SVN Endless Loop - [file] "does not exist in repository"

Question

This has been plaguing me for a week.

SVN keeps telling me that a certain file "does not exist in repository".

Fine. Let's just delete it. Forget about it. Ignore it. Whatever. I don't really care about this file (especially if it continues to fail the nightly check-in).

The most bizarre part? A "restore" will actually RESTORE the file from the repository, so its there (corrupted, maybe?).

...and this has to be the icing on the cake. If I delete the file through Windows Explorer, SVN will RESTORE the file from the repository, and right after that state that it doesn't exist in the repository. WTF?

Does anyone have a clue how to get rid of this?

I've already tried clean-ups, reversions, deletions and anything else imaginable, but this one has me stumped.

Thanks for any tips you might have...

Answer 1

It seems most likely that you have corrupted your local working copy, e.g. by moving folders or some other manipulation that you did with windows explorer but should have done through the TortoiseSVN context menu. The information inside the .svn folders now no longer matches the state of the working copy, which is confusing Subversion.

To fix this, delete the parent folder ("Originals") in your working copy with windows explorer (NOT with TortoiseSVN). Then do a TortoiseSVN "update" at the root of your working copy. This should restore the folder in working order.

Another option is to discard your working copy entirely and do a fresh checkout.

Note that the next release of Subversion (1.7) will reduce the opportunities for corrupting your working copy by centralizing all metadata in a single .svn folder at the root.