Branch Management and Atomic Merge in a Continuous Integration Environment

An automatic merge tool was implemented as the centerpiece of branch management in a continuous integration environment. A naming convention and several processes are enforced with Perforce triggers to enable the connection between Perforce and the defect tracking system. The coupling of the “Tofu” branch model with the defect structure allows efficient management of merges and fixes across various branches. Update of defect IDs is automated as part of the atomic merge process and users can directly access source code from the defect tracking system. The combination of the wholesale daily atomic merge and an on-demand merge web interface has increased the merge rate, reduced branch divergence, and greatly enhanced productivity and quality. This paper also describes challenges encountered during the implementation and the remaining unresolved issues.