Subversion

TortoiseSVN Word 12 Diff/Merge

Michael Flanakin — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 11:13:00 GMT

The diff/merge built into TSvn causes an error in Word 12: The requested member of the collection does not exist. There's a simple fix, tho. First, open the diff and merge scripts that TSvn runs in a text editor (Diff-Scripts\diff-doc.js and Diff-Scripts\merge-doc.js in the TSvn install directory, which is by default C:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN). Scroll down to line 47 (49 in merge script) and replace it with the following code:

if ( Number(word.Version) < 12 )
{
	word.ActiveDocument.Windows(1).Visible = 1;
}

Like I said, very simple. I just got very annoyed by that error everytime I opened the file and figured I'd post something for others.

Shelving in Subversion

Michael Flanakin — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 13:52:00 GMT

Ever since I first saw shelving in the new version of Visual Source Safe, I've been somewhat enthralled by it. The first thing I did was figure out how I could do that with Subversion. I started typing an email to the Svn mailing list and then I realized how simple it was to do already. All you need to do is use branches.

Here's how to do it with TortoiseSVN...

Create a shelves directory in the root of your repository (alongside the branches, tags, and trunk directories)
If desired, create a subdirectory for each developer on the team to allow shelves to be separated by developer (i.e. shelves/flanakin/)
Update files as needed
Select the directory that needs to be shelved
Select TortoiseSVN > Branch/Tag...
Specify the a new shelved directory for the developer (i.e. shelves/flanakin/req1234), use the working copy, choose whether or not to switch to that shelf (for further work), and click OK

You now have shelved code. Other developers can grab that in one of two ways: by switching or simply merging with their existing working copy. Switch if you don't plan on finishing the shelved code; merge if you plan on unshelving it and committing it into the trunk (or another branch).

Man, all these CM code words make it sound worse than it really is. It truly is a simple task, if you've ever branched or tagged with Svn. Same implementation, different concept. I'd love to see the shelving concept be integrated into the Svn docs. The term, "shelving," seems to be new, but the concept is old. Some are referring to it as private branches. Whatever it's called (I like shelving better, tho), it should be in the best practices. Best of luck to those who use it!

TortoiseSVN Firefox Extension

Michael Flanakin — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 10:07:00 GMT

There's a new Firefox extension in town. I like the idea, but don't really plan on using it myself. When I access my repositories, I always do so from the working copy. I do know that this would be useful for users who don't need local copies of a repository, but would be able to benefit from some of the TSVN features. It'll be interesting to see how this evolves.

Windows Authentication with Subversion on Windows

Michael Flanakin — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 14:56:00 GMT

Man, oh, man! Setting this thing up was a pain in the arse. It took up most of my day! Anyway, hopefully, I can save someone else the heardache.

Here's the setup: client - Windows XP, server - Windows Server 2003 running Subversion 1.2.1 and Apache 2.0.54. Within the Apache httpd.conf file, the following modules must be setup in order:

# Windows authentication module
LoadModule sspi_auth_module   modules/mod_auth_sspi.so

# subversion modules
LoadModule dav_svn_module "C:/Program Files/Subversion/bin/mod_dav_svn.so"
LoadModule authz_svn_module "C:/Program Files/Subversion/bin/mod_authz_svn.so"

Next, I had to setup my Subversion location (later in the same file):

<Location />
    DAV svn
    SVNParentPath "D:/Repository/"
    
    # authentication
    AuthName "Subversion Authentication"
    AuthType SSPI
    SSPIAuth On
    SSPIAuthoritative On
    SSPIDomain DOMAIN
    SSPIOfferBasic On
    Require valid-user
    
    # authorization
    AuthzSVNAccessFile "D:/Repository/authorization.conf"
</Location>

Finally, I had to setup a Subversion access file. With this file, I kind of took the easy way out. I only added developers with write access to the root and setup any other user with read-only to the root. I didn't feel like messing with it much after that.

[groups]
dashboard-dev = DOMAIN\FLANAKINM, flanakinm

[/]
* = r
@dashboard-dev = rw

Here's the important part to remember: you have to use two login names - one with and one without the domain. The reason for this, as I understand it, is because Subversion requires the former and the web browser requires the latter (that may be backwards).

Now, let me dig into this a little bit. The aforementioned modules are for Windows authentication, Subversion WebDAV, and Subversion authorization, respectively. That's pretty simple - no real options there. You may notice that I chose to reference the Subversion modules from the Subversion directory. I believe most people move them to the Apache directory instead. Whatever works for you. I chose this method because, if they're ever updated, that's where they'd be installed after upgrading Subversion. Also of note, I used the mod_auth_sspi.so module from the TortoiseSVN website (link provided later). There's supposed to be another one floating around with more features. The links I found to that one are all dead, so if anyone knows how to get it, let me know, please.

Next, let's look at the location section. I'm only using Apache for Subversion (on port 9999), so I just setup the location to be the root (hence the "/"). The DAV svn is required for WebDAV and the SVNParentPath specifies that the parent directory of my repositories is located at "D:\Repository" (I used forward slashes (/), but I'm pretty sure you can use back slashes (\), too). Now, into the part that can be a pain... AuthName doesn't matter, as far as I can tell; so use whatever makes sense (hell, you might even be able to omit it). AuthType SSPI tells Apache to use the SSPI module for Windows authentication. SSPIAuth On and SSPIAuthoritative On turn that authentication on. SSPIDomain specifies the domain you're using - I believe this is optional. SSPIOfferBasic On tells Apache to provide basic authentication for non-IE connectors. Require valid-user tells Apache that all users must be authenticated in order to gain access to the location. Finally, the AuthzSVNAccessFile specifies the text file which holds the authorization rules.

I'm not going to get into this file too much. As I mentioned before, all you really need to know is that you have to have two entries per user: one with and one without the domain name.

For more information on the following areas, check out the respective links. Best of luck to you! (...you may need it)

mod_auth_sspi.so: http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/mod_auth_sspi.zip
TortoiseSVN FAQ: Windows Authentication on Linux (just in case you're bored): http://tortoisesvn.berlios.de/?q=node/48
TortoiseSVN FAQ: Windows Authentication on Windows: http://tortoisesvn.berlios.de/?q=node/137
TortoiseSVN Help: Windows Authentication with a Windows Domain: http://tortoisesvn.sourceforge.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/ch03.html#tsvn-serversetup-apache-5
Windows Domain Authentication (c/o Martin Tomes): http://www.subversionary.org/sspidomainauth
Subversion Mail Archive: Getting NT Authorization Right with mod_auth_sspi.so: http://svn.haxx.se/users/archive-2004-07/subject.shtml#580
Mere-Moments Guide to installing a Subversion server on Windows (c/o Joe White): http://excastle.com/blog/archive/2005/05/31/1048.aspx?Pending=true

Ultimately, the link that helped me the most was the Subversion users mail archive. I linked to the last post (they're listed latest to earliest), so review those as needed.

TortoiseSVN and Word Docs

Michael Flanakin — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 14:40:00 GMT

I was pleasently surprised when I noticed that TortoiseSVN supported diffs in Word documents. I've made a number of changes to a requirements document over the past week or so and wanted to get an idea of the scope of changes before committing them, so I figured, 'What the hell! Let's try a diff.' I didn't honestly think it'd work as desired. I guess I figured it'd try to do it as a text file and come up with all the junk Word adds for formatting before and after the text. In actuality, the original was opened, tracking was turned on, then the newer version was [seemingly] pasted over the original content. The magic of Word's tracking features was then put to work to show me the differences. I love it! Great job TortoiseSVN (specifically, the TortoiseMerge) team!