Configuring a new site for the Subversion repository

In Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 the configuration settings for the version control system are managed as part of the site definition. Each website under management can use different Subversion settings.

Assuming that some content is already checked into the repository, as a new member of the design/development team you will want access to this existing web content and code.

In Dreamweaver, choose Site > Manage Sites to open the Site Definition dialog box (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Choose Site > Manage Sites to access an existing site.

To create the new site definition for the site on which you will work, click New and then Site (see Figure 2). If you are presented with the Basic view, click Advanced (near the top of the dialog box) to switch views and access the settings for version control.

Figure 2. Click New and then Site.

Under the Category section on the left, select Local Info (see Figure 3). Next, enter the local information for your site, including the name, the local root folder, and the HTTP address. In this example I use voltmer.com, and the settings are as follows:

• Site name: voltmer.com
• Local root folder: /Users/Voltmer/Web Sites/voltmer.com
• Default images folder
• HTTP address: http://www.voltmer.com

Figure 3. Enter the local information for the new site.

Note: I create a new empty directory for voltmer.com in my Web Sites folder. This is empty because I have yet to check out my web content from the Subversion server. Also, I leave the Default images folder field blank because there is no folder there yet. It will come from the repository, and I will come back to edit the value later.

After setting the local information, click Remote Info on the left, and set Access to None (see Figure 4). This may seem odd to some experienced Dreamweaver users who are used to pushing data directly from Dreamweaver to their production website. For a larger organization, however, it is common to have a subteam or an automated script that performs an update from the Subversion server and then pushes a tagged set of files to the product server.

Figure 4. Under Remote Info, set Access to None.

If you do want to use a remote site for testing or staging you can configure these settings as you have done in the past.

If you are the person (or one of the people) who is responsible for pushing updates to production, you may also want to configure the production server in this interface; however, I recommend that you consider using an automatic build system for deployment of your content to your production site.

Next, choose Version Control and select Subversion as your access method (see Figure 5). You only have one option, because as of the writing of this article Dreamweaver CS4 supports only one VCS.

Specify the various connection settings required to connect to the Subversion repository including protocol, server address, and so on. Your Subversion administrator should be able to provide you with these values. My settings are as follows:

• Access: Subversion
• Protocol: HTTP
• Server address: localhost
• Repository path: /repos/voltmer.com/
• Server port: Default
• Username: voltmer
• Password: <secretpassword>

Figure 5. Specify the version control settings for your Subversion repository.

Note: The server in this example is running on the same machine as the client, so I use localhost as the server name. Localhost is an alias that refers to the local machine.

To verify the settings work, click Test. If everything is configured properly, Dreamweaver will display a dialog box that reads "Server and project are accessible!" (see Figure 6). If you do not see this message, refer to the Dreamweaver CS4 documentation or ask your Subversion repository administrator to confirm configuration settings.

Figure 6. If everything is configured properly, you will see this dialog box.

To finish click OK in the Site Definition dialog box.

Note: You may need to modify settings for your site definition in other categories, but that configuration is beyond the scope of this article.

Page 2 of 4

Previous Page

Next Page