SVN automatic code formatting on check in?

Question

Is this possible? If so how do I do this?

The code is in C# and we are using TortoiseSVN.

I simply want to auto format the code on every checking.

Th

Answer 1

With a pre-commit hook script, you could do that, yes. But I'm sure that you will remove that script after the first commit because you'll get into big problems.

If you modify the data that gets committed, the client doesn't know about that. So after such a commit where your script 'fixes' the formatting of a file, the file content in the repository is different than the files in your working copy. But your working copy still thinks it's up to date with the repository (after all, it's modifications just got committed).

So on the next update, you'll get into hell - broken working copy, angry users, ...

And of course, you might break the build - auto formatting has that effect sometimes.

You can of course implement a hook script that checks for a correct formatting and returns an error if it doesn't, that's perfectly fine.

And since you're using TortoiseSVN, you can try doing the formatting in a client-side pre-commit hook.