Question

I’m quite beginner with revision control systems so pardon me.

My project consists of two smaller applications, both in their own SVN repositories. In addition, I have one repository shared (svn:externals) between those applications.

When a new version is released I would like to create a folder for that version (including sources, documents etc.). Repository for a single application should look something like this:

.UI
    . "old versions"
        . 1.0
        . 2.0
        . 2.5
    . trunk (current development version 3.0)

So my questions are:

1. What is the correct name for this kind of a structure (in SVN)?
2. How I can create it?
3. Is it possible to freeze those old revisions (prevent changes to that folder)?
4. Is there any better ways to achieve this?

Answer 1

1. “tags” is the standard and correct name for this folder.
2. “svn copy” is your friend for creating it. Many continuous integration products will have an option to automatically tag the builds.
3. Yes, you can freeze them with a “pre-commit hook” (see below.)
4. This is the standard way of doing things. If you deviate too far, you will confuse other users.

---

An example pre-comit hook (for windows) we use here:

@echo off
SET SVNLOOK=C:\Program Files\CollabNet Subversion Server\svnlook.exe
SET GREP=D:\SVN\REPO\hooks\grep.exe

REM Prevent changes to tags.
("%svnlook%" changed -t %2 %1 | "%grep%" "^U.*/tags/") && (echo Cannot commit an update to a tag.>&2 && exit 1)

REM Prevent commits without comments.
("%svnlook%" log -t %2 %1 | "%grep%" "[a-zA-Z0-9]") || (echo You must specify a comment for all actions.>&2 && exit 1)

exit 0

---

To manually create the tag, use a command like the following:

svn copy "http://your/repo/UI/trunk"  "http://your/repo/UI/tags/v3.0" -m "Tagging v3.0"