Version Control with Subversion

Draft Revision exported

Ben Collins-Sussman

Brian W. Fitzpatrick

C. Michael Pilato

(TBA)


Table of Contents

Preface
Audience
How to Read this Book
Conventions Used in This Book
This Book is Free
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
What is Subversion?
Subversion's History
Subversion's Features
Subversion's Architecture
Installing Subversion
Subversion's Components
Client Components (for the User)
Server Components (for the Administrator)
2. Basic Concepts
The Repository
Versioning Models
The Problem of File-Sharing
The Lock-Modify-Unlock Solution
The Copy-Modify-Merge Solution
Subversion in Action
Working Copies
Revisions
How Working Copies Track the Repository
The Limitations of Mixed Revisions
Summary
3. Guided Tour
Help!
Import
Revisions: Numbers, Keywords, and Dates, Oh My!
Revision Numbers
Revision Keywords
Revision Dates
Initial Checkout
Basic Work Cycle
Update Your Working Copy
Make Changes to Your Working Copy
Examine Your Changes
svn status
svn diff
svn revert
Resolve Conflicts (Merging Others' Changes)
Merging Conflicts by Hand
Copying a File Onto Your Working File
Punting: Using svn revert
Commit Your Changes
Examining History
svn log
svn diff
Examining Local Changes
Comparing Working Copy to Repository
Comparing Repository to Repository
svn cat
svn list
A Final Word on History
Other Useful Commands
svn cleanup
svn import
Summary
4. Branching and Merging
What's a Branch?
Using Branches
Creating a Branch
Working with Your Branch
The Moral of the Story
Copying Changes Between Branches
Copying Specific Changes
Best Practices for Merging
Tracking Merges Manually
Previewing Merges
Common Use-Cases for Merging
Merging a Whole Branch to Another
Undoing Changes
Resurrecting Deleted Items
Switching a Working Copy
Tags
Creating a Simple Tag
Creating a Complex Tag
Branch Maintenance
Repository Layout
Data Lifetimes
Summary
5. Repository Administration
Repository Basics
Understanding Transactions and Revisions
Unversioned Properties
Berkeley DB
Repository Creation and Configuration
Hook Scripts
Berkeley DB Configuration
Repository Maintenance
An Administrator's Toolkit
svnlook
svnadmin
svndumpfilter
svnshell.py
Berkeley DB Utilities
Repository Cleanup
Managing Disk Space
Repository Recovery
Migrating a Repository
Repository Backup
Adding Projects
Choosing a Repository Layout
Creating the Layout, and Importing Initial Data
Summary
6. Server Configuration
Overview
Network Model
Requests and Responses
Client Credentials Caching
svnserve, a custom server
Invoking the Server
Built-in authentication and authorization
Create a 'users' file and realm
Set access controls
SSH authentication and authorization
httpd, the Apache HTTP server
Prerequisites
Basic Apache Configuration
Authentication Options
Basic HTTP Authentication
SSL Certificate Management
Authorization Options
Blanket Access Control
Per-Directory Access Control
Extra Goodies
Repository Browsing
Other Features
Supporting Multiple Repository Access Methods
7. Advanced Topics
Runtime Configuration Area
Configuration Area Layout
Configuration and the Windows Registry
Configuration Options
Servers
Config
Properties
Why Properties?
Manipulating Properties
Special properties
svn:executable
svn:mime-type
svn:ignore
svn:keywords
svn:eol-style
svn:externals
Externals Definitions
Vendor branches
General Vendor Branch Management Procedure
svn_load_dirs.pl
8. Developer Information
Layered Library Design
Repository Layer
Repository Access Layer
RA-DAV (Repository Access Using HTTP/DAV)
RA-SVN (Proprietary Protocol Repository Access)
RA-Local (Direct Repository Access)
Your RA Library Here
Client Layer
Using the APIs
The Apache Portable Runtime Library
URL and Path Requirements
Using Languages Other than C and C++
Inside the Working Copy Administration Area
The Entries File
Pristine Copies and Property Files
