.. _sibling: Networking ---------- To get a hang on the basics of sharing a dataset, you shared your ``DataLad-101`` dataset with your room mate on a common, local file system. Your lucky room mate now has your notes and can thus try to catch up to still pass the course. Moreover, though, he can also integrate all other notes or changes you make to your dataset, and stay up to date. This is because a DataLad dataset makes updating shared data a matter of a single :dlcmd:`update --how merge` command. But why does this need to be a one-way street? "I want to provide helpful information for you as well!", says your room mate. "How could you get any insightful notes that I make in my dataset, or maybe the results of our upcoming mid-term project? Its a bit unfair that I can get your work, but you cannot get mine." .. index:: pair: register file with URL in dataset; with DataLad Consider, for example, that your room mate might have googled about DataLad a bit. In the depths of the web, he might have found useful additional information, such a script on `dataset nesting `_. Because he found this very helpful in understanding dataset nesting concepts, he decided to download it from GitHub, and saved it in the ``code/`` directory. He does it using the DataLad command :dlcmd:`download-url` that you experienced in section :ref:`createDS` already: This command will download a file just as ``wget``, but it can also take a commit message and will save the download right to the history of the dataset that you specify, while recording its origin as provenance information. Navigate into your dataset copy in ``mock_user/DataLad-101``, and run the following command .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-101 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: Let's make changes in the copy of the original ds :cast: 04_collaboration $ # navigate into the installed copy $ cd ../mock_user/DataLad-101 $ # download the shell script and save it in your code/ directory $ datalad download-url \ -d . \ -m "Include nesting demo from datalad website" \ -O code/nested_repos.sh \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/datalad/datalad.org/7e8e39b1/content/asciicast/seamless_nested_repos.sh Run a quick ``datalad status``: .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-102 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/mock_user/DataLad-101 :notes: the download url command takes care of saving contents for you :cast: 04_collaboration $ datalad status Nice, the :dlcmd:`download-url` command saved this download right into the history, and :dlcmd:`status` does not report unsaved modifications! We'll show an excerpt of the last commit here [#f1]_: .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-103 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/mock_user/DataLad-101 :lines: 1-13 :notes: the ds copy has a change the original ds does not have: :cast: 04_collaboration $ git log -n 1 -p Suddenly, your room mate has a file change that you do not have. His dataset evolved. So how do we link back from the copy of the dataset to its origin, such that your room mate's changes can be included in your dataset? How do we let the original dataset "know" about this copy your room mate has? Do we need to install the installed dataset of our room mate as a copy again? No, luckily, it's simpler and less convoluted. What we have to do is to *register* a DataLad :term:`sibling`: A reference to our room mate's dataset in our own, original dataset. .. index:: pair: sibling; DataLad concept .. gitusernote:: Remote siblings Git repositories can configure clones of a dataset as *remotes* in order to fetch, pull, or push from and to them. A :dlcmd:`sibling` is the equivalent of a git clone that is configured as a remote. Let's see how this is done. .. index:: pair: siblings; DataLad command pair: register sibling in dataset; with DataLad First of all, navigate back into the original dataset. In the original dataset, "add" a "sibling" by using the :dlcmd:`siblings` command. The command takes the base command, :dlcmd:`siblings`, an action, in this case ``add``, a path to the root of the dataset ``-d .``, a name for the sibling, ``-s/--name roommate``, and a URL or path to the sibling, ``--url ../mock_user/DataLad-101``. This registers your room mate's ``DataLad-101`` as a "sibling" (we will call it "roommate") to your own ``DataLad-101`` dataset. .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-104 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/mock_user/DataLad-101 :notes: To allow updates from copy to original we have to configure the copy as a sibling of the original :cast: 04_collaboration $ cd ../../DataLad-101 $ # add a sibling $ datalad siblings add -d . \ --name roommate --url ../mock_user/DataLad-101 There are a few confusing parts about this command: For one, do not be surprised about the ``--url`` argument -- it's called "URL" but it can be a path as well. Also, do not forget to give a name to your dataset's sibling. Without the ``-s``/ ``--name`` argument the command will fail. The reason behind this is that the default name of a sibling if no name is given will be the host name of the specified URL, but as you provide a path and not a URL, there is no host name to take as a default. As you can see in the command output, the addition of a :term:`sibling` succeeded: ``roommate(+)[../mock_user/DataLad-101]`` means that your room mate's dataset is now known to your own dataset as "roommate". .. index:: pair: list dataset siblings; with DataLad .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-105 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: we can check which siblings the dataset has :cast: 04_collaboration $ datalad siblings This command will list all known siblings of the dataset. You can see it in the resulting list with the name "roommate" you have given to it. .. index:: pair: remove dataset sibling; with DataLad .. find-out-more:: What if I mistyped the name or want to remove the sibling? You can remove a sibling using :dlcmd:`siblings remove -s roommate` The fact that the ``DataLad-101`` dataset now has a sibling means that we can also :dlcmd:`update` this repository. Awesome! Your room mate previously ran a :dlcmd:`update --how merge` in the section :ref:`update`. This got him changes *he knew you made* into a dataset that *he so far did not change*. This meant that nothing unexpected would happen with the :dlcmd:`update --how merge`. But consider the current case: Your room mate made changes to his dataset, but you do not necessarily know which. You also made changes to your dataset in the meantime, and added a note on :dlcmd:`update`. How would you know that his changes and your changes are not in conflict with each other? This scenario is where a plain :dlcmd:`update` becomes useful. If you run a plain :dlcmd:`update` (which uses the default option ``--how fetch``), DataLad will query the sibling for changes, and store those changes in a safe place in your own dataset, *but it will not yet integrate them into your dataset*. This gives you a chance to see whether you actually want to have the changes your room mate made. .. index:: pair: update dataset from particular sibling; with DataLad Let's see how it's done. First, run a plain :dlcmd:`update` without the ``--how merge`` option. .