Introduction
SVNBridge is a tool provided by Dynamsoft. Developed based on
the TFS SVNBridge library, SourceAnywhere SVNBridge links SourceAnywhere and
SVN, and enables developers to access SourceAnywhere databases from
TortoiseSVN, a famous Subversion Client.
What is SourceAnywhere?
SourceAnywhere
is a SQL Server-based version control tool. First known as a Visual SourceSafe
(VSS) replacement, SourceAnywhere continues expanding the version control
features to better fit the changing development process and environment.
-
Capable of handling 500+ concurrent connections globally.
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The unique cache mechanism to speed up the remote connections.
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Seamless integration with IDEs including Visual Studio, Eclipse
and other MSSCCI compatible IDEs.
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Robust management features: considerate project access control,
email notification, etc.
Why SVNBridge
To better serve the developers with different background
(he/she might have used VSS or SVN before), Dynamsoft first provided a VSS
import tool to help migrate VSS databases to SQL-based SourceAnywhere Database.
Now they decided to take it to another level by providing SVNBridge for users
to use TortoiseSVN as a direct client. If some of your team members were using
Subversion, it’s not necessary for you to convince or enforce them to change
the version control tool anymore. J
Key Features
SVNBridge brings some great features to SourceAnywhere.
-
Enables you to commit the files/modifications directly from the
Windows Explorer.
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Wider IDE integration. Supports seamless integration with XCode,
Dreamweaver on Mac and other IDEs supported by SVN.
SVNBridge Concept
Before integrating SourceAnywhere with Subversion, let’s
first take a look at the architecture of the products. SVNBridge enables
TortoiseSVN to communicate with SourceAnywhere Server through the APIs provided
by SourceAnywhere COM SDK.
As you can see from the above image, SVNBridge gets the
commands from TortoiseSVN. Then through SourceAnywhere COM SDK, SVNBridge
translates the commands to those understood by SourceAnywhere to transfer the
data to SourceAnywhere Server.
How to use SVNBridge
Set up the Integration
- Install
SourceAnywhere Client and SourceAnywhere COM SDK on your computer.
Note: Please make sure that you’ve installed SourceAnywhere
Client and COM SDK on the same machine with SVNBridge.
For testing purpose, after installing the client, you can connect to the demo server
that has already been set up by Dynamsoft.
If you want to set up the server yourself, you can follow
the steps in the Step-by-Step Setup Guide.
Dynamsoft
SourceAnywhere Step by Step Setup Guide.pdf
- Install
TortoiseSVN.
- Download SVNBridge and
unzip it to any location on your computer. The following files are included in
the zip:
CodePlex.TfsLibrary.dll
Interop.SAWSSDKLib.dll
scconfig.ini
SvnBridge.exe
SvnBridge.Library.dll
- Update
the scconfig.ini file. The .ini file contains the connection
info for both SourceAnywhere Sever and SVNBridge. When you enter the IP address
of the SVNBridge machine, the software reads the IP address, Port and the
repository info of SourceAnywhere Server from the .ini file. In this case, we
use the IP address of the SourceAnywhere Server demo.
SCIP=demo.dynamsoft.com (SourceAnywhere Server IP)
SCPort=7777 (SourceAnywhere Server Port)
Repository=Default (your SourceAnywhere repository)
TempPath=C:\Temp\ (the temp path of svnbridge)
SCBIP= 192.168.4.235 (SVNBridge Server IP)
SCBPort=808 (SVNBridge Server Port)
Note: If you are using SourceAnywhere Server set
up by yourself, you can open "SourceAnywhere Service Configurator" and navigate
to "System Settings -> Server IP and ports section" to check the connection
info.
For SCBIP, you can go to the machine holding the SVNBridge.
And then use the command ipconfig to get the IP address.
- Double
click SvnBridge.exe to start the service.
Access SourceAnywhere from TortoiseSVN
Through Windows Explorer
- Get the projects to your working folder. In the working
folder, you can right-click and choose "SVN Checkout".
- In the pop up dialog box, enter the URL you’ve configured
through scconfig.ini (SCBIP). In our case, the URL is http://192.168.4.235:808. Please also enter the checkout
directory. By default, the tool will automatically fill in the path of your
working folder as the checkout directory.
The following Authentication will prompt:
Username: default\dynamsoft1 (<repository name of SourceAnwyhere>\<SourceAnywhere username>)
*Please NOTE here you need to use "\" rather than "/"
Password: saw (the password of the SourceAnywhere user)
Note: you can check "Save authentication" to
avoid further Authentication dialogs.
Click OK to confirm the entry. As you can see from the
screenshot below, the little icons on the files and folders indicate that they
are under version control.
- SVN users should know the operations from here. After making
the modifications, you can right-click on the target file/folder. The command
"SVN Commit" will help you upload the modifications to SourceAnywhere.
More version control operations can be found at
TortoiseSVN, including Update, Commit, Add, Get/Release Lock, and Repo-browser.
Access through Web Browser
If you’d like to view the project(s) through the browser,
please enter the URL http:// 192.168.4.235:808/svn. 192.168.4.235 is the IP
address of the computer where the SVNBridge locates.
Resources
If you’d like to check out the SVNBridge by yourself, you
can download the tools at:
If you have any questions, you
can contact our support team at sawstd@dynamsoft.com.