WebDAV
Programming with Memory Pools
Contributing to Subversion
Join the Community
Get the Source Code
Become Familiar with Community Policies
Make and Test Your Changes
Donate Your Changes
9. Subversion Complete Reference
The Subversion Command Line Client: svn
svn Switches
svn Subcommands
svn add
svn blame
svn cat
svn checkout
svn cleanup
svn commit
svn copy
svn delete
svn diff
svn export
svn help
svn import
svn info
svn list
svn log
svn merge
svn mkdir
svn move
svn propdel
svn propedit
svn propget
svn proplist
svn propset
svn resolved
svn revert
svn status
svn switch
svn update
svnadmin
svnadmin Switches
svnadmin Subcommands
svnadmin create
svnadmin dump
svnadmin help
svnadmin list-dblogs
svnadmin list-unused-dblogs
svnadmin load
svnadmin lstxns
svnadmin recover
svnadmin rmtxns
svnadmin setlog
svnadmin verify
svnlook
svnlook Switches
svnlook
svnlook author
svnlook cat
svnlook changed
svnlook date
svnlook diff
svnlook dirs-changed
svnlook help
svnlook history
svnlook info
svnlook log
svnlook proplist
svnlook tree
svnlook youngest
A. Subversion for CVS Users
Revision Numbers Are Different Now
Directory Versions
More Disconnected Operations
Distinction Between Status and Update
Branches and Tags
Metadata Properties
Conflict Resolution
Binary Files and Translation
Versioned Modules
Authentication
Converting a Repository from CVS to Subversion
B. Troubleshooting
Common Problems
Problems Using Subversion
Every Time I Try to Access My Repository, My Subversion Client Just Hangs.
Every Time I Try to Run svn, It Says My Working Copy is Locked.
I'm Getting Errors Finding or Opening a Repository, but I Know My Repository URL is Correct.
How can I specify a Windows drive letter in a file:// URL?
I'm Having Trouble Doing Write Operations to a Subversion Repository over a Network
Under Windows XP, the Subversion Server Sometimes Seems to Send Out Corrupted Data.
What is the Best Method of Doing a Network Trace of the Conversation Between a Subversion Client and Server?
Problems Building Subversion
I Just Built the Distribution Binary, and When I Try to Check Out Subversion, I Get an Error About an Unrecognized URL Scheme
When I Run configure, I Get Errors Like subs-1.sed line 38: Unterminated `s' command
I'm Having Trouble Building Subversion Under Windows with MSVC++ 6.0.
C. WebDAV and Autoversioning
Basic WebDAV Concepts
Just Plain WebDAV
DeltaV Extensions
Subversion and DeltaV
Mapping Subversion to DeltaV
Autoversioning Support
The mod_dav_lock Alternative
Autoversioning Interoperability
Win32 WebFolders
Mac OS X
Unix: Nautilus 2
Linux davfs2
D. Other Subversion Clients
Out of One, Many
E. Third Party Tools
Repository Converters
ViewCVS
SubWiki
Glossary

List of Figures

1.1. Subversion's Architecture
2.1. A Typical Client/Server System
2.2. The Problem to Avoid
2.3. The Lock-Modify-Unlock Solution
2.4. The Copy-Modify-Merge Solution
2.5. …Copy-Modify-Merge Continued
2.6. The Repository's Filesystem
2.7. The Repository
4.1. Branches of Development
4.2. Starting Repository Layout
4.3. Repository With New Copy
4.4. The Branching of One File's History
8.1. Files and Directories in Two Dimensions
8.2. Revisioning Time—the Third Dimension!

List of Tables

2.1. Repository Access URLs
6.1. Network Server Comparison
8.1. A Brief Inventory of the Subversion Libraries

List of Examples

5.1. Using svnshell to Navigate the Repository
5.2. txn-info.sh (Reporting Outstanding Transactions)
6.1. A sample configuration for anonymous access.
6.2. A sample configuration for authenticated access.
6.3. A sample configuration for mixed authenticated/anonymous access.
7.1. Sample Registration Entries (.reg) File.
8.1. Using the Repository Layer
8.2. Using the Repository Layer with Python
8.3. A Simple Script to Check Out a Working Copy.
8.4. Contents of a Typical .svn/entries File
8.5. Effective Pool Usage