Project lines and phases (the Versions menu)#

A project (.ohl) can hold several designs of the line side by side: project lines. The first is the main line. Others are made from it, typically one per phase of the project (phase 1, phase 2…) or per alternative (route B). They are often shown next to the main line, for example the line as built next to the line as planned.

Every project line is edited on its own: moving a structure on phase 1 changes phase 1 only.

The ideas in short#

• You work on one line at a time. Your edits go to it, and Undo (⌘Z) takes back your last edit on that line. Choosing another line changes nothing; it only changes what you edit. On a server, every user chooses their own line, independently of the others.
• Other lines can be shown next to it, each in its colour, in the 3D view (layer Other project lines) and the plan. They are drawn as the line you work on is: structures, strings at their solved clamps, bundles and jumpers, in the same weather cases. When someone else edits a line you show, it is redrawn.
• A new line is a copy. It starts as the line it is made from is at that moment, including changes not yet committed. From then on the two are independent: a correction made later on the main line does not appear in the phase by itself.
• Bringing in changes updates a line with what changed on another since they parted. Changes to different objects combine by themselves. Where both lines changed the same object, you choose which version to keep.
• Back into the main line through a review. When a phase is ready, it is submitted for review. A reviewer or an admin approves it, then merges it into the main line.

What all lines share: the terrain surfaces, the point clouds, the backgrounds and the project settings. What each line has of its own: the line itself (structures, sections, jumpers, routes, line settings), its libraries (cables, structures, insulators, weather cases…) and its history of edits. A new line starts with the libraries of the line it is made from; a library changed on one line leaves the others as they are.

The Versions menu#

The menu stays open while you tick lines to show.

The Project lines window#

One row per line:

Below the list: New line from name…, Bring in changes… and Submit for review…, as in the menu.

• Rename a line: its history, reviews, and whoever works on it follow the new name.
• Delete a line: it goes with its uncommitted changes. Its committed revisions stay in the file: Versions › Revisions and branches › New line from it brings it back. Its open reviews are closed. Whoever was working on it is moved to another line. The line you work on and the project's only line cannot be deleted. Deleting is not undone with ⌘Z.

The working tree#

Versions › Project lines › Working tree… (also in the Project lines window) draws the history of the project lines. The oldest is on the left and time runs to the right: one column per revision, with the date under the first of each day.

• One lane per line, the main line on top, each in its colour; (you) marks the line you work on. A line's lane starts where it was made from another, joined to it by a curve. Hover a line's name for who made it, when, and from what.
• A dot per revision. The larger dot is the line's latest revision; a ringed dot is a merge (changes brought in, or a review merged), joined to the line the changes came from. Tags are written above their revision.
• An open dot after a line's last revision means it has work not committed yet.
• Grey, lines deleted: revisions of lines that no longer exist.
• The description of a line is shown below the tree in a box of fixed height that scrolls. It is the line you work on at first; click a line's name, a revision, or an open dot to show that line's. Edit… opens it (editable by its creator or an admin).
• Click a revision for its message, author, time and line.
  • New line from it… starts a line from that revision: copy of names it in words (its line, when, its message, e.g. main at 06.10.2026 14:32 — T2 corrected); the list also offers each line as it is now.
• A line with nothing committed of its own yet has a small ring where it started (click: the revision it started from).
• Click an open dot to see a line's uncommitted work. On the line you work on, type a message and Commit it there.
  • Roll back (admins only): choose the line (by default the revision's own) and confirm. The line's state becomes the revision's. The line's uncommitted work is recorded first, and the rollback is recorded as a new revision, so nothing is lost and a rollback can itself be rolled back. Others who work on or show that line see it change. Designers see Rolling a line back: admins only.

A line whose changes were merged into another by a fast-forward (the other line had not changed meanwhile) shares its revisions with it: they are drawn on the upper lane.

Descriptions#

Every line has a description: free text such as its scope, the assumptions behind it, or its status. It may be long (up to 20 000 characters). It is edited in a box of fixed height that scrolls, from the Project lines window (Description… on its row) or from the Versions menu (Description of name… for the line you work on). The working tree shows it below the tree (see there). Who may edit it is who may rename the line: its creator or an admin; the main line, an admin. The others read it. It is kept in the project and follows a rename.

Who may do what#

Admins can also protect a line (Versions › Revisions and branches): it then changes only through admins or approved reviews.

A phase, step by step#

1. On the main line, Versions › New line from main…, name it phase 1, Create.

2. Versions › Project lines…, click phase 1 under work on. Edit it: replace towers, restring sections… The main line does not change. Tick main under show to see it next to your phase.

3. Meanwhile, a colleague corrects tower T3 on the main line. Your phase does not change. When you want the correction, choose Versions › Bring in changes from another line…, changes of: main.

   • If you did not change T3 yourself, it simply comes in: the window says No conflict. Press Bring in.
   • If you changed T3 too, the window lists structure T3. Choose keep this line's or take main's (or All: … for every object listed), then Bring in.

   It is refused, changing nothing, while an object is not settled.

4. When the phase is ready, choose Versions › Submit this line for review into the main line…, with a note. Uncommitted work is committed first.

5. A reviewer or an admin opens Versions › Revisions and branches › Reviews, checks the changes (Changes, with the engineering impact), approves, and merges. Only then does the main line change. If the phase changes after approval, it must be submitted again.

Starting a line, bringing in changes and submitting a review record the lines' state as revisions (Versions › Revisions and branches shows them): they are the common ground the next bring-in or merge compares against. Under the hood, project lines are the branches of the project's version history; see Versions, branches and reviews.

On a server#

Each user works on their own line, and their requests carry it. Edits of a line reach everyone, but they only change what users who work on that line, or show it, see. When someone renames the line you work on, you follow it. When someone deletes it, you are moved to another line and told so. Soft locks are per line: holding T3 on phase 1 does not block T3 on the main line. The web client shows the main line.

Your choice is remembered#

The line you work on and the lines you show are remembered on your computer for each project, like the other display choices. The project opens on them next time.

Projects made before#

Projects saved by earlier versions kept frozen project lines (Create line saved a copy that could not be edited). They are converted when the project is opened: each becomes an editable line of the same name and creator. Their working state is the one saved. They have no revision in common with the main line, so bringing changes between them compares whole objects.

On the command line#

ohl project branch project.ohl "phase 1" --user ben          # a new line from the one the file opens on
ohl project checkout project.ohl "phase 1" --user ben        # the commands act on it from now on
ohl project apply project.ohl --user ben '{"op": "move_structure", "id": "T6", "position": [1500, 400, 505]}'
ohl project checkout project.ohl main --user ana             # back to the main line
ohl project branch project.ohl                               # list the lines (branches) and tags
ohl project branch project.ohl "phase 1" --delete --confirm --user ben
ohl project history project.ohl                              # the revisions with their lines and tags

checkout also sets the line the file opens on; nothing else changes.