Pratt Source Code/Document Management

Pratt IT Services provides source code/document management capabilities to all members of the Duke community. Source code management allows you to track the changes made to any software code or document over time. You commit changes with a short description of what you did. You can create differential views between versions so if something breaks - you can see exactly what changes were made and what might be causing the problem.

This is especially helpful if you have multiple people working on code - it tracks changes made by everyone. You can also restrict who can see and who can change your code/documents. For example, if a faculty member has several graduate students working on the same simulation, this software will allow those graduate students to document changes that are made, and will provide a single repository to collect that documentation.

You access your code library via standalone clients like RapidSVN which runs on almost any platform, command line clients like svn (VERY similar to the cvs command line tool), and integrated clients like TortoiseSVN which is an extension to Windows Explorer allowing you to manage your repository in the normal Windows File Explorer using right-click context menus. You can also view your repository via WebDAV, XML, or ViewCVS.

We use Subversion instead of CVS. SVN is a much better system for maintian code and documents. Benefits over CVS include
Atomic transactions - if you commit a bunch of files and one fails - the other changes are backed out
Much more secure - all repository access is done via SSL encryption
Easy to administer multiple repositories
Supports WebDAV access to repository over SSL
Ability to version both files and complete directory trees

Complete information on Subversion can be found in The Subversion Book If you are used to using CVS, we encourage you to see SVN for CVS Users

We support flexible authentication. You can have a publicly viewable repository or limit viewing to certain users. You can limit repository update access to a different set of users. User accounts can be Duke NetIDs for Duke affiliates or local accounts for non Duke users. This allows you to have non Duke people access your repository if necessary. All authentication is protected via SSL encryption.

If you'd like to have a repository created, call Pratt IT Services at 919-660-5400 or email us at support@pratt.duke.edu

Additional Information:

Subversion Documentation
Clients

RapidSVN - wxWindows multi-platform GUI client
TortoiseSVN - Windows Explorer Shell Extension
SVN Command Line
svnup - Java GUI and Idea IDE Plugin
subclipse - Eclipse Plugin for Subversion
gsvn - GTK based Subversion GUI

Application Notes

Direct Web Linking To Repository Documents