Tortoise SVN

[KB3XE]

HI,

Could some tell me about Tortoise SVN. I'm thinking it's a piece of software to allow your PC to control your HF rig.

Does it only work on the Flex radios?

A Flex is in my future and I want to learn all I can before I get one in the shack.
 
Tns & 73
Jerry   KB3XE

[KC7ZRU]

Google is your friend.

And no - apparently your beyond confused. What with the plethora of terms, systems and what not out there in the software universe - easy enough to do.

"Subversion (SVN) is a version control system initiated in 2000 by CollabNet Inc. It is used to maintain current and historical versions of files such as source code, web pages, and documentation. Its goal is to be a mostly-compatible successor to the widely used Concurrent Versions System (CVS)."
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subversion_(software)

"TortoiseSVN is an easy to use SCM / source control software for Microsoft Windows and maybe the best standalone Subversion client there is. It is implemented as a Windows shell extension, which makes it integrate seamlessly into the Windows explorer. Since it's not an integration for a specific IDE you can use it with whatever development tools you like."
From: http://tortoisesvn.net/

Now - there may well be some radio software out there that's maintained on an SVN system. But, TortoiseSVN, SVN or even CVS themselves have nothing directly to do with radio at all - let alone SDR or a Flex rig.

Now that's all just from my quick 30 seconds of googleing after enjoying a very nice lunch - if you've something else in minde that's also called TortoiseSVN - share!

73

[N9DG]

Yes, Tortoise SVN is nothing more than source version control. FlexRadio uses it extensively for the PowerSDR software.

What makes it very useful for end users is that it allows them access to several different development streams. So if you are so inclined you can test for yourself a particular set of features enhancements shortly after they are developed. Then in turn you can provide feedback via a bug tracking mechanism for any issues that you may find with it.

It also allows you to download only the binaries that have changed from the last time you downloaded a particular SVN version. So you do not always download everything every time if only a few files have changed. In addition to that if you do encounter a version with a serious problem SVN allows you to roll back to a known good version very easily. And by periodically checking the change logs (very easy to do) for each of the different SVN branches that you are interested in you can tell what changes are that have been made to the program. So you may only want to download a newer SVN version once you see a new feature that you've been waiting for.

In the case of PowerSDR there are at least 5 or 6 active development branches going all the time. Some of the developers are working in one area while others are working in different areas of the program. Then quite frequently the mostly proven pieces of the various development streams get merged back into the main PowerSDR stream. And/or the streams are "re-based" against the main branch. This all results in a very collaborative development cycle for all of the interested parties of PowerSDR.

But as always if you are not comfortable with any of the SVN versions you can simple wait and then download a full release version every few months. But it is no trick at all maintaining several different versions of PowerSDR on your computer and then jumping between them as whims may inspire you to.

This approach is really unique to FlexRadio, other US companies may be fairly responsive, but none of the others allow end users to get that close to the software development process. And the JA imports don't even give you any idea at all of what is going on.