Question

I apologize because I know this has been covered over and over again, but I’m trying to understand the smartest way to cleverly use subversion to our benefit. (*Note: I know our method is not the BEST way to handle localized versions, but external factors are forcing us to work this way on current projects)

• We have a fairly static website in English…html, css, js, etc.
• After the site comes back from the translator we will have 5 variations of the same code (this week…then potentially 25 more in the future!). So we’ll soon have a folder for EN, FR, SP, DE, etc. Most files (css, js, img) will remain exactly the same; and html files (structure, id’s, classes) will only vary based on the localized text inside the elements.

Is there any way to use clever SVN folder structuring that would help us out in the event that if a small change is needed, we don’t have to manually change the files in each and every translated version of the site?

Thanks!
–bp

Answer 1

You should use svn:externals property for the purpose. Here is a brief tutorial.

In short, the property will help you reuse the same directories in different part of the repository. You can isolate common files in a directory and reference the directory in your localization directories.