CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxsvnsymlink
T. Brian Jones
T. Brian Jones

Reputation: 13522

How do I properly deal with a symlink folder when using Subversion?

I want to add my project to a subversion repository. The project folder contains a symlink to a folder containing thousands of txt files that I don't need to add to the svn repository. I DO want the symlink-folder to show up when I checkout the code, however.

It looks like I can use svn addprop svn:ignore symlinked-folder to ignore the folder, but then I'll have to add that symlinked folder to every working copy I check out before everything will work.

Is there a proper way to do this?

Perhaps there is no way to deal with this, since a symlink is a filesystem artifact. Is there a better way to handle this situation?

CONCLUSION - EDIT

After all this investigation, I committed the symlink-folder by accident and SVN added it to the repository without adding any of the files within it. Upon checkout, everything works fine. The symlink-folder checked out and works.

I am using assembla to manage my SVN repository, so that might have something to do with this success.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 928

Answers (3)

Torp
Torp

Reputation: 7924

The answers above are right, your symlink won't work if you check out the repository on windows.
But if you're aware of that and you don't care, you can add just the symlink without its contents:
svn add -N your-symlink
man svn add here

Upvotes: 2

dnatoli
dnatoli

Reputation: 7012

You are right, it doesn't make sense to add a symlink to a repository. What would happen if someone checked out the source on a machine that didn't have access to the folder the symlink points to?

One way is to structure your repository so that you can check out the codebase without having to check out documents. E.g.:

  • Trunk
  • Tags
  • Branches
  • Documents

So you only check out the trunk or branch that you are working on, and when you require it you can check out the documents.

Alternatively, use a project management tool like Redmine to store your docs. It can integrate with svn as well so you can view your repository and manage permissions through it.

Upvotes: 0

JonnyReeves
JonnyReeves

Reputation: 6209

I believe you are correct, imagine if a user checked out your repo under Windows - how would SVN create the symlink when the underlying OS doesn't support it?

Is the target folder that you are symlinking to under version control? If so, you can make use of the svn-externals property.

Upvotes: 0

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