[fpc-devel] Cannot create Merge Request

[Christo Crause]

On Wed, Jan 3, 2024 at 8:38 AM Amir--- via fpc-devel
<fpc-devel at lists.freepascal.org> wrote:
> I never used gitlab before, so my question might be very stupid!
> I am trying to follow the instruction here to create a patch. I have created a Feature Request but cannot figure out how to create a MergeRequest?

A merge request is different to a patch. A patch is (in my mind at
least) a static difference between two files or sets of files.  You
still need a tool to retrieve a copy of the main branch, keep this
copy up to date with the official git repository (to potentially
include changes by others) and keep your changes in sync with the
moving target of the main branch.  Git can create patches (via the git
diff command), but this is a static snapshot.  It is more elegant
(IMHO) to create a clone of FPC on GitLab, create a branch for your
modifications, and use GitLab to automatically generate a merge
request.

Some basic git concepts are described here:
https://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/FPC_git
At the end of that wiki page there is a section that describes the
typical workflow of how to go about creating a merge request for FPC.

This may seem like extra effort initially, but if you are planning on
contributing more than one merge request it will make sense in the
long run.