Re: Tortoise SVN Ignore Usability

Thomas Eyde wrote:
> You just described my scenario: I'd like to ignore a file when I, or
> someone else, placed it under source control by mistake.

If a file is under version control by mistake, then you should *delete*
that file from version control and not just ignore it! That would mean
ignoring your mistake, and mistakes should never be ignored but dealt with.

> I usually discover those mistakes when I commit my changes. The only
> thing I can do in the commit dialog is to delete them, but that has at
> least two problems:
>
> 1. I don't want to delete them. I need them locally, but not in the
> repository.

Copy the files in question to another place or another name. Delete
them. Commit the deletion. Update your working copy. Rename/Move the
copies of your deleted files back.
But usually, such files are created automatically, so you just could
delete them and let the IDE/whatever-Tool you use recreate them.

> 2. I have to remember to ignore them some time later.

You also can ignore those files right away. They won't be really ignored
as long as they're versioned. But as soon as you remove those files from
version control, the 'new' files will be ignored.

> The fact that I can select to ignore a file that is not ignorable is
> also counter intuitive.
>
> I see two possible fixes:
>
> 1. Let the source controlled file be ignorable. Tortoise would delete
> it from the repository, then ignore it. If the delete part sounds
> dangerous, ask the user for a confirmation.

Not in the realm of TSVN. That's a request for the Subversion team.

> 2. Change the menu item on source controlled items to "Delete and
> ignore...".

Dangerous to do: if someone doesn't know that deleting also means
everyone else updating the working copy will loose that file, you could
end up with some angry people in your office.

Stefan

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