Subversion Setup (deprecated)

Introduction

Subversion is our source repository - it holds all of the program source code and data that make up PCGen. It allows us to track changes in the various files, share our work with each other and to coordinate our activity in a single location.

Most integrated development environments (IDEs) include Subversion support, sometimes as an plugin though. e.g. Eclipse uses the [subclipse plugin. One common Windows subversion client is described below.

SSH SVN ACCESS

IF you want to deal with SSH - these are the steps (Good luck, SF's documentation is lacking in working with their new set up)

This is a work in progress and will need to be refined, but it's how I got the SSH set up to work... once.

url is: svn+ssh://USERNAME@svn.code.sf.net/p/pcgen/code

On a Windows PC

Install PuttyGen

puttygen.exe - http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/puttygen.exe

Generate a SSH Key (file ends with .ppk)

• run puttygen
• Generate a New Key - SSH2
• IN the comment section add 'sourceforgeUserId@shell.sourceforge.net'
• OPTIONAL - You may set a passphrase, SF recommends it.
• click the Save private key button
• enter a filename for your new .ppk file when prompted
• press Save
• Copy the Public Key Information
• Go to your SF Developer Account Services
• Edit Keys
• Paste your Public Key here

Install Pageant

pageant.exe - http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/pageant.exe

Run the ageant

• double-click on pageant.exe
• you should now see a computer with a black hat in the tray
• Add your .ppk to the ageant

• right-click on the computer with the black hat in your taskbar
• select Add Key from the context menu
• browse to your recently-created .ppk file and select it
• click Open
• enter your password when prompted (If you set the Passphrase earlier in this set up for your key, this is what it is asking for)
• verify that your key has been added by double-clicking on the computer with the black hat

Install Plink

plink.exe - http://the.earth.li/~sgtatham/putty/latest/x86/plink.exe

Install TortoiseSVN

TortoiseSVN download page

Configure TortoiseSVN

You need to tell TortoiseSVN to use TortoisePlink to handle SSH traffic. To do this see the following steps:

• right-click on an explorer window somewhere
• hover over TortoiseSVN in the context menu
• select Settings from the sub-menu
• select Network from the list on the left
• under the SSH box in the right side, click the Browse... button
• browse to and select TortoisePlink.exe (mine is in c:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin\TortoisePlink.exe)
• click Open
• click Apply

On Linux

TBD

On a Macintosh

Apple Developer SSH Page

Related Articles

• Macintosh instructions can be found at SVN on the Mac
• Web access to SVN
• Merging with Subversion
• Setting up with Eclipse

Installing TortoiseSVN (TSVN)

TSVN is a GUI client for Subversion repositories. Before installing TSVN, please note that it is a Windows Explorer Shell extension, and as such, will not work on any other operating system.

Make sure you have version 3.0 or later of the Windows Installer. This should be included in Windows Update for both Windows XP and Windows 2000. If for some reason you are still stuck on Windows 2000 (or earlier!), and can't update to the lastest Service Pack, you are out of luck. I don't know if TSVN will work on Windows NT or Windows 98.

1. Close down all applications that might be running.
2. Download the TortoiseSVN Program and the manual.
3. Run the MSI.
4. Restart your computer.
5. Make sure you actually restarted your machine, not just logged off. TSVN is a shell extension, which means that you *must* restart your machine after installing.

After you've installed TSVN, your Windows Explorer right-click context menus will all have a new entry called "Tortoise SVN". Click this new entry to see the options available. Exactly how you will connect to a repository depends on how SourceForge has Subversion set up. I'll update this entry with more information when it becomes available.

TSVN uses it's own SSH client, based on PuTTY, so you don't have to have it installed seperately. The first time you attempt to browse a repository or do a check out, it will ask you for your credentials. You have the option of saving those credentials for future sessions as well.

See the TSVN user's mailing list information page to subscribe to the mailing list. There are bunches of knowledgeable people there to help with virtually any problem you might have. Please make sure you follow proper nettiquette on this list, and research any questions you might have before posting something as a bug.

Other Options

If you are using an operating system other than Windows, and you want a GUI client, there is a cross platform GUI client called RapidSVN, but I have no experience, good or bad, with that program. There is also an Eclipse plug-in that is highly thought of, see Basic Developer Setup for details.

The Subversion command line client is not terribly hard to use either, especially if you are familiar with CVS. You can download binaries for various platforms, including Windows.

Note the section on that page that says that the Subversion development team does *not* directly support these binaries. They mean it. However, questions about these posted to the Subversion users mailing list are usually answered pretty quickly.