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Git Integration

This guide covers advanced Git workflows and team collaboration patterns for BimlStudio projects. For basic setup, see the Source Control Setup guide.

Project Structure Best Practices​

your-biml-project/
├── .gitignore
├── README.md
├── YourProject.mst           # BimlStudio project file
├── Connections/              # Connection definitions
│   ├── Source.biml
│   └── Target.biml
├── Databases/                # Database schemas
│   ├── Staging.biml
│   └── DataWarehouse.biml
├── Tables/                   # Table definitions
│   ├── Staging/
│   └── DataWarehouse/
├── Packages/                 # SSIS packages
│   ├── Extract/
│   ├── Transform/
│   └── Load/
├── Scripts/                  # BimlScript files
│   └── Automation/
└── Config/                   # Build configurations
    ├── ddlConfig.bimlproj
    └── etlConfig.bimlproj
# BimlStudio build output
/output/
/bin/
/obj/

# User-specific files
*.user
*.suo
*.mst.user

# Build artifacts
*.dtsx
*.ispac
*.dacpac

# Temporary files
*.tmp
*~
*.bak

# Visual Studio
.vs/
*.cache

# Logs
*.log
logs/

Branching Strategies​

Feature Branch Workflow​

Recommended for most teams:

  1. main - Production-ready code
  2. develop - Integration branch for features
  3. feature/* - Individual feature branches
# Create a feature branch
git checkout develop
git checkout -b feature/new-dimension-table

# Work on your changes...

# Commit and push
git add .
git commit -m "Add Customer dimension table"
git push -u origin feature/new-dimension-table

# Create a pull request for review

GitFlow for Larger Teams​

For teams with formal release processes:

  • main - Production releases
  • develop - Development integration
  • feature/* - New features
  • release/* - Release preparation
  • hotfix/* - Production fixes

Team Collaboration​

Pull Request Guidelines​

  1. Create focused PRs - Each PR should address one feature or fix
  2. Write clear descriptions - Explain what changes and why
  3. Include test evidence - Document that builds complete successfully
  4. Request appropriate reviewers - Include team members familiar with the area

Code Review Checklist for Biml​

  • Connection strings don't contain hardcoded credentials
  • Table and column names follow naming conventions
  • BimlScript doesn't have syntax errors
  • Build configurations are updated if needed
  • No duplicate asset definitions

Merge Conflict Resolution​

Biml files are XML-based, making conflicts relatively straightforward to resolve:

<<<<<<< HEAD
<Table Name="Customer" SchemaName="dbo">
=======
<Table Name="DimCustomer" SchemaName="dim">
>>>>>>> feature/rename-tables

To resolve:

  1. Open the file in a text editor
  2. Choose the correct version or combine changes
  3. Remove conflict markers
  4. Test the build

CI/CD Integration​

Azure DevOps Pipelines​

Example azure-pipelines.yml:

trigger:
  - main
  - develop

pool:
  vmImage: 'windows-latest'

steps:
- task: PowerShell@2
  displayName: 'Build BimlStudio Project'
  inputs:
    targetType: 'inline'
    script: |
      # Run Hadron compiler
      & "C:\Program Files\Varigence\BimlStudio\Hadron.exe" `
        "$(Build.SourcesDirectory)\YourProject.mst" `
        --buildConfiguration "$(Build.SourcesDirectory)\Config\etlConfig.bimlproj"

- task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
  displayName: 'Publish SSIS Packages'
  inputs:
    pathToPublish: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)\output'
    artifactName: 'SSISPackages'

GitHub Actions​

Example .github/workflows/build.yml:

name: Build BimlStudio Project

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main, develop ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: windows-latest

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3

    - name: Build Project
      shell: powershell
      run: |
        & "$env:ProgramFiles\Varigence\BimlStudio\Hadron.exe" `
          "${{ github.workspace }}\YourProject.mst"

    - name: Upload Artifacts
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
      with:
        name: ssis-packages
        path: output/

Working with Large Projects​

Performance Tips​

  1. Use sparse checkout for very large repositories:

    git clone --sparse https://github.com/your-org/your-biml-project.git
    cd your-biml-project
    git sparse-checkout set Packages/Extract

  2. Use Git LFS for large binary files if needed

  3. Keep build artifacts out of version control - Use CI/CD to generate them

Splitting Large Projects​

If your project becomes unwieldy:

  1. Create separate repositories for distinct subsystems
  2. Use Git submodules to link them: 
    git submodule add https://github.com/your-org/shared-connections.git Shared/Connections

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

Files showing as modified after opening in BimlStudio:

  • BimlStudio may reformat XML - configure your editor to use consistent formatting
  • Add .editorconfig to enforce consistent line endings

Merge conflicts in .mst files:

  • Project files are XML and can be manually merged
  • When in doubt, rebuild the project file by removing and re-adding Biml files

Build failures after merge:

  • Check for duplicate asset definitions (common after merging)
  • Verify all referenced files exist
  • Run a clean build

Next Steps​