How to use the command 'svn changelist' (with examples)

The ‘svn changelist’ command is used to associate a changelist with a set of files in Subversion. A changelist allows you to group related changes together, making it easier to track and manage changesets. This command provides several use cases for working with changelists efficiently.

Use case 1: Add files to a changelist, creating the changelist if it does not exist

Code:

svn changelist changelist_name path/to/file1 path/to/file2

Motivation: This use case is helpful when you want to organize a set of files into a changelist for easier management.

Explanation:

• changelist_name: The name you want to assign to the changelist.
• path/to/file1 path/to/file2: The paths to the files you want to associate with the changelist.

Example output:

A         path/to/file1
A         path/to/file2

Use case 2: Remove files from a changelist

Code:

svn changelist --remove path/to/file1 path/to/file2

Motivation: Sometimes, you may want to remove certain files from a changelist to exclude them from a specific changeset.

Explanation:

• --remove: Removes the files from the changelist instead of adding them.
• path/to/file1 path/to/file2: The file paths you want to remove from the changelist.

Example output:

D         path/to/file1
D         path/to/file2

Use case 3: Remove the whole changelist at once

Code:

svn changelist --remove --recursive --changelist changelist_name .

Motivation: When you no longer need a changelist and want to remove all the files associated with it, this use case can be handy.

Explanation:

• --remove: Removes the specified changelist.
• --recursive: Recursively removes all the files in the changelist.
• --changelist changelist_name: Specifies the name of the changelist to be removed.
• .: The current working directory from where the command is executed.

Example output:

D         path/to/file1
D         path/to/file2

Use case 4: Add the contents of a space-separated list of directories to a changelist

Code:

svn changelist --recursive changelist_name path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2

Motivation: This use case adds all the files within the specified directories and their subdirectories to a changelist, which is helpful when you have a large number of files to include.

Explanation:

• --recursive: Considers all the files within the directories and their subdirectories.
• changelist_name: The name of the changelist you want to associate the files with.
• path/to/directory1 path/to/directory2: The paths to the directories you want to include in the changelist.

Example output:

A         path/to/directory1/file1
A         path/to/directory1/file2
A         path/to/directory2/file1
A         path/to/directory2/file2

Use case 5: Commit a changelist

Code:

svn commit --changelist changelist_name

Motivation: After making changes to the files in a specific changelist, you can commit all the changes in that changelist separately, making it easier to track and manage different changesets.

Explanation:

• --changelist changelist_name: Specifies the changelist you want to commit.

Example output:

Committed revision 123.

Conclusion:

Using the ‘svn changelist’ command, you can efficiently organize your changes into separate changelists, remove files from changelists, add entire directories recursively, and commit specific changelists. These use cases make it easier to manage and track your changes in Subversion.