tail -f findings.out

There are a few filetypes that you likely don’t want to add into any subversion repository, such as .pyc, .log, and .bak files. Not only do they not need to be in the repo, but you also probably don’t appreciate them sullying the output of things like

either. Deleting all such files before each commit isn’t a good option either. SVN allows you to ignore certain file patterns in the current directory (assuming it’s under version control) and in all children via a command such as:

svn propset -R svn:ignore "*.pyc" MYDIR

But if you then try to add another pattern, such as “*.log”, the initial value of the svn:ignore property is overwritten! To overcome this, create a file containing the patterns you want to ignore, one per line. I created a .svnignore file and added it into my personal SVN, symlinked from my home directory. That way I can use it on each box I work on, on various repos as needed, since the patterns are pretty universal.

Say you have made a file called .svnignore containing:

Then you would run:

svn propset -R svn:ignore -F .svnignore MYDIR

And the two patterns in the file would be ignored in MYDIR and all its children. If you want to add or remove a pattern later, just change the .svnignore file and re-run the same command.

You can also setup such ignores globally for a given SVN repo, but I tend to shy away from that sort of change, since I might just decide that I want some logfile checked in at one point or another. Setting the patterns per repo allows for a bit more flexibility.

One annoying note: When you add new directories to your repo, you have to run the command again. Otherwise the svn options for the new folder won’t contain your ignore patterns.

Possibly Related (no promises):

1. Easily sum matching file line counts
2. File renaming made simpler
3. An awesome xargs option and cleaning up SVN accidents
4. Handy Alias: Grab latest svn log
5. Useful grep incantations

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