Using SVN

Why do I want a version control system?

Placing files you often work with under version control has several benefits:

Undo changes

Sometimes when you're editing that file, you'll wish you could go back to the version that actually worked. Now you can!
Easily carry your work between computers

If you ever find yourself wondering which computer you left the latest version of X on, version control can help.
Track the changes made to a file

With Subversion you can easily get an accurate picture of what you've changed and when.
Allow a group of people to collaborate effectively

Version control becomes near essential for any project where several people share responsibility for the same group of files.

Subversion is a free, widely used version control system which is easy to use with your SUCS account.

Creating a repository

$ ssh sucs.org # Connect to the main SUCS server
$ svnadmin create repos

This creates a new empty Subversion repository named "repos"

You may now import an existing directory tree into the repository:

$ svn import {path of stuff to import} {path of repository}

Accessing your repository

Once you have set up a repository, you may access it remotely using a Subversion client. A simple but powerful command-line client exists, in addition to graphical front-ends for most platforms.

Installing a Subversion client

Linux: Subversion is included in all major linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Fedora Core, SuSE and Mandriva. You may use your distribution's standard package management tools to install it.
Windows: The command-line client is available for Windows, but you will likely prefer to use a graphical client instead. TortoiseSVN is a Windows shell extension, providing access to version control commands through your right-click context menu.
Mac OS X: The easiest way to get SVN for Mac OS X is via fink

You can visit the Subversion packages page for more information.

Check out a "working copy"

In order to view and make changes to files in a Subversion repository, you must first perform a "checkout" operation. This downloads a copy of the files you selected from the repository to your computer, ready to be edited.

The following command will check out a working copy of everything in our repository:

$ svn checkout svn+ssh://{username}@sucs.org/home/member/{username}/repos

Basic Subversion usage

Below are the commands you are likely to use often, to keep your working copy(s) synchronised with your Subversion repository:

After you make changes to a file

$ svn commit -m "Changes made"

Fetching the latest revision

$ svn update

Placing a new file under version control

$ svn add {file(s)}

Dealing with conflicts

When you have more than one edit of one line you will have a conflict. When this happens, you have to manualy merge the two changes. You do this in your editor of choice. Once you've patched up the file you need to tell Subversion

$ svn resolved {file(s)}

For more on resolving conflicts see the Subversion Book