File repository setup

I have been using SVN (subversion) to manage my document file repository. SVN is being utilized more widely than CVS. With the repository in my Linux box, accessing the SVN repository from Windows on my PC was not an easy task.

There are several ways to use ssh (secure shell) to connect a remote host from Windows: Cygwin, openssh for windows, CopSSH, and PuTTY. PuTTY is popular since it is free of charge and can be easily incorporated with any other Windows software. Using a private ssh-key, PuTTY allows very easy access to remote hosts, providing a reasonable GUI as good as other ssh programs for Windows such as TortoiseSVN.

TortoiseSVN is also free software, providing all the SVN features under Windows. It works with Windows Explorer (Firefox also works fine with it!) to locate the remote repository through an ssh protocol authenticated by the private key stored in PuTTY.

One of practical ways of using SVN is:
1) Visit the repository to locate a directory of tasks;
2) Check out the directory to a local directory (This can be done to Windows or Linux. In Linux, KEDSVN provides an excellent GUI);
3) Work with files in the directory;
4) Once done, commit the files updated to the directory, which will be remotely transmitted and stored in the repository, and
5) Delete the local directory to avoid any confusion with older versions.

Any jobs not completed in your office can be easily retrieved from anywhere in the world. If the previous directory is not deleted, then the 'update' option can be used to partially overwrite and/or add files to the local directory by retrieving the most updated files from the repository.