Zend Framework and svn:externals

Question

I have been using svn:externals to bring the Zend Framework files into my project. This is what my svn:externals looks like:

-r 22731 http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/trunk/library/Zend/ Zend
-r 22731 http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/extras/trunk/library/ZendX/ ZendX

I have it tied to revision 22731 which is the the revision of this repository path: http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/tags/release-1.10.7

I thought this was the preferred way to use externals, but when I look at the Zend_Version class I notice that it says const VERSION = '1.11.0dev';. Should I be doing svn:externals like this instead?

http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/tags/release-1.10.7/library/Zend/ Zend
http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/tags/release-1.10.7/extras/library/ZendX/ ZendX

Answer 1

I do it the latter way, linking to a tagged version and it works great.

In fact, I believe Matthew Weier O'Phinney had a blog post recommending this approach. I'll look around for it and edit the answer if I find it.

UPDATE: Here's the MWOP post I mentioned. Interestingly, I remembered it incorrectly. In the comments, he identifies your method - point to a specific revision - as the absolutely foolproof method, noting that that it is possible, though extremely rare, for a tagged version to change.

Answer 2

The correct revision of the 1.10.7-Tag is 22830 and not 22731. Just check your link.

I prefer to checkout my externals tagged. It is much more convenient to have a release version number than a long revisionnumber.
If I use tags I know it's a released (stable-)version.

Answer 3

You definetly SHOULD use the tag to checkout externals. There is no need to look for specific revision. That's what are tags made for ;)

Answer 4

Based on the feedback, a hybrid of the two seems like the best option:

-r 22731 http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/tags/release-1.10.7/library/Zend/ Zend
-r 22731 http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/tags/release-1.10.7/extras/library/ZendX/ ZendX

Here is my reasoning:

1. Tags are designed for this purpose
2. Released tags may have build-time changes not in the trunk
3. Specifying the revision protects against changes introduced to the tag after code has been tested against it