What is a pre-revprop-change hook in SVN and how do I create it

Question

I wanted to edit a log comment in the repository browser and received an error message that no pre-revprop-change hook exists for the repository  Besides having a scary name  what is a pre-revprop-change hook  and how do I create it

User · Answer

For Linux to allow the edition of a log comment,

locate the file pre-revprop-change.tmpl in the hooks directory of your repository
copy the file to the same directory, renaming it to pre-revprop-change
give execute permission to the file (for the server user, e.g. www-data)

Edited: (thanks to lindes)

after that you might have to edit the script to return an exit value of 0 for the kind of edits, that you want to allow.

User · Answer

If you want to save the changes on the log messages  use the batch script from the answer above from  patmortech  https   stackoverflow com a 468475   who copied the script from https   stackoverflow com a 68850  and add these lines between if  quot  bIsEmpty  quot      quot true quot  goto ERROR EMPTY and goto  eofbefore  set outputFile  repos  log-change-history txt  echo User   user   changes log message in rev  rev  on  date   time   gt  gt  outputFile  echo ----- Old message  ----- gt  gt  outputFile  svnlook propget --revprop  repos  svn log -r  rev   gt  gt  outputFile  echo  gt  gt  outputFile  echo ----- New message  ----- gt  gt  outputFile  for  f  quot tokens   quot    g in   find  V  quot  quot    do  echo   g  gt  gt  outputFile   echo ---------- gt  gt  outputFile  echo  gt  gt  outputFile   It will create a text file log-change-history txt in the repo folder on the server and append each log change notification

User · Answer

The name of the hook script is not so scary if you manage decipher it  it s pre revision property change hook  In short  the purpose of pre-revprop-change hook script is to control changes of unversioned  revision  properties and to send notifications  e g  to send an email when revision property is changed    There are 2 types of properties in Subversion    versioned properties  e g svn needs-lock and svn mime-type  that can be set on files and directories  unversioned  revision  properties  e g  svn log and svn date  that are set on repository revisions    Versioned properties have history and can be manipulated by ordinary users who have Read   Write access to a repository  On the other hand  unversioned properties do not have any history and serve mostly maintenance purpose  For example  if you commit a revision it immediately gets svn date with UTC time of your commit  svn author with your username and svn log with your commit log message  if you specified any    As I already specified  the purpose of pre-revprop-change hook script is to control changes of revision properties  You don t want everyone who has access to a repository to be able to modify all revision properties  so changing revision properties is forbidden by default  To allow users to change properties  you have to create pre-revprop-change hook   The simplest hook can contain just one line  exit 0  It will allow any authenticated user to change any revision property and it should not be used in real environment  On Windows  you can use batch script or PowerShell-based script to implement some logic within pre-revprop-change hook   This PowerShell script allows to change svn log property only and denies empty log messages     Store hook arguments into variables with mnemonic names  repos       args 0   rev         args 1   user        args 2   propname    args 3   action      args 4     Only allow changes to svn log  The author  date and other revision   properties cannot be changed if   propname -ne  svn log        Console   Error WriteLine  Only changes to  svn log  revision properties are allowed      exit 1      Only allow modifications to svn log  no addition overwrite or deletion  if   action -ne  M        Console   Error WriteLine  Only modifications to  svn log  revision properties are allowed      exit 2      Read from the standard input while the first non-white-space characters  datalines     input   where     trim   -ne      if   datalines length -lt 25        Log message is empty  Show the error     Console   Error WriteLine  Empty  svn log  properties are not allowed      exit 3    exit 0   This batch script allows only  svnmgr  user to change revision properties   IF   3      svnmgr   goto  label1  else  echo  Only the svnmgr user may change revision properties   gt  amp 2    exit 1 goto  eof   label1 exit 0

User · Answer

This was the easiest for me on a Windows Server  In VisualSVN right-click your repository  then select Properties    and then the  Hooks tab  Select Pre-revision property change hook  click Edit  I needed to be able to change the Author - it often happens on remote computers used by multiple people  that by mistake we check-in using someone else s stored credentials  Here is the modified community wiki script to paste   ECHO OFF    Set all parameters  Even though most are not used  in case you want to add    changes that allow  for example  editing of the author or addition of log messages  set repository  1 set revision  2 set userName  3 set propertyName  4 set action  5     Only allow the author to be changed  but not message   quot svn log quot    etc  if  I not  quot  propertyName  quot      quot svn author quot  goto ERROR PROPNAME     Only allow modification of a log message  not addition or deletion  if  I not  quot  action  quot      quot M quot  goto ERROR ACTION     Make sure that the new svn log message is not empty  set bIsEmpty true for  f  quot tokens   quot    g in   find  V  quot  quot    do   set bIsEmpty false   if  quot  bIsEmpty  quot      quot true quot  goto ERROR EMPTY  goto  eof   ERROR EMPTY echo Empty svn author messages are not allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR PROPNAME echo Only changes to svn author messages are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR ACTION echo Only modifications to svn author revision properties are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR EXIT exit  b 1

User · Answer

For PC users  The  bat extension did not work for me when used on Windows Server maching  I used VisualSvn as Django Reinhardt suggested  and it created a hook with a  cmd extension

