How to rename a file using svn?
When I try svn mv old_file_name new_file_name
, I get
svn: Path 'new_file_name' is not a directory
What's the correct way? (sorry, this seems so trivial, but I'm stuck).
PS. using svn version 1.6.11
EDIT it seems I get this error only if new_file_name
refers to the name of a file that is currently under version control. In this case, of course, I can simply
mv old_file_name new_file_name
svn delete old_file_name
The behaviour differs depending on whether the target file name already exists or not. It's usually a safety mechanism, and there are at least 3 different cases:
Target file does not exist:
In this case svn mv
should work as follows:
$ svn mv old_file_name new_file_name
A new_file_name
D old_file_name
$ svn stat
A + new_file_name
> moved from old_file_name
D old_file_name
> moved to new_file_name
$ svn commit
Adding new_file_name
Deleting old_file_name
Committing transaction...
Target file already exists in repository:
In this case, the target file needs to be removed explicitly, before the source file can be renamed. This can be done in the same transaction as follows:
$ svn mv old_file_name new_file_name
svn: E155010: Path 'new_file_name' is not a directory
$ svn rm new_file_name
D new_file_name
$ svn mv old_file_name new_file_name
A new_file_name
D old_file_name
$ svn stat
R + new_file_name
> moved from old_file_name
D old_file_name
> moved to new_file_name
$ svn commit
Replacing new_file_name
Deleting old_file_name
Committing transaction...
In the output of svn stat
, the R
indicates that the file has been replaced, and that the file has a history.
Target file already exists locally (unversioned):
In this case, the content of the local file would be lost. If that's okay, then the file can be removed locally before renaming the existing file.
$ svn mv old_file_name new_file_name
svn: E155010: Path 'new_file_name' is not a directory
$ rm new_file_name
$ svn mv old_file_name new_file_name
A new_file_name
D old_file_name
$ svn stat
A + new_file_name
> moved from old_file_name
D old_file_name
> moved to new_file_name
$ svn commit
Adding new_file_name
Deleting old_file_name
Committing transaction...
Using TortoiseSVN worked easily on Windows for me.
http://tortoisesvn.net/
Right click file -> TortoiseSVN menu -> Repo-browser -> right click file in repository -> rename -> press Enter -> click Ok
Using SVN 1.8.8 TortoiseSVN version 1.8.5