How to use GIT with non standard SVN repository layouts

In my previous post I had explained the commands necessary to work with GIT on a standard SVN repository.

But, life is not always that simple!  What if you wanted to work with a repository that has non standard svn layout?  Super GIT to the rescue!

What do I mean by non standard SVN layouts?  Basically, it means that your repository does not follow trunk/, branches/ and tags/ directory structure.

An example of that would be something like this

Note that the brances and trunk of module1 is located under http://non-standard-repository.googlecode.com/svn/branches/module1/ url and tags are located under http://non-standard-repository.googlecode.com/svn/tags/module1/

Lets say that, 90% of the time, I will be working on module1's trunk which is located at http://non-standard-repository.googlecode.com/svn/branches/module1/trunk/

Lets see how we can use GIT over SVN, for such weird SVN repository.

Setting up the GIT repository:

You might be tempted to think that executing the following command should do the trick.

But, anyone who has tried this earlier would know that, this does not work!  GIT checks out branch1, branch2 and trunk as separate folders.  Thats not what we want.  What is the right way to do this?

How do they do it?

Well you need to split the task of cloning the repository in three steps

1. Do a git init to the root of the repository i.e. http://non-standard-repository.googlecode.com/svn
2. Do some edits in the config file under .git directory.  What edits?  Have some patience, we will see this shortly
3. Do a git svn fetch to get all the trunk and branches

You must have realized by now that the key here is the Step - 2.

Lets see them one after the other.

Step - 1:

Lets first init an empty git repository using the following command

Please note, I am using the root URL of the SVN repository to init the git repository.  The URL is only till /svn.

At this point you should have a directory called non-standard-git created.  If you go inside this directory you should see the empty git repository i.e. the .git directory created.  Step - 1 is done.

Step - 2:

Open up the .git/config file in your favorite text editor.  It should look something like this

Change it to look something like this

Note that the fetch, branches and tags properties have been modified.  The key here is to use the relative path of module1's trunk, branches and tags in the config file.  Step - 2 is done.

Step - 3:

The configuration changes have been made now lets fetch the trunk and branches.  Use the following command

After the fetch is done you should be all set!  All your branches, tags and trunk will be pointing to the right location.  And you are good to go!

Tip: If you do not want to fetch the entire history right from the very beginning, that could be easily done.  Lets say you wanted to fetch all the revisions from revision 1000, then use the following command

That's it!  We can now work with SVN repositories with non-standard layouts.  The support provided by GIT for SVN is nothing but, awesome!