Introduction to using VersionControl_SVN

Using VersionControl_SVN to manage a Subversion repository

by Clay Loveless
clay@killersoft.com
Copyright 2004, Clay Loveless

Introduction

VersionControl_SVN is a simple Object-Oriented interface for the svn command-line application that makes up the core of Subversion, a free/open-source version control system.

Subversion can be used to manage trees of source code, text files, image files -- just about any collection of files.

VersionControl_SVN's features include:

Full support of svn subcommands.

Flexible error reporting provided by PEAR_ErrorStack

Multi-object factory design.

Fully documented source code

The power of a version control system like Subversion, when accessed through VersionControl_SVN, can be extended far beyond typical "source code" repositories.

For example, what content management system (CMS) couldn't benefit from version control functionality? For many non-programmers, version control is a confusing subject to get a firm grasp on. With VersionControl_SVN, developers are now able to customize the interface to Subversion with the ease-of-use goals of their particular audience in mind. VersionControl_SVN lets you leverage the strengths of version control without burdening end-users with the learning curve of change control fundamentals.

A Simple Example

So you've got Subversion repository set up somewhere, and you want to take a look at what's inside with a PHP script. With the VersionControl_SVN::VersionControl_SVN_List() command, you're just a few steps away.

If your example repository above happened to have the VersionControl_SVN source in it, your output would be something like this:

1 <?php
2 Array
3 (
4 [0] => Array
5 (
6 [name] => docs
7 [type] => D
8 )
9
10 [1] => Array
11 (
12 [name] => package.xml
13 [type] => F
14 )
15
16 [2] => Array
17 (
18 [name] => SVN.php
19 [type] => F
20 )
21
22 [3] => Array
23 (
24 [name] => SVN
25 [type] => D
26 )
27
28 [4] => Array
29 (
30 [name] => tests
31 [type] => D
32 )
33
34 )
35 ?>

Note that in the above output, directories are flagged as type D, and files are flagged as type F.

Note: For additional information in the output, try setting verbose to true in your $options array.

One Factory To Rule Them All

Have a script that needs to utilize several VersionControl_SVN subclasses? At the expense of a little overhead, you can be sure your $svn objects are fully-loaded by using the VersionControl_SVN::factory() command keyword __ALL__.

For example, in a basic script to get the list of current files in a repository, you just need the VersionControl_SVN::VersionControl_SVN_List() subclass.

However, if you need to get a recursive list of files in a repository, look up the recent log activity for those files, and view the annotated source for those files, you've got two options.

1 <?php
2 require_once 'VersionControl/SVN.php';
3
4 // Setup error handling -- always a good idea!
5 $svnstack = &PEAR_ErrorStack::singleton('VersionControl_SVN');
6
7 // Set up runtime options.
8 $options = array('fetchmode' => VERSIONCONTROL_SVN_FETCHMODE_RAW);
9
10 // METHOD ONE: Lowest Overhead
11 // Create svn object with subcommands we need listed out individually
12 $svn = VersionControl_SVN::factory(array('list', 'log', 'blame'), $options);
13
14 // Define any switches and aguments we may need
15 $switches = array('username' => 'user', 'password' => 'pass');
16 $args = array('svn://svn.example.com/repos/TestProject');
17
18 print_r($svn->list->run($args, $switches));
19
20 // Pick files out of the above output, and see who did what
21 $args = array('svn://svn.example.com/repos/TestProject/trunk/index.php');
22
23 echo "<pre>" . $svn->blame->run($args) . "</pre>";
24
25 // METHOD TWO: Put all available commands at your disposal
26 // Load up all subcommands - higher overhead, but convenient for certain occasions
27 $svn = VersionControl_SVN::factory('__ALL__', $options);
28
29 // Now you may run whatever you need to ...
30 $svn->cat->run($args, $switches);
31 $svn->info->run($args, $switches);
32 // ... and so on.
33 ?>

Introduction to using VersionControl_SVN

Using VersionControl_SVN to manage a Subversion repository

Table of Contents

Introduction

A Simple Example

One Factory To Rule Them All

Further Reading