Is it possible to check in a file or add a file to an SVN repository without an SVN client?

Question

Is it possible to check in a file or add a file to an SVN repository without an SVN client? Using a browser, I was able to access the files on an SVN server using Apache. If I don't have an SVN client on a certain computer, can I add the file (and commit it), such as by the browser's "Upload File" function? Being able to do so could be handy.

Answer 1

Apache + SVN uses WebDav to access the repository. The reason you can browse the repository with a standard web browser is because the standard GET commands get a listing (and the file) of the svn file. To add and commit to a repository, it uses different commands that are not standard HTTP talk.

The bottom line is that you need an SVN-aware browser to be able to do what your asking. I believe theres actually a firefox plugin that adds this support ("subversion menu", or something of that sort), but i have never used it and thus can't vouch for its usefulness.

Update:Its actually called "TortoiseSVN Menu", and ties into a TortoiseSVN installation already on your computer, so it doesn't work as i thought.

Update 2: If you're interested in the WebDav commands, I found the use of them detailed in a document at http://svn.collab.net/repos/svn/trunk/notes/webdav-protocol

Answer 2

What you're looking for is Autoversioning, with this approach users can work with the repository as if it were a regular network share. Changes will be automatically committed. Naturally you lose commit comments and any ability to form meaningful commits of more than one file at a time.

I've never actually used the feature. I don't think I'd like it.