Re: Sparse Working Copy Checkout Personal Evaluation, kudo and complaint

On 11/12/2007, Mark Swann <mswann@echo-inc.com> wrote:
> I installed the file
> "TortoiseSVN-1.4.99.11575-dev-win32-svn-1.5.0dev.msi" to
> evaluate and preview the SVN 1.5 updates. Mind you, I tested the 1.5 client
> against a 1.4.x SVN server, so the "issue" I found may be related to that.
>
> BTW, I love the new Repo Browser, so a very big "Thank You".
>
> I was particularly interested in how TortoiseSVN facilitates the new Sparse
> Working Copy Checkout, so I performed a few experiments and came to the
> following conclusions:
>
> (1) The process is way too tedious, especially if the directory you are
> checking out is nested multiple directories deep. You have to check out each
> ancestor directory one at a tedious time until you finally reach the
> directory you really want. The Repo Browser Context Menu needs to allow the
> "Update item to revision" option on any directory that has a near or distant
> ancestor that is already checked out, and Tortoise should checkout out all
> intermediate ancestors automatically.

This doesn't make much sense. How would repo browser know what you
have checked out? And I don't think there is an update to revision
context menu in repo browser - that's a working copy function.

> (2) The normal procedure for checking in your changes should be to first
> perform an Update, then a Commit. OOPS! Not with a sparse working copy, you
> don't! If you make the mistake of doing what is intuitive (an Update), you
> will suddenly find your working copy is no longer so sparse. This feature is
> way bad. I don't know if this reflects SVN's intentions but you should never
> add a feature that makes it easier for the user to make a mistake. I don't
> care if you have provided an alternative proper way to do the update, which
> is also very tedious, you should make the sparseness of the working copy
> transparent to normal daily use, i.e. you must allow the normal
> Update/Commit procedure without retrieving all the un-checked-out files in
> the tree.
>
> Please respond to this enquiry, and thanks for making such a great tool.

Please report bugs with a simple reproduction recipe, not a lecture. I
don't have 1.4.99 installed at work so I can't verify this, but the
intention is certainly to honour the sparseness of existing checkouts.

Simon

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