Export vs. check out in SVN

Question

What does exporting do in SVN? Are there any major differences between checking out a copy and export?

Judd

Answer 1

Exporting strips out all the versioning information and exports a particular revision (typically the latest) to another the specified location.

Copy or Checkout have versioning information with the source code.

If you list contents of the directory after an export you will find that the .svn directories are missing.

Typically something you would do if you were release your code for public download.

Demurral

During development phase, the public can't simply svn up to synchronize the project, as the version controlling information is missing. – Florinda

Answer 2

When you do an svn export, you don't create the .svn directories. This is good when you don't want those directories. For example, I have my web-page under Subversion revision control. I can do a svn export to where my webpage should reside, and I end up with just the files and not the .svn directories.

However, without the .svn directories, you don't have any versioning information. You can't update your directory. You can't commit changes you make. You can't do diffs, run blames, or do anything else that requires the versioning information stored in those .svn directories.

Ashleaashlee

Answer 3

They are the same except that Export doesn't include the.svn folders and Checkout does include them. Also note that an export cannot be updated. When you do a Subversion checkout, every folder and sub folder contains an .svn folder. These .svn folders contain clean copies of all files checked out and .tmp directories that contain temporary files created during checkouts, commits, update and other operations.

An Export will be about half the size of a Checkout due to the absence of the.svn folders that duplicate all content.

An export cannot be updated like a checkout.

Hargrave