Other Tools

There are programs out there that may (not) work properly together with TortoiseSVN. In this chapter we have collected information about tools that caused trouble and about possible workarounds.

Furthermore we explain how to configure TortoiseSVN to use external Diff or Merge tools instead of the builtin TortoiseMerge and suggest some programs that we have tested with TortoiseSVN.


Blank TortoiseSVN menus

Some applications don't display the TortoiseSVN menus properly. They can even be completely blank (no icons, no text)

This is because the icons are completely ownerdrawn. If you don't like the way TSVN handles its menu entries, you can do the following: Just create a (DWORD) registry entry under:
HKCU\\Software\\TortoiseSVN\\OwnerdrawnMenus and set it to 0. This will force TortoiseSVN to use the windows standard routine to draw menu entries. You'll have all the menu entries any time, but you will have ugly icons, since window's default only allows 10x10 icons. If you delete this registry key (the default) or set it to something else than 0 you have the nice icons back.
In case you want no icons at all you can set this value to 2. Then the context menu entries show up as text only.


Can I use TortoiseCVS and TortoiseSVN on the same computer?

Yes they can live happily together on the same PC. You can even use them on the same folder if that makes any sense to you. But, remember, that if you'll commit from this folder using one of the two, control files from the other system can be also accidently added to repository and versioned.

To avoid this problem for subversion you should run a script that does svn propset svn:ignore -F .cvsignore . in all project directories.

It can also happen that some of the overlay icons are not displayed. See also:
The overlay icons appear, but not all of them


Does a similar app also exist for Macs or Linux?

TortoiseSVN is only available on Windows, but there are similar applications available for Mac OS X and various Unices.

Here's a couple of examples.

  • Mac OS X finder plugin - SCPlugin
  • Unix graphical SVN client - eSVN
  • KDE-integrated SVN client - kdesvn

If you think we've left out a major or interesting piece of software from this list, feel free to drop us a note on the mailing list.

For a more complete listing of both CLI and GUI Subversion clients and plugins, please consult this page.


External Diff Tools

This list is by no means complete, but might help you to find something:

  • WinMerge
    a great open-source viewer
  • Perforce Win Diff
    a free tool from Perforce. You can download the full installer here.
  • Examdiff or Examdiff Pro
    an excellent Free or Shareware tool, The 3.2 version can handle unicode.
  • Beyond Compare
    an excellent Shareware tool, can handle Unicode
  • SciTE
    for showing unified diffs, it has built-in support for syntax-coloring, since it's not only a viewer but a Text Editor as well.


External Merge Tools

This list is by no means complete, but might help you to find something:

To set up the calling parameters for these external tools read the section External Program Settings of our Daily Use Guide.


PowerDesk 5

I have PowerDesk version 4.x or 5.x installed. Whenever I right click on a folder in PowerDesk or in Windows Explorer, the application crashes.

This is a bug in PowerDesk.

We would provide a direct link to the knowledge base article, but the PowerDesk website doesn't allow that!
So, to get the update for PowerDesk which fixes this problem, go to http://kb.avanquestusa.com and then search for the article named "PowerDesk crashes when right-clicking on some files and folders".


Removable drives cannot be unmounted

Sometimes when you try to unmount a removable drive, such as a USB pen drive, you get an error message saying that the device is still in use.

The problem here is that Windows only allows a short time after issuing the request to release handles, and TSVNCache.exe cannot always release all handles in time.

However, if you wait a few seconds and try unmounting again, it should work the second time.


Total Commander

TortoiseSVN is a native Windows Explorer Shell extension, so it's only available inside Windows Explorer. Other Commanders/Explorers available don't necessarily load the explorer shell extensions, and if they do we can't guarantee that they do that correctly.

However, as of version 6.5 you can show overlay icons in Total Commander. These How-To notes from Jochem Wendebaum may help you to get started.

  1. Enable right-click functionality
    Go to Configuration -> Options -> Operation and choose "Left mouse button (Windows standard)" in the "Mouse selection mode".
  2. Show overlay icons
    Go to Configuration -> Options -> Layout -> Display and enable "Show overlay icons, e.g. for links". In TortoiseSVN settings, go to the Look and Feel tab and uncheck the box labelled "Show overlays only in explorer".
  3. Show explorer SVN columns
    Install the free "ShellDetails"-Plugin available at
    http://www.ghisler.com/plugins.htm#filesys
    Important note: in order to use it, make sure you read the documentation at
    http://www.lefteous.de/tc/docs/shelldetails/readme.htm#fieldsearchdirs

You will need to restart Total Commander after making these changes.
Total Commander Homepage: http://www.ghisler.com/


TrueCrypt volumes cannot be unmounted

When trying to unmount a TrueCrypt volume you may get an error message saying that the volume is in use.

This is a bug in TrueCrypt prior to the 4.3a release, not TortoiseSVN.

They didn't send the required window messages so that apps holding open handles can close them. TSVNCache waits for these messages (windows itself sends them when e.g. unmounting a flash drive) and then closes the handles. TrueCrypt didn't send those, that's why you can't cleanly unmount those drives when TSVNCache is running.

In the meantime, here's another hint you can try:
If you mount drivecrypt always to the same drive letter, you can specify that path to the exclude list of the overlays (overlay page in the settings dialog). For example, if you always mount drivecrypt to g:\, put "g:\" into the "exclude paths" - next time the cache (TSVNCache.exe) starts up (kill it or next time you restart your computer), the cache won't monitor that drive anymore and therefore won't open any handles there.

Update
The bug is said to be fixed in the 4.3a release of TrueCrypt. Note that this version still identifies itself as simply 4.3 in the about box. The download, however, is "truecrypt-4.3a.zip.