Quick info on Subversion / SVN

Thu Jan 26 10:39:28 EST 2012

It's pretty much mandatory to use a version control system like SVN; it
will save you an enormous amount of grief once you're set up.  There are
other options besides SVN; GIT seems most popular.


The SVN book is available for reading online and free download, and
although it's a bit long as an introduction, it is definitely worth
studying.

   http://svnbook.red-bean.com/nightly/en/svn-book.html

If you just want to get started, this sequence worked once for me:

   svnadmin create your_repository_as_a_directory_name

   [if you have an existing directory proj.dir, you can use that]
   [  otherwise, mkdir proj.dir]
   svn import proj.dir file:///fullpath_to_your_repository -m 'initial repository'
      # file:// is mandatory here

   svn checkout file:///fullpath_to_your_repository any_proj.dir
      # e.g., /u/bwk/my_awk_repository
      # this will populate any_proj.dir with files from proj_dir
      # sometimes removes previous contents: back up first

   cd proj.dir
   svn add [files...]
      # add files that have been created, edit existing files, or whatever
      # the list to be backed up on next commit

   svn commit
      # to update your_repository

The SVN book talks about how a group can use SVN so that you don't trip
over each other and also about how to use an SVN server over a network
connection.

OIT provides an SVN and Trac service; check out

   http://www.princeton.edu/cses/services/