Subversion GUIs are not made for Mac users, yet.
I mean, we, Mac users, are used to friendly interfaces, which don’t require more than 10% of knowledge about the system/mechanics behind we are dealing with. That 10% (or less, please!) is what we expect to be in the documentation, and today’s internet-age users would like to be one page long at most.
Unfortunately, SVN apps (clients?) documentation are STILL several pages long, and although I’m sure our issue is user-related, if such documentation is that long, that’s not a user anymore, but a slave.
For all of you, like me, who like Apple-style easy apps, well, there’s no app out there that makes me smile, but here’s the DEFINITE solution to your pain with subversion apps (rapidSVN, svnX, versions, etc).
I UNDERSTAND some of those apps seem to ROCK! for developers and geeks, but for Mac Users, drag-drop and interacting with finder is A MUST.
The biggest problem I found about all those apps is that you are forced to work and call things different than the way you used to. You can’t copy, move, or replace those files in finder, and are told to add, commit… instead. EVERYTHING is freakily controlled.
For that reason, and because their developers are not Adobe nor Apple’s, any attempt to work as a person, not as a geeky developer, will most definitely corrupt your subversioned files and any attempt to upload (commit) them will receive a nasty response from the server.
For first versions you’d probably won’t have any problem. The problem comes when you duplicate an existing version to make changes for the next version in finder.
Skipping more ranting: The solution
Just work with your files any way you want, all in your finder, like a normal person does. Duplicate the previous version or copy files from the trunk if this is not your first version. Then, just before to upload (add) that new version just delete every directory named svn in the new version’s folder.
For example, to create version 1.1, just duplicate folder 1.0 inside tags folder, and delete every hidden folder named svn inside that new copy. DO NOT DELETE svn folders from the already-uploaded versions (already added or committed copies)
How to delete svn hidden folders in Mac
There are apps and preference panels you can install to get that, but installing them and learning to use them will take you the same time that “the Mac” way below.
- Open the new directory, following the above example namely 1.1, type command-f to reveal the spotlight field at the top right of your finder window if it’s not already there, and type in “svn“.
- Then, in the new options header row that appears between your window’s content and the window name and tools icons, you’ll see options to choose where to look for your query, e.g. “Search: This Mac 1.1” and “Contents Filename” Like the picture below.
- There, choose “1.1″ and ” Filename”, so you restrict the search to that folder, not your whole Mac, and prevent spotlight to search in file contents, set as default.
- Below, there is another row with options that you can add or remove with the + or – sign at the right. It defaults to “Kind” and “Any”. Change them to “Visibility” and “Invisible“. The “Visibility” option might not be there if you never used it before, so look for it under “other”. You can choose for it to stay there next time you search.
- You’ll get all the files or folders named svn inside 1.1 folder. If there’s any file named so, I’m sure it’s nothing related to your WordPress plugin. You can make sure everything is fine by clicking each svn folder and checking the absolute path below in the status bar at the bottom of the window. If it shows a path other than the path to 1.1, you missed something. If everything is ok, just select them all and move them to the trash (command-delete)
In Windows:
for a graphic tutorial or just read it from MS websiteNow, the why:
If you are like me, you prefer to “test” everything the intuitive way and then just memorize what’s different from that new system to the new one you are dealing with, like “this is like I’m used to, except this or that sucks”, rather than reading the whole documentation and learning a whole new language for one upload a month.
If you moved and copied svn files in finder like me, you know what happens. If you don’t:
In order to keep track of saved, modified, deleted! files, your “subversioned” (freakly controlled) files need to have the info saved somewhere. Such info (Until a good GUI expert develop a better app) is saved in those invisible folders named svn, so when you copy one of your previous versions, e.g. 1.0 to make version 1.1 (called “tags” by WordPress) you are ALSO copying those invisible directories (After all, they are files, not data in a locked field in some document, and you are human, and your OS have little icons with names to allow you move and rename them).
Those hidden folders contain files that say “the file named xxx in this directory belongs to such version of such date by such author”… Not need to say what WordPress server will reply to an attempt to e.g. upload a file which appears to be already uploaded somewhere else (your original files in folder 1.0)
So until a new app which deals with all the mess OFF our finder and still keep up with NORMAL human behavior like copy, move, renaming icons, just DELETE all those folders before to “add” them as a new version and voilá! no errors.
Now you can still deal with geeky files, the Mac way.
