6.8: Chapter Summary

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This chapter has presented the functionality of Monticello in detail. The following points were covered:

Monticello are mapped to Smalltalk categories and method protocols. If you add a package called Foo to Monticello, it will include all classes in categories called Foo or starting with Foo-. It will also include all methods in those categories, except those in protocols starting with *. Finally, it will include all class extension methods in protocols called *foo or starting with *foo- anywhere else in the system.
When you modify any methods or classes in a package, it will be marked as “dirty” in Monticello, and can be saved to a repository.
There are many kinds of repositories, the most popular being HTTP repositories, such as those hosted by SmalltalkHub.
Saved packages are caches locally in a directory called package-cache.
The Monticello repository inspector can be used to browse a repository.
You can select which versions of packages to load or unload.
You can create a new branch of a package by basing a new version on another version which is earlier than the latest version. The repository inspector keeps track of the ancestry of packages and can tell you which versions belong to separate branches.
Branches can be merged. Monticello offers a fine degree of control over the resolution of conflicts between merged versions. The merged version will have as its ancestor the two versions from which it merged.
Monticello can keep track of dependencies between packages. When a package with dependencies to required packages is saved, a new version of that package is created, which then depends on the latest versions of all the required packages.
If classes in your packages have class-side initialize methods, then initialize will be sent to those classes when your package is loaded. This mechanism can be used to perform various checks or start-up actions. A particularly useful application is to add new instance variables to classes for which you are defining extension methods.
Monticello stores package versions in a special zipped file with the file extension .mcz. The mcz file contains a snapshot of the complete source code of that version of your package, as well as files containing other important metadata, such a package dependencies.
You can drag and drop an mcz file onto your image as a quick way to load it.