Multiple Subversion clients and TortoiseSVN

Question

I installed Subversion 1.5.x and then TortoiseSVN 1.6.x.

All was fine using the 1.5.x command line utility exclusively. After becoming comfortable with svn for awhile, I then used the TortoiseSVN client to make a commit, which worked, but the command line client now gives me a client too old, get a newer client error on all commands.

1 - Did I corrupt my working copy? I don't think so, as TortoiseSVN works fine.

2 - I think I just have to download the 1.6.x command line client and use this if I want to use command line svn at the same time as TortoiseSVN. According to the TSVN FAQ, clients can install "on top" of one another, whatever that means.

If this is so, how do I bypass the old command line client?

I assume I just run the newer svn.exe either by running it directly or altering the environment path or the install package will put the newer svn directory at the end of the path.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

The format of the working copy changed with subversion 1.6. When you used TortoiseSVN 1.6, your working copy was automatically updated to that new format, and can now no longer be read by older subversion clients (such as your 1.5 binaries).

Simply replace your subversion 1.5 client binaries with the current version 1.6.2 and everything should work again.

Answer 2

SVN 1.5 and 1.6 use different format for the working copy information. When you used a 1.6 client, it automatically converts your working copy, making previous clients unable to use your working copy. And there is no way back.

You are correct that the good solution is to download the svn 1.6 command line client. Or to downgrade your TortoiseSVN to 1.5 a re-do a checkout.