Subversion

Revised 2011 April 9
Institute for Artificial Intelligence
The University of Georgia


For the user

If you work on files with colleagues, or work on the same project from more than one computer, or simply work on something you revise frequently and would like to archive, you should probably be using Subversion. The purpose of Subversion is to help you maintain synchronized local copies of a folder in several places, with no more file transferring than actually needed (so it's quick), and with the ability to retrieve previous versions. You can work from anywhere in the world, not just the IAI network.

Subversion is the server software, and TortoiseSVN is one of several client software packages. To learn about Subversion, read the TortoiseSVN manual.

To use Subversion from a Windows PC:

  • Acquire TortoiseSVN from here

  • Get the sysadmin to create a repository (file folder) and tell you the name of it.

  • Choose where you want to keep your local copy of the repository. Right-click there and choose SVN Checkout. Give the repository path, such as https://aisvn.ai.uga.edu/repository/xxxxx. The folder will be downloaded. If not in the AI network, you will have to give your AI user name and password.

  • When you've edited some of the downloaded files, right-click on the folder again and choose SVN Commit. (If you have created files, be sure to select them so they will be added to the repository). You will be asked to write a few words about what you did, for the log.

  • Anytime you suspect other people have edited the files, and you want to update your local copy before working on it, choose SVN Update.


    • There are also Subversion clients for other machine and environments, for example:

  • AnkhSVN for Visual Studio
  • Subclipse for Eclipse
    and of course the famous UNIX (Linux) command-line version, svn.