Checking a new Rails application into an existing Subversion repositoryEdit

Created , updated

Instructions can be found here for tracking EdgeRails using Subversion, and here for importing an Rails application into a Subversion repository.

The pattern followed in the later article is the following:

  1. Import the entire application
  2. Remove files from the repository that should be ignored
  3. Set the svn:ignore property on those files so that they don’t interfere with future check-outs or commits

SVK

This is the approach I used in conjunction with SVK as described in "Behaviour-Driven Development with Rails":

svk rm log/*
svk propset svn:ignore '*.log' log
svk rm tmp/*
svk propset svn:ignore '*' tmp
svk mv config/database.yml config/database.example
svk propset svn:ignore 'database.yml' config
svk ci -m "Set-up ignored files"

Alternate approach

When I first did this I preferred to use a different method; rather than import/remove/ignore, I chose to selectively add and set the ignore properties so that the ignored files never touched the repository:

# first I tried adding the tmp directory
svn add tmp

# but realized it a recursive add wasn't what I wanted
svn help

# so had to use "svn revert"
svn revert tmp

# which needed the "--recursive" flag
svn revert --recursive tmp
svn status

# now a non-recursive add of the tmp directory
svn add --non-recursive tmp
svn commit -m "Add tmp directory"

# and the subdirectories
cd tmp
svn add --non-recursive cache sessions sockets

# properties must be set on the parent directory
# the quote marks are to prevent shell globbing
# this means "ignore everything that matches '*' in the cache directory"
svn propset svn:ignore "*" cache

# same for sessions and sockets
svn propset svn:ignore "*" sessions
svn propset svn:ignore "*" sockets
svn commit -m "Ignore files in tmp subdirectories"

# verify that the files are ignored
cd cache
touch test
svn status
svn status --no-ignore
rm test

# now do the same for children of the "log" directory
cd ../..
svn add --non-recursive log
svn propset svn:ignore "*" log
svn commit -m "Add log directory, ignoring contents"

# add the rest of the simple files and folders
svn add test app Rakefile components migrate README script doc lib public
svn commit -m "Initial commit of bulk of Rails application"

# now into the "config" directory
svn add --non-recursive config
svn propset svn:ignore "database.yml" config
svn add config/routes.rb config/boot.rb config/environment.rb config/environments
cp config/database.yml config/database.example
svn add config/database.example

# and the "db" directory
svn add --non-recursive db
svn add db/migrate
svn add db/schema.rb
svn propset svn:ignore "*.sqlite3" db
svn commit -m "Add db and config dirs, ignoring database files"
svn add vendor
svn commit -m "Add vendor directory"

In the future, this could be done as a single commit; something like this:

svn add --non-recursive tmp tmp/cache tmp/sessions tmp/sockets
svn propset svn:ignore "*" tmp/cache tmp/sessions tmp/sockets
svn add --non-recursive log
svn propset svn:ignore "*" log
svn add test app Rakefile components migrate README script doc lib public vendor
svn add --non-recursive config
svn propset svn:ignore "database.yml" config
svn add config/routes.rb config/boot.rb config/environment.rb config/environments
cp config/database.yml config/database.example
svn add config/database.example
svn add --non-recursive db
svn add db/migrate db/schema.rb
svn propset svn:ignore "*.sqlite3" db
svn commit -m "Add vendor directory"

Or, using SVK:

svk add -N application_directory
cd application_directory
svk add -N tmp
svk add -N tmp/cache tmp/sessions tmp/sockets
svk propset svn:ignore '*' tmp/cache tmp/sessions tmp/sockets
svk add -N log
svk propset svn:ignore '*' log
svk add test app Rakefile components README script doc lib public vendor
svk add -N config
svk propset svn:ignore 'database.yml' config
svk add config/routes.rb config/boot.rb config/environment.rb config/environments
cp config/database.yml config/database.example
svk add config/database.example
svk add -N db
svk propset svn:ignore '*.sqlite3' db

# new in Rails 1.2
svk add -N tmp/pids
svk propset svn:ignore '*' tmp/pids