Cambium

Documentation

Cambium Client

Using the Desktop Client

The Cambium desktop is a tiling workspace. The bar across the top holds the windows menu to close and open new tiles, your help and settings, and a button to switch workspaces. The application is split into different pages for each domain you are working in.

Pages

Which pages you see depends on the server and your role. Revision Control is always there. Organization appears when the server has organization features enabled, and Administration only if you are an admin or the owner. If a server leaves you with just one page, the tab strip hides itself.

PageWhat is on it
Revision ControlThe Repository file tree, History, Console, and Device Management.
OrganizationTeam availability, meetings, the member list with statuses, and Device Management.
AdministrationServer settings, projects, users and devices. Admins and the owner only.

Panels

Panels tile rather than float. Drag a panel by its edge and drop it on another panel's edge to split that space in two; drag the gutter between panels to resize. The mosaic button in the top bar lists the panels for the current page and toggles them.

The Repository panel

Two tabs sit at the top of it:

  • Server — what actually exists on the server. Only live lock state and your own marked-for-delete rows overlay it.
  • Workspace — what is on your disk, with the full local picture: modified files, files you have not added, naming problems.

Below the tabs is the path bar (the project name on the Server tab, your workspace folder on the Workspace tab) and then the toolbar.

ButtonWhat it does
RefreshRe-reads the server tree and rescans your workspace.
Pull LatestDownloads the newest version of the selected files. Files land read-only.
SubmitOpens the changelist for what you have selected, so you can review and write a message.
CheckoutTakes an exclusive lock and makes the file writable.
Add NewMarks local-only files to be created on the server. Flips to Don't Add when the selection is already marked.
DeleteMarks files or folders for delete and removes the local copy.
RevertUndoes a pending change — discards edits, un-marks adds and deletes, releases checkouts.

Buttons grey out when they do not apply. A file someone else holds cannot be checked out or deleted, and the chip in the Status column tells you who has it.

File statuses

Every row carries a status. Click the chip and the app explains what it means and what to do about it.

StatusMeansWhat to do
ModifiedContent differs from your base and you hold no lock.Check it out to keep working, or pull to discard.
OutdatedYour copy is clean but the server has moved on.Pull latest.
Checked outYou hold the lock, on this device.Submit it, or revert it.
Checked out by @…Someone else holds the lock.Wait, or ask an admin to force-unlock a stale one.
Checked out by you on …Your account, a different device.Release it from that device, or check it in remotely.
Not addedLocal only — the server has never heard of it.Mark for add, then submit.
Marked for addStaged in your changelist as new.Submit, or un-mark.
Marked for deleteStaged as a removal; the local copy is already gone.Submit, or revert to restore it.
Naming issueThe name breaks a cross-OS rule.Rename it in a way that no longer violates the rule specified.

Files on the project's ignore list (build output, caches, local settings) carry no status at all and cannot be added by accident.

Working in the tree

  • Click to select, ⌘/Ctrl-click to add to the selection, shift-click for a range, ⌘/Ctrl-A for everything.
  • Double-click a folder to open or close it; double-click a file to open it in whatever app your OS uses for it.
  • Right-click for the same actions as the toolbar, plus Reveal in Finder/Explorer, Copy Path, and New Folder.
  • Drag files in from Finder or Explorer to copy them into the workspace folder.
  • A collapsed folder shows its contents' status, so nothing checked out or marked can hide inside a closed folder.

Submitting

List Changes in the Repository panel header reviews your whole changelist; the Submit button reviews just what you have selected. Either way you get the file list and a message box before anything is sent.

A submit is per file, not per changelist. Submit forty files where two are in conflict and the other thirty-eight land, with the two reported back to you and a reason for each failure.

History

The History panel lists revisions newest-first — number, date, who submitted it, and the message. Double-click a row to open the revision and see exactly which files it touched. From there you can roll a file back: that is recorded as a new revision reusing the old content, so the timeline stays linear and you can undo the undo.

Graph View switches to the version tree for whichever file you last clicked. Each card is a distinct content state; the server's current version is ringed, and dead branches — a version that ended in a delete — are dimmed. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom.

Console

The Console panel runs the same verbs as the CLI, in-process, with no server round trip. Type the verb without the cambium prefix. Everything on Using the CLI and Commands applies here.

Your devices

Each machine you log in from registers as a device, and locks belong to a (user, device) pair. The Device Management panel lists your devices and what each one has checked out. If you left a file checked out on your desktop and you are on your laptop, you can check it back in from here without walking to the other machine. Removing a device releases its locks and invalidates its session.

Settings

The cog in the top bar covers appearance and behaviour — tab styling, whether server names show in the bar, timezone display for members, and whether the List Changes hint shimmers when you have pending work. The account button next to it handles your password, avatar and status.