GitHub Support
Defining Open Source
Open source is a term that originally referred to open source software (OSS). Open source software is code that is designed to be publicly accessible.
A platform supporting open source allows anyone to:
- Distribute the code as they see fit
- Access the code
- Contribute (i.e. openly review, suggest changes, etc.).
The Study Definitions Repository (SDR) Reference Implementation has been shared via GitHub, a popular platform for open source. Having the SDR RI designed and developed to be open source and vendor agnostic supports collaboration, transparency, and innovation across the industry.
GitHub Access
To view content on GitHub, you do not need to create an account. However, to actively participate and contribute, a person does need to create a GitHub account.
Go to https://github.com/join and follow the instructions to create an account. To access and use GitHub for DDF is free of charge.
Once a user account is created, click here to access the DDF GitHub page.
GitHub Navigation
The hierarchy in GitHub allows for an “organization”, which then allows the “organization” to create one or more repositories, which is where specific information and code is stored.
For the DDF initiative, the top level “organization” is TransCelerate. There are four repositories that hold information and code about the SDR Reference Implementation.
The GitHub platform allows for users to openly engage with each other in support of accessing and contributing to open-source software. The user interface in GitHub may be confusing at first glance.
Here is a quick summary of the GitHub user interface.
| Key Navigation | Description |
|---|---|
| Code | This is the default view to the folders and files that contain information and/or code. |
| Issues | This is where users can post issues and questions. |
| Pull Requests | This is the area to access any submitted change requests to information and/or code. |
| Discussions | This is where users can post topics for discussion. |
Actively Using GitHub
The main features of GitHub is allowing users to access content and make changes to the content for review, approval and distribution.
Please watch this video for an introduction on how to actively use GitHub to:
- Submitting an Issue
- Submitting a Discussion
- Review content, make changes, and submit the changes for review, approval and distribution, if applicable (the process is called Pull Requests)
- Viewing the outcome of a Pull Request
GitHub Support
For GitHub specific support needs: