======== QUESTION ======== Is it possible to retroactively convert a "disjoint" working copy into a "sparse" working copy?
======= SUMMARY ======= I have not been able to do this, and a new feature request may be to add an "include" option to the --set-depth flag. The --set-depth flag already has an "exclude" option so adding an "include" option seems symmetric and may solve this problem. ========== BACKGROUND ========== I have tried doing this with the --set-depth and --force flags and I can _ALMOST_ get it to work... but I have come to a dead end... I have read the Subversion manual and I have searched previous posts... Hopefully somebody on this list can point me to the right solution, and if no solution exists, then maybe this can be turned into a feature request for the "include" option. ================= PROBLEM STATEMENT ================= The following "statements" define the problem I am trying to solve: ---o--- STATEMENT 1: ---o--- Assume I have the following repository structure (the example was borrowed from the Subversion manual): mom/son mom/son/grandson mom/daughter mom/daughter/granddaughter1 mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny1.txt mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny2.txt mom/daughter/granddaughter2 mom/daughter/fishie.txt mom/kitty1.txt mom/doggie1.txt ---o--- STATEMENT 2: ---o--- Assume I only care about "granddaughter1" as shown below: mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny1.txt mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny2.txt ---o--- STATEMENT 3: ---o--- Assume I didn't know about sparse checkouts (or about the --depth flag) and assume I had created my working copy by creating all the intermediary directories using "mkdir" as follows $ mkdir -p /svn-test/mom/daughter $ cd /svn-test/mom/daughter $ svn co svn://REPOSITORY/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 A granddaughter1/bunny1.txt A granddaughter1/bunny2.txt Checked out revision 85792. ---o--- STATEMENT 4: ---o--- Of course, I can _NOT_ run "svn status" for the "mom" directory because said directory is not part of the working copy: $ svn status /svn-test/mom svn: warning: '/svn-test/mom' is not a working copy ---o--- STATEMENT 5: ---o--- This is our problem statement: Assume I want to modify the above working copy in-place and turn it into a sparse checkout. The end result should be that I can run "svn status" from all intermediary directories. ================== ATTEMPTED SOLUTION ================== In the steps below I attempt to solve our problem using the --depth flag and I almost get it to work... ---o--- STEP 0: ---o--- For completeness, and for the benefit of those who may be following these steps at home, here is the output of the "find" command which shows the current directory structure: $ find /svn-test /svn-test /svn-test/mom /svn-test/mom/daughter /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/entries /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/prop-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/props /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base/bunny1.txt.svn-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base/bunny2.txt.svn-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/prop-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/props /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny1.txt /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny2.txt ---o--- STEP 1: ---o--- As expected running "svn status" does not work on "mom" yet: $ svn status /svn-test/mom svn: warning: '/svn-test/mom' is not a working copy ---o--- STEP 2: ---o--- In order to create our working copy "in-place" we first do an svn "checkout" and set the --depth flag to empty for the "mom" directory: $ svn co --depth empty svn://REPOSITORY/mom /svn-test/mom Checked out revision 85792. ---o--- STEP 3: ---o--- At this point, running "svn status" works OK on "mom", and it correctly reports that "daugher" is unversioned. So far so good: $ svn status /svn-test/mom ? /svn-test/mom/daughter ---o--- STEP 4: ---o--- The output of the "find" command is very encouraging and it shows that "mom" is now an svn working copy directory and the "mom/.svn" directory exists. All that we need to do is convince "mom" that "daughter" is part of the working copy: $ find /svn-test /svn-test /svn-test/mom /svn-test/mom/.svn /svn-test/mom/.svn/entries /svn-test/mom/.svn/prop-base /svn-test/mom/.svn/props /svn-test/mom/.svn/text-base /svn-test/mom/.svn/tmp /svn-test/mom/.svn/tmp/prop-base /svn-test/mom/.svn/tmp/props /svn-test/mom/.svn/tmp/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/entries /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/prop-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/props /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base/bunny1.txt.svn-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base/bunny2.txt.svn-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/prop-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/props /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny1.txt /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny2.txt ---o--- STEP 5: ---o--- Now that "mom" is an svn directory, we can use the "svn update" command and set the --depth flag to empty for the "mom/daughter" directory... our first attempt shows an error deliberately for instructional purposes. The command fails because an unversioned directory named "daughter" already exists: $ svn update --depth empty /svn-test/mom/daughter svn: Failed to add directory '/svn-test/mom/daughter': an unversioned directory of the same name already exists ---o--- STEP 6: ---o--- We now try again but with the --force flag, and this works OK, and I get the "E" status because svn recognizes that "daughter" was an "Existing" directory: $ svn update --depth empty --force /svn-test/mom/daughter E /svn-test/mom/daughter