Chapter 2. Getting Started

Table of Contents

Main Menus
Toolbar
Tree View
File View
Log View
Command Prompt

This chapter provides an overview of the eSvn interface, how it works, where to find things and what they mean. For users that have knowledge of subversion and other revision control front end applications the interface is intuitive and easy to understand. This chapter should be enough for such users to have an understanding of eSvn and begin working immediately.

Users that are new to subversion or revision control front end applications will also find the eSvn interface to be intuitive and easy to use, but will need to have an understanding of how subversion works and how to use it in order to understand the purpose and usage of the various eSvn features and functions. To assist in such cases, this chapter provides links to relevant sections within the main part of the book (see Chapter 3).

Starting eSvn

eSvn is normally installed in /usr/bin/ which should be in the system path. To start eSvn open a shell session and type eSvn. This should start eSvn.

Alternatively, eSvn is added to the GNOME/KDE desktop menu. Select Development->More Programs->eSvn .

On first start eSvn will display the Welcome to eSvn dialog (see Figure 2.1). This dialog enables three actions:

Open an existing working directory: If you already have a folder system under subversion control, eSvn can open the working copy directly. Select this option to display the Open dialog used to change path to a working copy. See the section called “Opening a Working Directory”).
Checkout a working copy: If you have no subversion working copies in your file system or wish to checkout a working copy for the first time select this option to display the checkout dialog. For more information on performing a checkout see the section called “Checking Out a Working Copy”.
Import project to server: If you have a project in your local file system that is not under subversion control and wish to place it into a subversion server for others to access and revision control, then select this option to display the Import dialog. For more information on importing projects to subversion servers see the section called “Importing a File System”.

Figure 2.1. The First Time Startup Dialog


	Delete the `~/.qt3/esvn` directory to erase all configuration and preference settings. The `Welcome to eSvn` dialog will again displayed be on first startup.


Chapter 1. Overview		Main Interface