Re: Stand alone version of TSVN

Hi Stefan,

2009/2/7 Stefan Küng <tortoisesvn_at_gmail.com>:
> Simon Large wrote:
>> 2009/2/6 Stefan Küng <tortoisesvn_at_gmail.com>:
>>> Jean-Marc van Leerdam wrote:
>>>> Hi Steve,
>>>>
>>>> I have absolutely no idea how much work would be involved,
>>>> but would it be feasible (and perhaps wanted in the user community)
>>>> to provide stand-alone facilities for TSVN?
>>>>
>>>> With that I mean a version that does not require installation as a shell
>>>> extension, but providing a separate 'explorer like' window to do the
>>>> file manipulations and (T)SVN actions currently available via the
>>>> shell context menu.
>>>>
>>>> Would such an application require a big rewrite of the TSVN code,
>>>> or is it something that could easily be developed alongside the
>>>> actual shell extension (and have both methods access the TSVN GUI)?
>>>>
>>>> Being able to use a TSVN like front-end to SVN without requiring installation
>>>> would greatly improve the usage in my corporate environment.
>>> I think there are other SVN clients out there which provide exactly that
>>> functionality. No need to implement this in TSVN too.
>>
>> But they are not TSVN ;-)

Indeed, and I am an absolute fan of TSVN, so being able to use these
dialogs on systems
where end user installation is not possible would be a great plus.
Currently I can use TSVN at home and in the office on one single PC,
because I am
allowed to perform installations on that one PC. Getting the IT
department to produce
a SMS package that can be rolled out takes anywhere between 4 and 6
months (seriously!).
This makes it virtually impossible to keep up to date with SVN and TSVN.

>>
>> I have sometimes wondered about this myself. IIUC most of TSVN is in
>> TortoiseProc.exe with the shellex being as small as possible, so it
>> would *just* (ha ha SMOP) mean writing an explorer look-alike to hang
>> the context menu on. That sounds like a waste of time since Windows
>> explorer is already there, but consider also these points:
>
> Yes, all the UI is in TortoiseProc.
>
>> * Limited icon overlays
>
> That wouldn't change, because the limitation is not just in Explorer but
> in the list view control itself.

But that window could present the files in a different way (like
grouped on SVN status),
so perhaps the icons would not have to be shown in all of the list views.

>
>> * No column provider in Vista
>> * Getting the explorer view to update overlays is unreliable
>
> Again: no change here. If you keep the UI open, TSVN would not update
> the UI while you're working on your files and get outdated.
>

That depends on the activity of that window application (it could
actively poll the
working copy folders that it is currently displaying)

>> * Everything goes in the context menu - cannot add items to the menu bar
>> * Maybe the shell is one of the flakiest parts of Windows
>
> I like the shell :)

Me too, I've never fancied other shells for conventional file access.

>
>> So having a simple explorer-like window would give a lot more control
>> over the environment TSVN runs in. It doesn't have to implement every
>> explorer feature, just operate as a window onto your working copies.
>
> We already have the "check for modifications" dialog which provides
> columns for everything you might want, shows all files recursively, can
> show updates from the repository, ...
> The only thing that's "missing" from that dialog is a tree view.
>

Yes, and the fact that Tortoiseproc.exe is not usable without a full
installation,
or is it? Because if I can just place the folder somewhere and create
some shortcuts
to Tortoiseproc.exe to bring up the relevant dialogs, that could be enough to
meet my needs...

Again, I was just wondering about the possibilities of adding this to
TSVN. It would
be a waste of time to re-build (and maintain) the TSVN GUI separate
from the main
development.
Would you even consider an addition of this kind to TSVN? I leave it
entirely up to you.
I barely have the skills myself to actually develop such a piece of
software and at the
moment certainly lack the time to do it. There would have to be some
other volunteers
to actually do this part, but the first hurdle IMHO is how you would
feel about such a
feature.

-- 
Regards,
Jean-Marc
--
       ___
  @@  // \\      "De Chelonian Mobile"
 (_,\/ \_/ \     TortoiseSVN
   \ \_/_\_/>    The coolest Interface to (Sub)Version Control
   /_/   \_\     http://tortoisesvn.net
------------------------------------------------------
http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/ds/viewMessage.do?dsForumId=757&dsMessageId=1119017
To unsubscribe from this discussion, e-mail: [dev-unsubscribe_at_tortoisesvn.tigris.org].