[UPHPU] automatic SVN management on one directory

[John David Anderson]

On Oct 22, 2007, at 3:05 PM, Wade Preston Shearer wrote:

> I am trying to figure out how best to build a scrip that  
> automatically manages a directory's status in relation to a SVN  
> repository. I have a team of marketing folk that create assets such  
> as images, flash, and PDF documents and need to get them onto our  
> production servers. Our current solution is web-based file upload  
> that automatically copies the files out to the production servers.  
> This is tedious though, especially when uploading multiple files  
> and because we have a complex
> hierarchy without our assets directory. Thus, I want to give them  
> access to a local server mount where they can simply drag and drop  
> the files. I would have a cron job that would automatically come by  
> each hour and pick up the files and move them to the production web  
> servers. Here's the catch: I need the files put into our SVN  
> repository. Having them each checkout a copy of the assets  
> directory and use a GUI subversion client to manage it would be the  
> easiest, but I am hoping that I can make it even easier for them…  
> truly drag and drop. The best solution that I have come up with is  
> to have two directories, one that they interact with and one that  
> they don't. The the second would be a SVN checkout of the assets  
> directory. I would then use rsync dry-run to compare changes  
> between the two directories and then use the output to  
> automatically run the add/delete and commit svn commands on the  
> second.

What if they stick a really large binary file in there? I'd be  
worried that someone messes things up. Why automatically force them  
to put it in SVN, when someone who knows more about it should do  
that? SVN isn't best used as a file sharing tool.

> Anyone have any better ideas?

Just let them mount part of a disk you both have access to - that way  
you can peruse the files they've dumped, and check them into the  
right place in the repo.

Well there's that, or teach them to use SVN correctly. :)

$0.02,

John