Svn log - svn: '.' is not a working copy

Question

I'm getting "svn: '.' is not a working copy" when i use the svn log command.

I know that i need a working copy for the log command to work but can this be done directly on a repository?

My goal is to display the information (change history) of a repository. I think updating the working copy whenever i need the log information is not a good solution.

Is there an alternative solution to this or updating a working copy every time i need to log is the only way to go?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Try svn log [repository_url]

That will get the log of a particular repository rather than the local, checked-out repository.

See this documentation.

Answer 2

Use svnlook log <repos_path>.

Answer 3

If you don't want to supply the full URL, but you DO have a working copy handy, you can also specify that you want the HEAD revision in the repository:

svn log -r HEAD:1

The default when you omit the -r is as if you had specified BASE:1 which will only give you changes up to the latest revision pulled down into the working copy.