Subversion for Fluid designers using Versions
Some general notes...
Fluid Project's svn repository: https://source.fluidproject.org/svn
Fluid Project's svn design repository: https://source.fluidproject.org/svn/design
Fluid Project's svn guidelines: http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Coding+and+Commit+Standards
Recommended svn clients
OS X: Versions http://versionsapp.com
Windows/Linux/OS X: SmartSVN http://www.syntevo.com/smartsvn/index.html
svn parlance
checkout: making an initial copy of the repository's files over to your local computer--sets the space up for file mirroring (public access)
update: bring your local copy up to date with the repository's copy (public access)
commit: bring the repository's copy up to date with your copy (commit access required)
A "quick" 13-step tutorial of Versions
This is meant to serve as a no-frills step-by-step introduction to using Subversion for designers on the Fluid project, using Versions for OS X (http://versionsapp.com).
1. When you open Versions for the first time, you'll be greeted with a screen that looks like this:
2. Click "Repository" to create a link to Fluid's repository.
3. You'll end up getting something that looks like this:
4. Fill in the name field with something snazzy like "Fluid Project". Fill in the location field with "https://source.fluidproject.org/svn" -- you can also use non-secure http, if you prefer.
5. Fill in your username and password for the repository. You'll note the location field edits itself to adjust to your username. If you don't have a username and password, you can leave this part empty. Public access gives you read-only access to the files (i.e., no ability to commit changes/additions).
6. Browse around the repository, and find the files you need to work on. Click "Checkout" to copy the files from the repository to your local computer. Note that checking out a folder is recursive--i.e., it'll checkout all the files and subfolders within that folder, and the subfolders within those subfolders, etc.
7. Once you click "Checkout", you'll be asked to find a place on your computer to put them.
8. And then it'll start copying the files over... Once that's done, you're ready to rock-and-roll!
8-and-a-half. Leave the Versions space, and go ahead and work on the files you've just checked out.
9. Once you've worked on some of the files, go back to Versions. You'll note that there'll be a number in an orange the left pane, indicating the number of files you've changed. A pencil in the browse view indicates which files in particular have been changed.
10. Click the "Commit" button to update the repository's files with your version of the files. Changes you make to the repository overwrite the files that are currently there, but the repository does keep a copy of the older files around. Note, however, that the older files aren't visible from the browse view--only the most recent files are shown in the browse view.
11. When you click "Commit", a dialog box appears, asking you to fill in a note about the changes you've made. Under the Fluid Project's svn governance, you're required to put in a non-empty comment, prefixed with the relevant Jira task/issue. For full details, see http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Coding+and+Commit+Standards
12. When another user makes a change to the repository, your local copy will need to be updated to sync with the repository's copy. A number in blue beside your working folders will indicate the number of files that are out of date in your local copy (not shown here). Click "Update" to bring your local copy into sync.
13. Selecting an individual file or folder and then clicking "Timeline" will give you the history of changes made to said file or folder. It's a great way to stay up to date with the work of others.
