Windows Developer Power Tools

11.2 Accessing Subversion and CVS with TortoiseCVS and TortoiseSVN

Two of the best-known open source version-control systems are CVS and Subversion (see this chapter’s introduction). Both have simple command-line interfaces that let you pull updates from a repository, check changes back in, and generally manage your entire development workflow. While these command-line tools are powerful and flexible, they can be a bit annoying, as using them is somewhat time-consuming and requires switching over to a command-prompt session.

TortoiseCVS and TortoiseSVN bring all the tools you need to interact with CVS and Subversion right into Windows Explorer. You get clear indicators for the status of each file in your working copy directory, and all the commands for interacting with the source-control repository are readily available from a context menu. You’re able to quickly update, add, commit, and so on, directly from within Windows Explorer.

TortoiseCVS/TortoiseSVN at a Glance
Tool	TortoiseCVS/TortoiseSVN
Version covered	1.8.25/1.3.2
Home page	http://www.tortoisecvs.org http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org
Power Tools page	TortoiseCVS: http://www.windevpowertools.com/tools/13 TortoiseSVN: http://www.windevpowertools.com/tools/14
Summary	Provide GUI interfaces into CVS and Subversion via Windows Explorer shell extensions
License type	GPL
Online resources	User’s guides, FAQs, mailing lists, bug and feature trackers ...