The Repository Browser

Sometimes you need to work directly on the repository, without having a working copy. That's what the Repository Browser is for. Just as the explorer and the icon overlays allow you to view your working copy, so the Repository Browser allows you to view the structure and status of the repository.

Figure 5.45. The Repository Browser

The Repository Browser


With the Repository Browser you can execute commands like copy, move, rename, ... directly on the repository.

The repository browser looks very similar to the Windows explorer, except that it is showing the content of the repository at a particular revision rather than files on your computer. In the left pane you can see a directory tree, and in the right pane are the contents of the selected directory. At the top of the Repository Browser Window you can enter the URL of the repository and the revision you want to browse.

Just like Windows explorer, you can click on the column headings in the right pane if you want to set the sort order. And as in explorer there are context menus available in both panes.

The context menu for a file allows you to:

The context menu for a folder allows you to:

If you select two folders in the right pane, you can view the differences either as a unified-diff, or as a list of files which can be visually diffed using the default diff tool.

If you select multiple folders in the right pane, you can checkout all of them at once into a common parent folder.

If you select 2 tags which are copied from the same root (typically /trunk/), you can use Context MenuShow Log... to view the list of revisions between the two tag points.

You can use F5 to refresh the view as usual. This will refresh everything which is currently displayed. If you want to pre-fetch or refresh the information for nodes which have not been opened yet, use Ctrl-F5. After that, expanding any node will happen instantly without a network delay while the information is fetched.

You can also use the repository browser for drag-and-drop operations. If you drag a folder from explorer into the repo-browser, it will be imported into the repository. Note that if you drag multiple items, they will be imported in separate commits.

If you want to move an item within the repository, just left drag it to the new location. If you want to create a copy rather than moving the item, Ctrl-left drag instead. When copying, the cursor has a “plus” symbol on it, just as it does in Explorer.

If you want to copy/move a file or folder to another location and also give it a new name at the same time, you can right drag or Ctrl-right drag the item instead of using left drag. In that case, a rename dialog is shown where you can enter a new name for the file or folder.

Whenever you make changes in the repository using one of these methods, you will be presented with a log message entry dialog. If you dragged something by mistake, this is also your chance to cancel the action.

Sometimes when you try to open a path you will get an error message in place of the item details. This might happen if you specified an invalid URL, or if you don't have access permission, or if there is some other server problem. If you need to copy this message to include it in an email, just right click on it and use Context MenuCopy error message to clipboard, or simply use Ctrl+C.