Using '_svn' directories instead of '.svn' in a working copy

Question

I've heard that Visual Studio doesn't like the .svn directories in a working copy from a subversion repository, and that using '_svn' is a better choice. Apart from not being hidden by the explorer, what is this mysterious advantage, or is this all a dirty rumour?

Answer 1

This question seems relevant.

Answer 2

Visual Studio 2002 and 2003 had problems with directories starting with a dot. Especially when using them in combination with webprojects and FrontPage server extensions.

If you use only Visual Studio 2005 and later I would recommend to just use the Subversion default of .svn.

Most Subversion clients automatically switch to using _svn when you define the environment variable SVN_ASP_DOT_NET_HACK. The easiest way to define this variable is selecting the _svn setting in TortoiseSVN. Other clients will then automatically use this setting.

Answer 3

VS 2003 required you to use _svn.

Here is some SVN awesomeness. I am still maintaining an ASP.Net 1.1 application and using VS 2003, so my SVN client is set to use "_svn". Other developers on my team do not have this issue so their SVN clients use ".svn" directories. This has no affect on the SVN repository and we are all able to still share code.