Git Repository Monitor - Create build when a PR is created/updated

brandon_owensby_2976

I'm experimenting with the Git Repository Monitor and trying to replicate what we have with our current system. I have it creating builds but have a few questions on the settings as it isn't working as expected.

In my settings I set New Release Number to "pr-*" for starters but the release that was created was simply just "1". The "pr-" was totally ignored. On top of that I was curious if there was any variables that could be used in that field. I was specifically looking for a way to have the release number include the PR number. I looked through the documentation but was struggling to find specific stuff for that field.

atripp

Hi @brandon_owensby_2976 ,

Release Numbers in BuildMaster need to be numeric (e.g. 1, 1.2, or 1.2.3), so it's not possible to start a new release number with pr-*. The Release Name can be alphanumeric and does not need to be unique.

When you create a repository monitor, you can select "Only monitor branch when a pull request is open"; this will effectively allow you to create builds when a pull request is created, since the branch will be ignored until a PR exists.

However, the PR number is not automatically captured in the runtime state. In theory, you could query the GitHub API to find the PR by branch name if you really needed it.

Also note that you may find it easier and more reliable to trigger from the GitHub side of things, using the BuildMaster API. That's typically what we see for these more advanced scenarios.

Cheers,
Alana

brandon_owensby_2976

I appreciate the information but I'd like to take a little bit further. I mainly want to talk about the release name/number side but I first one to respond to you said the pr number bit. On that note you said exactly what I expected you to say.

I actually saw what you mentioned in documentation, however, I'm trying to put together a sales pitch so was hoping for something different. The pr number part is the lessor important bit but would have been nice to make it more obvious what PR the release is for.

The main part is distinguishing the builds. You see, my company is using Jenkins, which admittingly I've learned isn't all bad. I still think in a lot of ways you have the superior product and if I was ever in a situation where it was left up to me you'd still be my first pick. The problem is here is they are are seemingly able to do that one thing you can't. They can create a release (really a build in their case) off of a PR and separate it from the other releases/builds. They have a tab for the main branch builds and another for PR builds. So far in my testing in BuildMaster it just lists the releases out all together making it not obvious what created the various builds (except maybe recognizing a release number pattern). I was thinking that since when you create a release manually you can prefix it with whatever you want you'd be able to do the same when auto creating it. When I originally wrote the post I wasn't thinking about the fact that you have both a release number and a release name but that makes sense. That leaves me with the question, if I can't set the release name using your monitor, is it possible to some how list the the different build types separately?

Thank you,
Brandon