The Tcl and Tk source repositories can be found at

   * http://core.tcl.tk/tcl
   * http://core.tcl.tk/tk

The version control system used for these is [Fossil].

The remainder of this page follows Fossil's generic [http://www.fossil-scm.org/index.html/doc/trunk/www/quickstart.wiki%|%Quickstart Guide], modified to suit Tcl/Tk development.

**Installation**

Prebuilt binaries for the major platforms (Linux, OSX, Windows, BSD) are available at http://www.fossil-scm.org/download.html
[http://www.fossil-scm.org/index.html/doc/trunk/www/build.wiki%|%Building it yourself] is of course possible as well.

**Getting Tcl and Tk Sources**

Fossil works with repository files (a database with the project's complete history) and with checked-out local trees (the working directory you use to do your work). The workflow for Tcl and Tk looks like this:

First, clone the repository

======
fossil clone http://mirror1.tcl.tk/tcl tcl.fossil
fossil pull  http://core.tcl.tk/tcl -R tcl.fossil

fossil clone http://mirror1.tcl.tk/tk  tk.fossil
fossil pull  http://core.tcl.tk/tk  -R tk.fossil
======

We are using mirror1 because the repositories are large and http://core.tcl.tk/ is bandwidth-limited. To prevent fossil from remembering the wrong url for pushing we then follow this by pulls from the proper repository. This will also import all changes which were pushed while we were cloning around.


**Make Ready For Work**

Then create local checkouts to work with (using Tcl as example):

======
mkdir /somewhere/tcl
cd    /somewhere/tcl
fossil open /wherever/you/have/tcl.fossil
======

Now you have the most recent revision of Tcl's trunk (ex-CVS HEAD) in the directory. Hacking can commence.

**Working In Branches**

To fix issues in a specific branch, for example "core-8-5-branch", we have to create a local checkout which contains the sources of said branch. We can do this in two ways:

For one, create a new checkout and tell it the branch put into the checkout:
======
mkdir /somewhere/tcl-core-8-5-branch
cd    /somewhere/tcl-core-8-5-branch
fossil open /wherever/you/have/tcl.fossil core-8-5-branch
======

For two, reuse an existing checkout and switch it over to the desired branch
======
fossil update core-8-5-branch
======

The set of open branches can be discovered by invoking
======
fossil branch list
======
from within a checkout, or via
======
fossil branch list -R /wherever/you/have/tcl.fossil
======
if no checkout is available.

'''TODO:''' Staircase merge pattern for forward-porting

'''TODO:''' Cherry-picking pattern for back-porting

'''TODO:''' Guidelines for use of branches (vs direct commit to trunk, etc.).

**Pushing Changes**

'''TODO'''

**More Information**

For those which have worked on the core before, using CVS, please also see the [Fossil vs CVS Commands].


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