CODEWITHSUNDEEP
version-controldropboxbazaar
Dilworth
Dilworth

Reputation: 123

How to use Bazaar with Dropbox?

I want to write a code (in fact a latex file) with other collaborators. We wish to collaborate through Dropbox and version control our file with Bazaar.

  1. How to do it? Is there a short tutorial how to do this?

  2. Is there a better way to collaborate on a single file in Dropbox, that is, without a version control system?

  3. Is there a better control version system suitable for Dropbox, which is also easy to learn.

NOTES: I use only the bare basics of version control in Bazzar. I don't know how to use any version control systems properly, unfortunately. I need some very simple mechanism.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 390

Answers (1)

janos
janos

Reputation: 124704

Create a Bazaar repository without a working tree on your shared dropbox folder:

bzr init --no-tree /path/to/subfolder/in/dropbox

You and your team can checkout or branch from this common repository. The good thing about not have a working tree is that nobody will work on it directly by mistake. It's cleanest if each of you checkout/branch from this repository.

If you already have an existing repository, you can push it to the dropbox folder without a working tree like this:

cd /your/local/working/tree
bzr push --no-tree /path/to/subfolder/in/dropbox

The above is a standalone repository setup. If later you want to share multiple branches with your team, it will be more optimal to use a shared repository instead. That way will save storage space and bandwidth. I think it's probably a bit advanced for you now, but if you need it in the future, you can easily migrate your existing repository to a shared repository setup like this:

cd /path/in/dropbox
bzr init-repo --no-trees repo
bzr branch /path/to/old/repo repo/trunk

Afterward you can create multiple branches side by side with trunk inside the repo to share within your team, and it will be efficient.

As per your second question, I think it's better to use version control rather than a single unversioned file. This is a bit of an investment, but it will surely pay off in the long term.

As per your second question, Bazaar is a very easy to use, very intuitive tool. I think it's an excellent choice for you. (Disclaimer: I recently wrote a book on Bazaar.)

Upvotes: 1

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