Question

I am creating a tool that monitors what was updated in SVN (via Tortoise) and then does actions based on that content.

I can use post update hooks to get the latest revision number, but if there were no new updates, then I still see that revision number anyway.

Is there a way to find out what revisions were accessed for the first time in the last update?

Answer 1

We have database scripts coming through in our updates that need to be run against our local db’s. I am trying to detect when the updates include scripts created elsewhere and run our special update tool.

I suggest you look at Jenkins. Jenkins is a continuous build system and is designed to do a build every time someone commits code. What Jenkins actually does in a build is up to you. Jenkins can run almost any sort of build script (Makefiles, Ant, MSBuild, and even batch and shell scripts) when triggered. It can do pre-build actions and post-build actions. It can trigger one build after another build is complete.

Jenkins has dozens of plugins which can help extend Jenkins.

The big thing is that Jenkins can pass onto your scripts useful information such a the Subversion revision number that triggered the build. From there, you can parse the output of the svn log to find the names of the files that were changed, and handle them appropriately.

Jenkins is easy to learn and easy to install. You can use it on Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, or almost any computer that can run Java 1.6. On Windows, the installation program includes the Java 1.6 run time and installs itself as a Windows service.