SVN Repository for XGM

[DimeBagHo]

Note that the repository has moved to: https://svn.code.sf.net/p/xgm/code/

Accessing the SVN Repository

To access the repository you will need an SVN client like TortoiseSVN. The address of the repository is http://svn.assembla.com/svn/xgm. Anonymous users have read access, so anyone can check out a copy of the code and build their own version of XGM. Registered users can also commit changes.

Repository Layout

The top level contains three directories:

trunk These are the files that official versions of XGM will be compiled from. For the time being no one should be making commits here.
branches Development versions of XGM. If you want to start making changes and testing them, this is where you should make your own branch of XGM, and make your commits.
tags Snapshots of XGM. Typically these will be published versions. You can add your own snapshots, but ideally you should not make any changes after adding a snapshot.

Starting Work

I'll assume you are using TortoiseSVN and that you are a registered user.

1. Right click on the desktop, and select TortoiseSVN > Repo-browser
2. Open http://svn.assembla.com/svn/xgm
3. Right-click on 'branches' and create a new directory with a suitably informative name
4. Select 'trunk' (or some other version like tags/XGM_5_8_0) then copy the contents into your branch
5. Right click on your branch, select copy to working copy, and choose a folder on your machine

Downloading your first working copy will probably take a while (it's about 500 MB). At this point you can compile your own version of XGM from your working copy, make changes, and commit them back to the repository.

Building XGM

To build XGM you need the Nullsoft Install System, which you can use to compile XGM.nsi. You can edit this script with any text editor. If you want to do more than changing the version number it might be worth trying something that is set up for working with nsi scripts, like HM NIS Edit or EclipseNSIS.

If you stick to editing or adding files in 'Main' then in most circumstances you won't need to edit XGM.nsi, except maybe to change the version number, and the name of the outputfile. To do that you need to change three lines in XGM.nsi, all near the top of the file:

This line sets the version number shown to users.

!define PRODUCT_VERSION "5.8.0"

This line sets the name of the compiled installer file.

OutFile "XGM_5_8_0.exe"

This line checks the integrity of the installer and should match the name you choose for the installer file.

md5dll::GetMD5File "$EXEDIR\XGM_5_8_0.exe"

Soucre Files Layout

The 'trunk' directory and all branches contain two directories and one file.

Extras - Extra or alternative files that are only used for some versions of XGM
Main - Files that appear in all versions of XGM, including the readme
XGM.nsi - The NISI installer script discussed above

'Extras' contains the following folders:

Alex - Files required for use with the Alexander exe
BI - Files required for use of BI battlemap building models
Install - Graphics used by the installer
Landbridge - Files used by the landbridges install option
Prometheus_Cities - Files used by the Prometheus Cities install option

'Main' contains xgm/data, which makes up the bulk of the mod, xgmreadme which contains the images used in the readme file, and xgmreadme.html. In most cases editing, adding, or removing, files in Main/xgm/data will not require changes to the install script. If you want to add files in 'Extras' then you will have to edit the install script to deal with them. Removing files from 'Extras' may break the related install options.

Tracking Changes

To easily see the changes between published versions of XGM go to 'tags' and click on the 'View Changes' button near the bottom left of the page. In the 'from' field put the version you want to start from, in the 'to' field put the current version. Leave the revison number as it is. For example you might want:

From: tags/XGM_5_8_2/
To: tags/XGM_5_8_4/

Which would get you this. You can then click on the 'view diffs' links for text files to see each line that has been changed.

[Zarax]

Dime, I sent you a PM with the login details, let me know what you think.
CaesarVincens is ready to jump on board with us.

[CaesarVincens]

As far as access controls, either have multiple levels of access if that's possible, or don't let unknown users contribute.

[Zarax]

The idea is to let only a few selected people to meddle with the code, I don't think there will be more than 5-6 people with access at most.

[DimeBagHo]

So far things don't look good. Most of the free hosts allow 200 MB or less, which isn't enough space for XGM. OpenSVN allows more space in theory, but so far the server seems to be choking on large commits.

[Suppanut]

I would glad to join too if you let's me to. But I completely new with SVN.

[RedFox]

Dime: I got the impression that Open SVN has a 20mb max space limit, because it would always cut off the upload if it got to 20mb. I'm not entirely sure though..

There's a service that costs $7/$10 a month with 2GB/5GB of space. Unless you have a friend with their own server capable of hosting an SVN repository, this is the only rational choice..

[Zarax]

Dime, we can use SVN only for text/light content and the server for the rest.
Won't be the most handy option but better than nothing.

[RedFox]

Or, you guys can use two repositories - 1 for text and campaign stuff and another for units..
I'm sure that Assembla allows 2 repositories (both 200mb?) on one account.

[DimeBagHo]

It looks like Assembla is not strict about their 200 MB limit. I've set up a repository, and it all seems to be working OK.

If you want an account, PM me with an e-mail address that you want to use with the account. I'll send out invites later today.

[DimeBagHo]

*edit* Moved the stuff from here to the top post.

[DimeBagHo]

I've updated the instructions for using the SVN repository and working with the XGM source files. Freel free to post questions here.

[Spartan198]

Call me slow, but...what does all that in the first post mean? I'm not sure I understood it.

[DimeBagHo]

Spartan198: An SVN repository is like a big data base for storing different versions of the code used to make a program. I've set one up for the XGM source files so that people who want to can get a copy of the source files, and generate their own modified versions of XGM. This is mostly going to be useful for people who are working on stuff to add to XGM.

The top post gives some quick instructions to get people started.

[Zarax]

DBH, I think we have a lot of redundancy in the way we're doing branches.
In theory they should only contain files that are modded to be different than those in the main release, everything else is just going to clutter and slow down compiling imho.

[DimeBagHo]

Zarax: If we want these submods to compile to something that works they need to have everything in the branch. Otherwise we will need custom .nsi scripts and getting them to work with all install options will be extremely complicated.

I'll post some instructions for how to do local testing with a smaller set of files though.

[DimeBagHo]

Instructions for quick testing are here.

[Tony83]

Guys, I have to congratulate you on your initiative on using SVN. We at RTR are currently use it to provide easy update and commit access to our developers and testers and, like you, plan to use it as one of our modes of getting the finished product to the fans. Nice one!

[Balikedes]

Thank You Dime, this makes my life a lot easier.
Bal

[Anakarsis]

This is the Bible!