Main Interface

The main interface is comprised of the following areas (see Figure 2.2):

The real-estate of the main interface can be managed by resizing the amount of space a pane takes in the application window. Move the mouse pointer over either the vertical or horizontal pane separators. The pointer will change, then click and hold the mouse button while dragging the pointer to a new position in order to resize a pane.

Figure 2.2. Main Interface

Main Interface

Main Menus

SVN commands and eSvn functions are menu driven. Following is a description of the main menus, their options and shortcut keys where applicable.

[Tip]

When navigating the menu options look at the Status bar, located at the bottom of the main window, for tips about the function of the selected option.

File Menu. 

View Menu. 

  • View->Refresh local (F5) : Refreshes the File View of the folder selected in the Tree View.

  • View->Refresh workspace (Shift+F5) : Refreshes both the File View and Tree View.

  • View->Refresh online (Shift+F5) : Refreshes both the File View and Tree View and compares the revision number of all local files with those in the repository.

  • View->Toolbars : Displays a sub menu listing the available Toolbar options.

  • View->Hide unknown files (Ctrl+H) : Toggles visibility of files with the status "- unknown -" in the File View.

  • View->Toolbars : Clears all output from the output pane.

Modify Menu. 

Query Menu. 

  • Query->Log (Alt+L) : Displays commit log messages (see the section called “Log”).

  • Query->Info (Alt+I) : Displays information about a selected path (see the section called “Info”).

  • Query->Status (Alt+S) : Displays the status of a selected item. If a folder displays status of folder contents (see the section called “Status”).

  • Query->Properties (Alt+P) : Displays the properties associated with the selected path (see the section called “Properties”).

  • Query->Diff (F9) : Displays the diff dialog used to specify a version in the repository against which to compare the local item (see the section called “Quick Diff”).

  • Query->Quick Diff (Shft+F9) : Displays the difference between the current local and the last revision in the repository (see the section called “Diff”).

  • Query->Diff-3 (conflict) (Ctrl+Shft+F9) : Invokes any 3-way-diff, as specified in the options settings, to be used for resolving conflicts, (see the section called “Diff-3 (conflict)”).

  • Query->Blame (Alt+B) : Displays the author and revision information for a selected folder, file or URL.

  • Query->Show changed items ... (Ctrl+S) : Displays the Changed items dialog that lists all changed items.

  • Query->View cat (F3) : Displays the contents of the last revision of a selected file from the repository (see the section called “View (cat)”).

Help Menu. 

  • Help-> Contents : Displays the Online Help system.

  • Help->Web Site : Opens the eSvn web site in a browser.

  • Help->Check for updates : Displays the Version update dialog.

  • Help-> About : Displays the About dialog.

Toolbar

There is a toolbar for each of the eSvn menus. The toolbars provide quick access to the options available on the menus. Each option is represented by a button. To use a option just click the toolbar button. If you are not certain of a buttons function, hold the mouse cursor over the button to display a tool-tip.

To display the File toolbar select View->Toolbars->File .

To display the View toolbar select View->Toolbars->View .

To display the Modify toolbar select View->Toolbars->Modify .

To display the Query toolbar select View->Toolbars->Query .

When eSvn is first started the toolbars are not displayed. To display a toolbar select View->Toolbars and choose one of the available sub menu options. Options displaying a checked symbol are enabled, those without are not. In this way toolbars can be toggled ON and OFF depending on preference.

When a toolbar is enabled it is by default displayed in the docked position below the main menu. Toolbars can be docked on any side of the main interface (top, left, bottom, right). To dock a toolbar select the toolbar handle and drag it to one of the sides. While moving the toolbar the contents are transparent and the outline of the area is represented by a thick lined rectangle. When the toolbar is brought close to any side this line is thin, indicating that the toolbar can be docked in this position. Release the toolbar when the outline changes and the toolbar will span into the docked position. Within the docked position the toolbar position can be adjusted according to preference.

Toolbars can also be free-floating within any area of the desktop real-estate, even beyond the eSvn window space. When a toolbar is free-floating it can be returned to the top docking position by double-clicking its title bar.

The layout and position of toolbars is set to be persistent so that the eSvn workspace is restored to the preferences of the previous session. As example of the interface with docked and free-floating menus can be seen in Figure 2.2.

Tree View

The tree view displays the tree folder structure of the workspace directory. Folder levels can be expanded and collapsed. The status of a folder is displayed by changes in the folder icon as follows.

Table 2.1. Tree View Status Icons

Icon Meaning
Folder open/closed. Exists in local and repository.
Folder open/closed. Exists local only.

In addition to enabling exploration of the folder structure and displaying status, the tree view provides access to a number of subversion operations by way of a context menu (right-click).

File View

The file view displays the contents of the folder selected in the "Tree View". For each item the following information is displayed is columns. Items can be ordered by column in ascending or descending order by clicking the column title.

Filename

The name of the file.

Status

The status of the file, states include:

  • up-to-date

  • modified

  • out of date

  • - unknown -

  • - missing -

Revision

The latest revision in the repository.

Last revision

The last revision containing an a change.

Last updated

The date and time of last up date.

Modified (local)

The date and time of last modification made locally.

Author

User name of subversion account that performed a modification and did commit.

Tag/Branch

The trunk, tag or branch of the repository filesystem under which the file resides. When the file resides in a branch or a tag folder the or icons are used respectively and the value is change from trunk to branch or tag accordingly.

The file view also provides visual indication item status by way of a graphic icon located before the item as described in the following table.

Table 2.2. File View Status Icons

Icon Meaning
File unknown. Not under repository control.
File added. Scheduled for commit.
Up to date and writable.
Locally modified.
Out of date. Needs Patch.
Conflict resulted from Merge or Update operation.
File locally removed.
Contents have been added to the folder but not yet sent to repository in commit, content is modified. Only displayed when Show folders in File List option is checked (see the section called “Configuring Options”).
Folder contains items under repository control that have been modified, contents are out-of-date. Only displayed when Show folders in File List option is checked (see the section called “Configuring Options”).
[Tip]

To view the Log associated with a folder, double-click the folder.

In addition to displaying and providing access to and information about files, the file view provides access to a number of subversion operations by way of a context menu (right-click).

Log View

The log view displays the output of processing commands. Commands and the status of their results are highlighted.

Output can be selected in part or in whole and copied to the Clipboard. Right-click choose Select All to select all the entire content of the output log or click and drag the mouse pointer across a part of the log to select a portion. Use Ctrl+C or right-click choose Copy to place a copy of the selected output on the clipboard.

Command Prompt

The Command Prompt enables manual input of subversion commands as an alternative to driving functions using the menu options. When working at the Command Prompt use the ⇑ & ⇓ direction keys to traverse the PREV and NEXT command history.

[Tip]

Type svn help to display the subversion help menu list of commands. Type svn help [command] to view more information about a command.