Version Control with Subversion, 2nd Edition

Name

svn cat — Output the contents of the specified files or URLs.

Synopsis

svn cat TARGET[@REV]...

Description

Output the contents of the specified files or URLs. For listing the contents of directories, see svn list later in this chapter.

Alternate names

None.

Changes

Nothing.

Accesses repository

Yes.

Options

--revision (-r) REV

Examples

If you want to view readme.txt in your repository without checking it out:

$ svn cat http://svn.red-bean.com/repos/test/readme.txt
This is a README file.
You should read this.

Tip

If your working copy is out of date (or you have local modifications) and you want to see the HEAD revision of a file in your working copy, svn cat -r HEAD FILENAME will automatically fetch the HEAD revision of the specified path:

$ cat foo.c
This file is in my local working copy 
and has changes that I've made.

$ svn cat -r HEAD foo.c
Latest revision fresh from the repository!