Open working copy file from eclipse history view

Question

The history view of eclipse shows you a list of files changed in a certain revision. When you open the context menu on one of these you have the option 'Open' which opens a view of that file in that revision.

How can I open the editor for the selected file, i.e. the file in the version of the working copy, right from the history view?

Background is that I want to use the history view to find files that have been changed recently to do code reviewing. People commit via subversion and I use subclipse to connect eclipse to the subversion server.

Today, I must use the 'Open resource'/'Open type' function and type the name of the file that I can read from the history view.

Answer 1

As you noticed, when looking at a file at revision X, you cannot directly open the same file that's in the working copy...

But, when doing code reviews of changes, I generally find useful to not only look at the current version, but to look at the modifications between :

• The file in the revision I'm looking at in the history
• And the current file.

This can be done with the "Compare" editor.

To open it :

• When you are in the History View, right click on the line of the revision that interests you
• In the menu, you can choose either :
  • "Compare current with X" : This will open a comparison between your current working copy, and the revision you right-clicked on
  • "Compare with previous state" : This will open a comparison between the revision you right-clicked on, and the previous revision
• If several files were impacted by that revision, you'll have a screen that allows you to choose which file you want to work with for the comparison

Advantages :

• You can see the modifications brought by the revision you're reviewing
• Or you can see all modifications done after a given revision

Drawbacks :

• The Compare View requires a large screen, to open two versions of the file at the same time...