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[TSVN] Re: Working Copy

From: Simon Large <slarge_at_blazepoint.co.uk>
Date: 2005-01-17 18:21:32 CET

Peter McNab wrote:
> What I still don't fully understand is the concept of WC.
>
> On my "server" there is a repository containing a trunk which provides
> the latest stable release and in the same repository a branches folder
> containing one or more purpose named branches.
> On the local machine (LM) I have the same folder structure.
> The LM trunk folder is populated with the files that represent the
> head of the trunk.
> The LM branches\specialbranch folder is populated with files that
> represents the tip of that branch.
> Both can represent working (correctly executable) copies of code
> (files) but I suspect that that's not what TSVN means by WC.

SVN and CVS both have the same concept of a working copy. When you do a
CVS/SVN checkout from the repository into a folder on your LM, that
folder is your "working copy". It is the local copy that you are working
on. It doesn't mean that the copy 'works correctly' - how could
subversion know that?

> I can and sometimes do work on both sets of files simultaneously with
> different update intentions so in my mind I have two WCs ...

Yes, you can have completely separate WCs in different folders.

> but the TSVN
> warning conveys the notion that "Working Copy" is a singular thing.
> So, if I had umpteen special branches
> and the project was very large there would be a considerable
> duplication of code on the ML.

There is nothing wrong with having multiple WCs, but as you say it takes
up a huge amount of space for code which is mostly duplicated. The "SVN
way" to handle this more efficiently is to have a single WC and use the
"Switch" command to convert it from trunk to branch, or BranchA to
BranchB.

> So is the purpose of the "switch" command and the TSVN expressed
> notion of singular WC a means to allow users to have just one set of
> files at a time on the LM and "Switch" to another set of files in
> the same folder location, with the minimal network traffic to effect
> a full file change from say branch1 to trunk to branch2 etc?

Exactly. TSVN doesn't advise for or against using multiple WCs. The
warning about switching only came up when you created a new branch. TSVN
is warning you that although you have _created_ the branch in the
repository, your WC isn't pointing at it (it's still pointing at trunk,
or wherever you made the branch_from_). So if you want to work on the
branch, you need to make a fresh checkout or (much quicker) do a Switch.

Simon

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Received on Mon Jan 17 18:29:14 2005

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