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[PlasticSCM] Manage User-Specific Hidden Asset Changes in Shared Workspaces

Solution

version controldotsworkflowproject management

Unity 2021.x - Unity 6.3.x

Published Sun, May 10

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Reviewed by _architect

Chief Editor

80 posts
Issue

 Technical artists utilizing ExecuteAlways often modify materials for preview purposes in the editor. These changes are subsequently reflected as pending changes for all team members who may not intend to commit them. Conversely, if these changes are added to a global hidden changes file, the technical artist requiring to commit their specific changes will no longer see them. This creates a conflict in managing user-specific pending changes, especially for assets like materials and Addressables, within a shared development environment.

Explanation

When an item is designated for the hidden changes list, a hidden_changes.conf file is generated as a private configuration. This file is created locally within the workspace.

There are two primary approaches for managing hidden_changes.conf, depending on specific team requirements:

  1. The first approach involves checking hidden_changes.conf into the repository. This action distributes the defined rules across the entire development team, ensuring consistent handling of hidden changes for everyone.
  2. The second approach is to maintain hidden_changes.conf as a private file within the local workspace. This method restricts the hidden change rules to the individual environment, preventing their distribution to other team members.

Additional Tips

  • Rules in hidden_changes.conf use the same syntax as standard ignore files, supporting wildcards for extensions like *.mat or *.asset to help manage Material noise.
  • If you are using Unity Version Control (PlasticSCM), you can toggle the visibility of these hidden items in the Pending Changes tab settings under the ‘Options’ menu.
  • Local-only configurations are ideal for technical artists who need to avoid ‘dirtying’ the repo with property overrides used solely for Scene View debugging.
  • To revert a file that is currently hidden, you must first unhide it or use the cm command-line interface to apply an undo command directly to the path.

TL;DR

User-specific pending changes can be managed by controlling the hidden_changes.conf file to either distribute rules across the team or maintain them as private local configurations.


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