you should keep the schema within your repo. running the migration will fix merge conflicts within your schema.rb file for you. my simple take on your questions
- Is it Required? not really, but good practice.
"It's strongly recommended to check this file into your version control system." -schema.rb
- It is possible? yes but you may want to ask yourself if you really save any time by doing so, either manually or building the schema off your migrations elsewhere and pushing it in.
you ge tthe added benefit of using
rake db:schema:load
and
rake db:schema:dump
http://tbaggery.com/2010/10/24/reduce-your-rails-schema-conflicts.html