For application development with multiple developers, Rick’s UpperPark VC add-in is essential — without it, managing Clarion projects under source control quickly becomes a pain. UpperPark doesn’t replace a source control system; it’s the glue that lets you export/import your Clarion app files into text (*.APV/TXA) so that any VCS (like Git or SVN) can actually diff/merge properly. (ClarionHub)
On Git vs SVN:
Like Mark said above, Git is the way to go — it’s modern, distributed, and very flexible for team collaboration, and it handles branching/merging much better than centralized systems like SVN. (ClarionHub)
I’d recommend:
- Git as your VCS (GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, Azure DevOps — whatever fits your team).
- Keep your repo private.
- Use a good Git client (SourceTree, GitHub Desktop, SmartGit, VS Code built-in, etc.).
How I structure my workflow:
- Ignore generated output and binaries via
.gitignore/.gitattributes. - I redirect Clarion’s generated source to a non-root folder.
- I put generated CLW files in their own repository so they don’t clutter the main code repo.
- Make sure templates (including UltimateDebug) aren’t stamping timestamps on every CLW; otherwise you’ll see noise instead of real changes.
- Export apps via UpperPark so each procedure/module and global settings come out as separate text files — this makes commits meaningful and merges possible. (ClarionHub)
Best practices:
- Commit often.
- Use a client like GitHub Desktop or SourceTree so you can review changes and avoid committing unrelated noise — especially with Clarion’s export quirks.
- Every developer needs their own licensed Clarion and templates installed.
Finally, when you get to the point of setting up .gitignore/.gitattributes, ask here — there are some gotchas with Clarion folders and file types that are worth ironing out early.