Updated to revision 85792. ---o--- STEP 7: ---o--- This current step is symmetric with STEP 3. In STEP 3 we were able to run the "svn status" command on "mom", and it correctly reported that "daugher" was unversioned. Now in STEP 7 we are able to run the "svn status" command on "mom/daughter", and it correctly reports that the "granddaughter1" directory is unversioned. So far so good: $ svn status /svn-test/mom/daughter ? /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 ---o--- STEP 8: ---o--- This current step is symmetric with STEP 4. Once again, the output of the "find" command is encouraging and it shows that "daughter" is now an svn directory and all the intermediary ".svn" directories exist: $ find /svn-test /svn-test /svn-test/mom /svn-test/mom/.svn /svn-test/mom/.svn/entries /svn-test/mom/.svn/prop-base /svn-test/mom/.svn/props /svn-test/mom/.svn/text-base /svn-test/mom/.svn/tmp /svn-test/mom/.svn/tmp/prop-base /svn-test/mom/.svn/tmp/props /svn-test/mom/.svn/tmp/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn/entries /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn/prop-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn/props /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn/tmp /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn/tmp/prop-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn/tmp/props /svn-test/mom/daughter/.svn/tmp/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/entries /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/prop-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/props /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base/bunny1.txt.svn-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/text-base/bunny2.txt.svn-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/prop-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/props /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/.svn/tmp/text-base /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny1.txt /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1/bunny2.txt ---o--- STEP 9: ---o--- In STEP 4 all that we needed to do was convince "mom" that "daughter" was part of the working copy. We first attempted this in STEP 5 (but we had a deliberate error) and we finally accomplished this using the --force flag in STEP 6. In STEP 8 above all that we need to do is convince "daughter" that "granddaughter1" part of the working copy, and we will attempt this below in STEP 10: ---o--- STEP 10: ---o--- This current step is symmetric with STEP 6. We now use the --force flag and we try to use "svn update" on the "granddaughter1" directory: $ svn update --depth empty --force /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 At revision 85792. ---o--- STEP 11: ---o--- Notice that I got the "E" status in STEP 6 because svn recognized that "daughter" was an "Existing" directory, but notice I did NOT get an "E" status in STEP 10 above on the "granddaughter1" directory. This is where our problem starts... If I repeat STEP 7 and try to run "svn status" on "daughter", it still shows that "granddaughter1" is unversioned: $ svn status /svn-test/mom/daughter/ ? /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 ---o--- STEP 12: ---o--- I can modify STEP 10 to use "--depth infinity" since I truly want all files inside "granddaughter1" but this doesn't work either. I can _NOT_ connect "daughter" and "granddaughter1". I am basically stuck!!! =========== CONCLUSIONS =========== ---o--- CONCLUSION 1: ---o--- The behavior of svn is inconsistent between STEP 6 and STEP 10. In STEP 6 I was able to tell "mom" that "daughter" was part of the "mom" working copy, as shown below: $ svn update --depth empty --force /svn-test/mom/daughter E /svn-test/mom/daughter Updated to revision 85792. But in STEP 10 I can _NOT_ convince "daughter" that "granddaughter1" is part of the "daughter" working copy, as shown below: $ svn update --depth empty --force /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 At revision 85792. This is understandable because the state of the directories is DIFFERENT in both steps. In STEP 6, the "daughter" directory is an unversioned directory not part of any working copy, but in STEP 10, the "granddaughter1" directory is _ALREADY_ a working copy itself. ---o--- CONCLUSION 2: ---o--- Due to the fact that "granddaughter1" was already a working copy itself, the command in STEP 10 acted on "granddaughter1/.svn" and it did _NOT_ add "granddaughter1" to "daughter/.svn" ---o--- CONCLUSION 3: ---o--- We need a way to tell the "daughter/.svn" working copy to include an already existing working copy... All that we seem to be missing is we need to connect the "daughter/.svn" information to the "granddaughter1" directory. ================= POSSIBLE SOLUTION ================= ---o--- SOLUTION 1: ---o--- Maybe this problem can be solved with a new "include" option for the --set-depth flag. Said flag already has an "exclude" option so it would seem natural (and symmetric) for it to have an "include" option. For example if we had a consistent working copy we _COULD_ tell "daughter/.svn" to "exclude" the "granddaughter1" directory as follows: $ svn update --set-depth exclude /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 THEREFORE: One possible solution to this problem is to create a new "include" option as follows: $ svn update --set-depth include /svn-test/mom/daughter/granddaughter1 ---o--- SOLUTION 2: ---o--- Another solution (which works but it is a total hack) is to delete the "granddaughter1/.svn" directory and repeat STEP 10. This is a total hack and it is presented here only for instructional purposes. ================== ALTERNATE SOLUTION ================== Of course there may be an alternate solution which uses existing svn commands to solve this problem? I would be happy to hear from somebody about how to solve this problem. Thanks!
