Subversion client with multiple check-ins at once?

Question

I use and love Subversion and TortoiseSVN. However, there is one feature I sorely miss:

I work on a big project whose source files are on an external server. Each time I click "SVN Commit..." from Windows Explorer, TortoiseSVN will search the whole tree for changes, which takes a lot of time. However, many of the changes I am about to comment and commit refer to one or two files only, which means that I have to repeat the "SVN Commit..." procedure up to a dozen times, every time with the full tree rebuild.

Is there a way in TortoiseSVN to create multiple commits (with different comments) without rebuilding the "Changes Made" list every time or, alternatively, does anybody know a tool that can?

Answer 1

Sounds to me like you shouldn't be working on files on an external server. TortoiseSVN works much better when the working copy is local. There are other ways of keeping it synchronized with an external server, if you need to do that.

Answer 2

As of v1.5, Subversion supports changelists, which sounds as if it could help you. It lets you arrange your changes into named lists, and submit them all at once. TortoiseSVN supports changelists, too.

To be honest I'm not 100% sure if using changelists will help in your situation, but it might at least be worth a try. I'm thinking that the client-side arrangement of changes into known sets should cut down on the amount of searching that needs to be done.

Answer 3

From the TortoiseSVN menu of the working copy (right click on the working copy), pick "Check for modifications". This will give you a dialog that lists all your changes. (It won't refresh automatically, you'll have to do this manually.) In this dialog you can select the files you want to commit (using Ctrl+left click) and (using right click) commit only those.

I always have one such dialog open while working on some working copy.