Automatically add svn:needs-lock

Question

Hi I was wondering if there is a way for the SVN server to automatically assign the svn:needs-lock property on any file that is binary and not textual.

We have a rather small developers team but resting on everyone to remember to set this property on newly created binary files doesn't make sense since it's very easy to forget such a thing.

Answer 1

Apache Subversion 1.8 introduced the Repository Dictated Configuration feature which requires SVN 1.8 client, but 1.8 server is not necessary because this is a client-side feature.

With Subversion 1.8, you can configure auto-props patterns within a repository using the new Subversion svn:auto-props inherited property.

For example, set svn:auto-props value to *.exe = svn:needs-lock=* property on the root of your repository (or repository path that represents a root of a project). This will result into each newly added *.exe file having svn:needs-lock=* property applied.

You can store multi-line values in Subversion properties, so you can add the following standard svn:needs-lock and MIME pattern to svn:auto-props:

*.bmp = svn:mime-type=image/bmp;svn:needs-lock=* *.gif = svn:mime-type=image/gif;svn:needs-lock=* *.ico = svn:mime-type=image/x-icon;svn:needs-lock=* *.jpeg = svn:mime-type=image/jpeg;svn:needs-lock=* *.jpg = svn:mime-type=image/jpeg;svn:needs-lock=* *.png = svn:mime-type=image/png;svn:needs-lock=* *.tif = svn:mime-type=image/tiff;svn:needs-lock=* *.tiff = svn:mime-type=image/tiff;svn:needs-lock=*     *.doc = svn:mime-type=application/x-msword;svn:needs-lock=* *.docx = svn:mime-type=application/x-msword;svn:needs-lock=* *.jar = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream;svn:needs-lock=* *.odc = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.chart;svn:needs-lock=* *.odf = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.formula;svn:needs-lock=* *.odg = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics;svn:needs-lock=* *.odi = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.image;svn:needs-lock=* *.odp = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation;svn:needs-lock=* *.ods = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet;svn:needs-lock=* *.odt = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text;svn:needs-lock=* *.pdf = svn:mime-type=application/pdf;svn:needs-lock=* *.ppt = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.ms-powerpoint;svn:needs-lock=* *.ser = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream;svn:needs-lock=* *.swf = svn:mime-type=application/x-shockwave-flash;svn:needs-lock=* *.vsd = svn:mime-type=application/x-visio;svn:needs-lock=* *.xls = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.ms-excel;svn:needs-lock=* *.zip = svn:mime-type=application/zip;svn:needs-lock=* 

Answer 2

Edit the svn config file and add an entry for auto props or use svn:auto-props versioned property with SVN 1.8 and newer clients. Read SVNBook!

EDIT:

From SVN 1.8 the you can apply the svn:auto-props property to the root path of your repository. See this release note and updated SVNBook 1.8 chapter.