Set Up SVN Source Control

MATLAB^® provides built-in SVN integration for use with Subversion^® (SVN) sandboxes and repositories. Because the implementation is built in to MATLAB, you do not need to install SVN. The built-in SVN integration supports secure logins. This integration ignores any existing SVN installation.

To use the version of SVN provided with MATLAB, when you retrieve a file from source control, select SVN in the Source control integration list. For instructions, see Work with Files Under SVN in MATLAB. When you create a new sandbox using the MATLAB built-in SVN integration, the new sandbox uses the latest version of SVN provided by MATLAB.

Caution

Before using source control, you must register binary files with the source control tools to avoid corruption. See Register Binary Files with SVN.

Register Binary Files with SVN

If you use third-party source control tools, you must register your MATLAB and Simulink^® file extensions such as .mlx, .mat, .fig, .mlapp, .mdl, .slx, .mdlp, .slxp, .sldd, and .p as binary formats. Also register extensions for MEX files, such as .mexa64, .mexmaci64, .mexmaca64, and .mexw64. If you do not register the extensions, these tools can corrupt your files when you submit them by changing end-of-line characters, expanding tokens, substituting keywords, or attempting to automerge. Corruption can occur if you use the source control tools outside of MATLAB or if you try submitting files from MATLAB without first registering your file formats.

Also check that other file extensions are registered as binary to avoid corruption at check-in. Check and register file extensions such as .xlsx, .jpg, .pdf, .docx, and so on.

You must register binary files if you use any version of SVN, including the built-in SVN integration provided by MATLAB. If you do not register your extensions as binary, SVN might add annotations to conflicted MATLAB files and attempt automerge. To avoid this problem when using SVN, register file extensions.

Locate your SVN config file. Look for the file in these locations:
- C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Subversion\config or C:\Documents and Settings\myusername\Application Data\Subversion\config on Windows^®
- ~/.subversion on Linux^® or macOS
If you do not find a config file, create a new one. See Create SVN Config File.
If you find an existing config file, you have previously installed SVN. Edit the config file. See Update Existing SVN Config File.

Create SVN Config File

If you do not find an SVN config file, create a text file containing these lines:

[miscellany]
enable-auto-props = yes
[auto-props]
*.mlx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mat = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.fig = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mdl = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.slx = svn:mime-type= application/octet-stream
*.mlapp = svn:mime-type= application/octet-stream
*.p = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mdlp = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.slxp = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.sldd = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.slxc = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mlproj = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mldatx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.slreqx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.sfx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.sltx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream

Check for other file types you use that you also need to register as binary to avoid corruption at check-in. Check for files such as MEX-files (.mexa64, .mexmaci64, .mexw64), .xlsx, .jpg, .pdf, .docx, etc. Add a line to the config file for each file type you need. Examples:

*.mexa64 = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mexw64 = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mexmaci64 = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.xlsx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.docx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.pdf = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.jpg = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.png = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream

Name the file config and save it in the appropriate location:
- C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Subversion\config or C:\Documents and Settings\myusername\Application Data\Subversion\config on Windows
- ~/.subversion on Linux or macOS.

After you create the SVN config file, SVN treats new files with these extensions as binary. If you already have binary files in repositories, see Register Files Already in Repositories.

Update Existing SVN Config File

If you find an existing config file, you have previously installed SVN. Edit the config file to register files as binary.

Edit the config file in a text editor.
Locate the [miscellany] section, and verify the following line enables auto-props with yes:
```
enable-auto-props = yes 
```
Ensure that this line is not commented (that is, that it does not start with #). Config files can contain example lines that are commented out. If there is a # character at the beginning of the line, delete it.
Locate the [auto-props] section. Ensure that [auto-props] is not commented. If there is a # character at the beginning, delete it.

Add the following lines at the end of the [auto-props] section:

*.mlx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mat = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.fig = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mdl = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.slx = svn:mime-type= application/octet-stream
*.mlapp = svn:mime-type= application/octet-stream
*.p = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mdlp = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.slxp = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.sldd = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.slxc = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mlproj = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mldatx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.slreqx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.sfx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.sltx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream

These lines prevent SVN from adding annotations to MATLAB and Simulink files on conflict and from automerging.

*.mexa64 = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mexw64 = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.mexmaci64 = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.xlsx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.docx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.pdf = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.jpg = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream
*.png = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream

Save the config file.

After you create or update the SVN config file, SVN treats new files as binary. If you already have files in repositories, register them as described in Register Files Already in Repositories.

Register Files Already in Repositories

Caution

Changing your SVN config file does not affect files already committed to an SVN repository. If a file is not registered as binary, use svn propset to manually register the files as binary.

To manually register a file in a repository as binary, use the following command with command-line SVN:

svn propset svn:mime-type application/octet-stream binaryfilename

Standard Repository Structure

Create your repository with the standard tags, trunk, and branches folders, and check out files from trunk. The Subversion project recommends this structure. See https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/trunk/doc/user/svn-best-practices.html.

After you create a repository with this structure, you can click Tag in the Source Control context menu to add tags to all of your files. For more information, see Tag Versions of Files.

Tag Versions of Files

With SVN, you can use tags to identify specific revisions of all files. To use tags with SVN, you need the standard folder structure in your repository and you need to check out your files from trunk. See Standard Repository Structure.

Right-click in the Current Folder browser, and select Source Control > Tag.
Specify the tag text and click Submit. The tag is added to every file in the folder. Errors appear if you do not have a tags folder in your repository.

Note

You can retrieve a tagged version of your files from source control, but you cannot tag them again with a new tag. You must check out from trunk to create new tags.

Enforce Locking Files Before Editing

To require that users remember to get a lock on files before editing, configure SVN to make files with specified extensions read only. When your files are read only, you need to select Right-click in the Current Folder browser, and select Source Control > Get File Lock before you can edit them. This setting prevents editing of files without getting the file lock. When the file has a lock, other users know the file is being edited, and you can avoid merge issues.

To enforce locking files, modify entries in the SVN config file. To locate your SVN config file, see Register Binary Files with SVN.

To make files with a .m extension read only, add a property to your SVN config file in the [auto-props] section. If there is no entry for files with a .m extension, add one with the needs-lock property.
```
*.m = svn:needs-lock=yes
```
If an entry exists, you can combine properties in any order, but multiple entries must be on a single line separated by semicolons.
To make files with a .mlx extension read only, add a property to your SVN config file in the [auto-props] section. Since you must register files with a .mlx extension as binary, there is an entry for the file type. Add the needs-lock property to the entry in any order, but on the same line and separated by a semicolon.
```
*.mlx = svn:mime-type=application/octet-stream;svn:needs-lock=yes 
```
Re-create the sandbox for the configuration to take effect.

With this setting, you need to select Get File Lock before you can edit files with a .m extension. See Get SVN File Locks.

Share a Subversion Repository

When you want to share a repository, you need to set up a server. You can use svnserve or the Apache™ SVN module. See the Web page references:

https://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.7/svn-book.html#svn.serverconfig.svnserve
https://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.7/svn-book.html#svn.serverconfig.httpd

Note

In a production environment, do not rely on remote repositories via the file system using the file:/// protocol. The file protocol is not safe. Concurrent access might corrupt repositories.