svn ignore not working

Question

Im using SVN at the moment on Mac for iPhone development,and I have accidentally added the build directory to source control, so I thought I would look up how to add folders to the ignore list, and I did find an article on how to do that.

so I ran the command: svn propedit svn:ignore ./build as specified here: http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.1/ch07s02.html

Then pico came up as the editor, and I added * to the first and only line of the file.

Then I hit save, but then I run into a step that no-one seems to talk about, the file name of the file that I just edited... what is it?

I have tried ignore.txt, ignore, and others, but everthing I try doesnt add the build directory (and its sub dirs/files) to the ignore list.

How do I do this?

Answer 1

svn propedit creates a temporary file containing the current value of the property, and opens this temp file in your editor. You should save the file in place (at the temporary location), not to a new location. When the editor exits, svn propedit will notice that you made changes to the temp file (if you did) and use its contents as the new value of the property.

Answer 2

you should set that property to the directory you want the patterns apply to, most likely: .

to quote the doc:

 The solution is to store ignore patterns that are unique to 
 the resources likely to appear in a given directory with the 
 directory itself.

so, the command you are after is:

svn propedit svn:ignore .

your editor should open up (pointing at a temporary file somewhere). you can now change the patterns (eg, add a new line with build on it) and then save it.