Version control system reports error when trying to commit new ePublisher output
A user described this problem:
When I try to committ WebWorks 5.0 Output to our versioning system (SVN) I get the following error: "Error: Can't open LeesWorkFiles\docs\Cx_Iteration1\docs\WebWorks\CxComponents\Output\WebWorks Help 5.0\CxComponents\wwhdata\js\search\.svn\tmp\text-base\search0.js.svn-base.tmp': The system cannot find the path specified."
This was my explanation of the issue:
ePublisher 9.3 should place nice with most version control systems. Specifically, some changes were made to ensure that SVN files are filtered out during file copy operations. That is, any ".svn" folder associated with project files is ignored when those files are copied into the output.
I took a look at your project, and I can see where things are going wrong from the Subversion standpoint. During the output conversion, ePublisher attempts to delete one of the directories in the output folder (..\WebWorks Help 5.0\CxComponents\wwhdata\js\search) before replacing its contents with the updated files. The problem occurs when the file system tries to delete the .svn directory within that folder, as some of the files there are read-only (but some are not). That's why you see the warnings in your log. We inadvertently delete some of the files required by SVN, and, since the other WebWorks Help files in the directory are deleted and replaced without updating the SVN logs, the VC system gets confused.
I don't think there's a good [simple] workaround for the issue right now. My suggestion is to remove your project's Output directory from version control and to delete the current files to make sure you get rid of all the SVN remnants. Then, in your production project, set a deployment target (Edit > Preferences > Deployment) for another directory where you can check in the files under version control. Next, open your Format Settings, and select the new deployment target from the "Deploy to:" dropdown. Regenerate output and then choose "Deploy" from the Format menu to copy all of the generated output into the deployment directory. Finally, commit the updated deploy folder to SVN for tracking. This way, you can maintain an up-to-date folder with all of your output that is not directly modified by the XSL of the ePublisher conversion engine. Many of our users eventually automate that type of process with some simple batch file scripting and an AutoMap job.