better ability to collaborate and deal with revisions of documents gets a big thumb-up from me!

Also see: Bug 76318 - Enable LibreOffice to pull git repositories

> This feature would allow users to store documents on e.g. github and
> multiple users to work on the same documents.
> If a conflicting change has been checked in by a different user, the UI
> should automatically launch the "compare document" dialogue, allowing the
> user to merge the changes. Some kind if visualization of the git tree would
> also be useful and "Compare documents" could also be used to view
> differences between revisions.

Sounds similar to some conversations I've had with Bradley Kuhn about round-tripping between git revisions and ODF track-changes.

> A light-weight version of this feature would be to create a "less chatty"
> version of the .fodt format that would be more git-friendly e.g. by removing
> timestamps etc.

That seems like a much more targeted goal -- perhaps a checkbox one could click? (either in preferences or in the save-as dialog)

So it sounds like you have at least two enhancement ideas here. I'd suggest that you focus on one, and open other enhancement bugs as needed for specific ideas about integrating LibreOffice with git storage.

I really do like the idea of "Save-As -> Git commit", especially if LibreOffice could do smart things like fill in some default metadata and stub-in a commit message using information from the changes made to the document (e.g. "Changed 23 cells in table '2014 Gross Sales'")

Severity -> enhancement
Status -> NEEDINFO

(please change Status back to UNCONFIRMED when you focus the enhancement request)
Comment 2 David Juran 2015-01-11 18:34:49 UTC
Great to hear I'm not the only one who's been thinking along these lines!

I've filed Bug 88298 regarding the Flat format as you suggested but my developer skills are very limited and I have no experience with the LibreOffice code-base so I'm not sure how much I'm able to contribute apart from brain-storming high-ideas.
Comment 3 Robinson Tryon (qubit) 2015-01-11 19:18:01 UTC
(In reply to David Juran from comment #2)
> I've filed Bug 88298 regarding the Flat format as you suggested

Excellent.

Let's mark this bug as NEW, too. Getting git support added will probably require a few more pieces, and this report might turn into a [META] report before we're done.

> but my
> developer skills are very limited and I have no experience with the
> LibreOffice code-base so I'm not sure how much I'm able to contribute apart
> from brain-storming high-ideas.

There are a number of things you can do to move these enhancement ideas along -- see bug 88298 for an example of some of the basic legwork. Perhaps there's some piece of the puzzle that you can start to work on, and then expand your skills and goals from there :-)

Some tips for getting started with development here:
https://www.libreoffice.org/community/developers/

If getting started w/development is a steep learning curve, feel free to spend some time w/the QA Team and get a bit more acquainted with LibreOffice:
https://www.libreoffice.org/community/qa/