handling maps in SVN

At the moment, the subversion layout looks like ./levels/contributor/foo, with ./levels/mapXX.wad being a symlink into ./levels/contributor/mapXX.wad.

This model is starting to break down when multiple people work on a map. For example, for 0.5 map02 was Tarin's. As of 0.6 we mapped it to fraggle's e1m3. Since then, rjy made some changes to the map to make it fit doom2 better, so it's a symlink into rjy/map02.wad.

I've been considering making some small alterations, in which case, under the current model we'd upload a modified copy to jond and change the symlink.

If fraggle, rjy, tarin or myself make further changes, it will move around again.

This is a bit of a legacy from the pre-SVN days. CVS was not so smart for moving files.

I think we should move away from symlinks entirely and just stick the modified levels directly in ./levels.

One immediate thing we'd lose is who is the "author". But I think we should move away from having one person be the "owner" or "author" of a resource. I'm really pleased that we are having multiple people make small changes to levels. I'd like to encourage it as much as possible.

I think we should move away from symlinks entirely and just stick the modified levels directly in ./levels.

Yeah the symlinks sound painful.

As for authorship, I suggest including the author of the modification with each commit message.

Ajapted said:

Yeah the symlinks sound painful.

As for authorship, I suggest including the author of the modification with each commit message.

Yes that's a good idea. It does make the svn log more important for carrying "canonical" copies of information, though.

Edit: I've branched https://freedoom.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/freedoom/branches/no_more_symlinks to experiment with this.

Freedoom has never been in CVS :-)

I think it makes sense to try to get rid of symlinks if possible, so that builds can be done under Windows (Cygwin does support emulated symlinks, but still ...). deutex allows you to specify a file to use, eg.

map02 = fraggle/e1m3.wad

This might be a better option than symlinks.

The "multiple authors" issue can potentially be a problem for any resource, not just levels, but levels make it more likely to occur due to their size. My approach has always been to file it under the original author and add any improvements to the same file, even if they come from a different author. The status list is the "proper" authorship list, in any case - we shouldn't be making assumptions about authorship based solely on the directories, as they're just useful ways to group things together.

Jon said:

Tarin

I didn't use that name for several years, so please stop using it ;)

Anyway, what happens when two or more people want to make changes to a map? Anonymous locking in SVN does not work, does it?