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-106 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: now we can update. Problem: how do we know whether we want the changes? --> plain datalad update :cast: 04_collaboration $ datalad update -s roommate Note that we supplied the sibling's name with the ``-s``/``--name`` option. This is good practice, and allows you to be precise in where you want to get updates from. It would have worked without the specification (just as a bare :dlcmd:`update --how merge` worked for your room mate), because there is only one other known location, though. This plain :dlcmd:`update` "fetched" updates from the dataset. The changes however, are not yet visible -- the script that he added is not yet in your ``code/`` directory: .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-107 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: no file changes there yet, but where are they? :cast: 04_collaboration $ ls code/ So where is the file? It is in a different *branch* of your dataset. If you do not use :term:`Git`, the concept of a :term:`branch` can be a big source of confusion. There will be sections later in this book that will elaborate a bit more what branches are, and how to work with them, but for now envision a branch just like a bunch of drawers on your desk. The paperwork that you have in front of you right on your desk is your dataset as you currently see it. These drawers instead hold documents that you are in principle working on, just not now -- maybe different versions of paperwork you currently have in front of you, or maybe other files than the ones currently in front of you on your desk. Imagine that a :dlcmd:`update` created a small drawer, placed all of the changed or added files from the sibling inside, and put it on your desk. You can now take a look into that drawer to see whether you want to have the changes right in front of you. The drawer is a branch, and it is usually called ``remotes/origin/main``. To look inside of it you can :gitcmd:`checkout BRANCHNAME`, or you can do a ``diff`` between the branch (your drawer) and the dataset as it is currently in front of you (your desk). We will do the latter, and leave the former for a different lecture: .. index:: pair: corresponding branch; in adjusted mode pair: show dataset modification for particular path; on Windows with DataLad pair: diff; DataLad command .. windows-wit:: Please use 'datalad diff --from main --to remotes/roommate/main' .. include:: topic/adjustedmode-diff-remote.rst .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-108 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: on a different branch: remotes/roommate/main. Do a git remote -v here :cast: 04_collaboration $ datalad diff --to remotes/roommate/main This shows us that there is an additional file, and it also shows us that there is a difference in ``notes.txt``! Let's ask :gitcmd:`diff` to show us what the differences in detail (note that it is a shortened excerpt, cut in the middle to reduce its length): .. index:: pair: corresponding branch; in adjusted mode pair: show dataset modification; on Windows with Git pair: diff; DataLad command .. windows-wit:: Please use 'git diff main..remotes/roommate/main' .. include:: topic/adjustedmode-gitdiff-remote.rst .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-109 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: also git diff :lines: 1-18, 67-78 :cast: 04_collaboration $ git diff remotes/roommate/main Let's digress into what is shown here. We are comparing the current state of your dataset against the current state of your room mate's dataset. Everything marked with a ``-`` is a change that your room mate has, but not you: This is the script that he downloaded! Everything that is marked with a ``+`` is a change that you have, but not your room mate: It is the additional note on :dlcmd:`update` you made in your own dataset in the previous section. Cool! So now that you know what the changes are that your room mate made, you can safely :dlcmd:`update --how merge` them to integrate them into your dataset. In technical terms you will "*merge the branch remotes/roommate/main into main*". But the details of this will be stated in a standalone section later. Note that the fact that your room mate does not have the note on :dlcmd:`update` does not influence your note. It will not get deleted by the merge. You do not set your dataset to the state of your room mate's dataset, but you incorporate all changes he made -- which is only the addition of the script. .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-110 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: no we can safely merge :cast: 04_collaboration $ datalad update --how merge -s roommate The exciting question is now whether your room mate's change is now also part of your own dataset. Let's list the contents of the ``code/`` directory and also peek into the history: .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-111 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: check for the updated files... they are there! :cast: 04_collaboration $ ls code/ .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-112 :language: console :lines: 1-6 :emphasize-lines: 2, 4 :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: and here is the summary in the log :cast: 04_collaboration $ git log --oneline Wohoo! Here it is: The script now also exists in your own dataset. You can see the commit that your room mate made when he saved the script, and you can also see a commit that records how you ``merged`` your room mate's dataset changes into your own dataset. The commit message of this latter commit for now might contain many words yet unknown to you if you do not use Git, but a later section will get into the details of what the meaning of ":term:`merge`", ":term:`branch`", "refs" or ":term:`main`" is. For now, you are happy to have the changes your room mate made available. This is how it should be! You helped him, and he helps you. Awesome! There actually is a wonderful word for it: *Collaboration*. Thus, without noticing, you have successfully collaborated for the first time using DataLad datasets. Create a note about this, and save it. .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-113 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 :notes: write a note :cast: 04_collaboration $ cat << EOT >> notes.txt To update from a dataset with a shared history, you need to add this dataset as a sibling to your dataset. "Adding a sibling" means providing DataLad with info about the location of a dataset, and a name for it. Afterwards, a "datalad update --how merge -s name" will integrate the changes made to the sibling into the dataset. A safe step in between is to do a "datalad update -s name" and checkout the changes with "git/datalad diff" to remotes/origin/main EOT $ datalad save -m "Add note on adding siblings" .. rubric:: Footnotes .. [#f1] As this example, simplistically, created a "pretend" room mate by only changing directories, not user accounts, the recorded Git identity of your "room mote" will, of course, be the same as yours. .. only:: adminmode Add a tag at the section end. .. runrecord:: _examples/DL-101-121-114 :language: console :workdir: dl-101/DataLad-101 $ git branch sct_networking