User · Answer

Thanks  patmortech  And I added your code which  only the same user can change his code       Only allow editing of the same user  for  f  tokens      a in       VISUALSVN SERVER  bin svnlook exe  author -r  revision   repository    do    set orgAuthor   a   if  I not   userName        orgAuthor   goto ERROR SAME USER

User · Answer

Here is the link to the stack overflow question with many common hooks Common Types of Subversion Hooks  including the original source of the pre-revprop-change hook for Windows cross-posted here    You should refer there as they may get improved over time

User · Answer

If you want to save the changes on the log messages  use the batch script from the answer above from  patmortech  https   stackoverflow com a 468475   who copied the script from https   stackoverflow com a 68850  and add these lines between if  quot  bIsEmpty  quot      quot true quot  goto ERROR EMPTY and goto  eofbefore  set outputFile  repos  log-change-history txt  echo User   user   changes log message in rev  rev  on  date   time   gt  gt  outputFile  echo ----- Old message  ----- gt  gt  outputFile  svnlook propget --revprop  repos  svn log -r  rev   gt  gt  outputFile  echo  gt  gt  outputFile  echo ----- New message  ----- gt  gt  outputFile  for  f  quot tokens   quot    g in   find  V  quot  quot    do  echo   g  gt  gt  outputFile   echo ---------- gt  gt  outputFile  echo  gt  gt  outputFile   It will create a text file log-change-history txt in the repo folder on the server and append each log change notification

User · Answer

Go to SVN repo directory into the subfolder  hooks   e g   D  SVN hooks    create the empty file  pre-revprop-change bat  there in the file write  exit 0   without     and save it enjoy       This solution surely has drawbacks  as nothing is checked prohibited  But for my case - a local repo that only I am using - it seems to work

User · Answer

For Windows  here s a link to an example batch file that only allows changes to the log message  not other properties    http   ayria livejournal com 33438 html  Basically copy the code below into a text file and name it pre-revprop-change bat and save it in the  hooks subdirectory for your repository    ECHO OFF    Set all parameters  Even though most are not used  in case you want to add    changes that allow  for example  editing of the author or addition of log messages  set repository  1 set revision  2 set userName  3 set propertyName  4 set action  5     Only allow the log message to be changed  but not author  etc  if  I not   propertyName       svn log  goto ERROR PROPNAME     Only allow modification of a log message  not addition or deletion  if  I not   action       M  goto ERROR ACTION     Make sure that the new svn log message is not empty  set bIsEmpty true for  f  tokens      g in   find  V      do   set bIsEmpty false   if   bIsEmpty       true  goto ERROR EMPTY  goto  eof   ERROR EMPTY echo Empty svn log messages are not allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR PROPNAME echo Only changes to svn log messages are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR ACTION echo Only modifications to svn log revision properties are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR EXIT exit  b 1

User · Answer

This was the easiest for me on a Windows Server  In VisualSVN right-click your repository  then select Properties    and then the  Hooks tab  Select Pre-revision property change hook  click Edit  I needed to be able to change the Author - it often happens on remote computers used by multiple people  that by mistake we check-in using someone else s stored credentials  Here is the modified community wiki script to paste   ECHO OFF    Set all parameters  Even though most are not used  in case you want to add    changes that allow  for example  editing of the author or addition of log messages  set repository  1 set revision  2 set userName  3 set propertyName  4 set action  5     Only allow the author to be changed  but not message   quot svn log quot    etc  if  I not  quot  propertyName  quot      quot svn author quot  goto ERROR PROPNAME     Only allow modification of a log message  not addition or deletion  if  I not  quot  action  quot      quot M quot  goto ERROR ACTION     Make sure that the new svn log message is not empty  set bIsEmpty true for  f  quot tokens   quot    g in   find  V  quot  quot    do   set bIsEmpty false   if  quot  bIsEmpty  quot      quot true quot  goto ERROR EMPTY  goto  eof   ERROR EMPTY echo Empty svn author messages are not allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR PROPNAME echo Only changes to svn author messages are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR ACTION echo Only modifications to svn author revision properties are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR EXIT exit  b 1

User · Answer

Basically it s a script that is launched before unversioned property is modified on the repository  so that you can manage more precisely what s happening on your repository   There are templates in the SVN distrib for different hooks  located in the  hooks subdirectory    tmpl that you have to edit and rename depending on your OS  to activate

User · Answer

Go to SVN repo directory into the subfolder  hooks   e g   D  SVN hooks    create the empty file  pre-revprop-change bat  there in the file write  exit 0   without     and save it enjoy       This solution surely has drawbacks  as nothing is checked prohibited  But for my case - a local repo that only I am using - it seems to work

User · Answer

Basically it s a script that is launched before unversioned property is modified on the repository  so that you can manage more precisely what s happening on your repository   There are templates in the SVN distrib for different hooks  located in the  hooks subdirectory    tmpl that you have to edit and rename depending on your OS  to activate

User · Answer

For PC users  The  bat extension did not work for me when used on Windows Server maching  I used VisualSvn as Django Reinhardt suggested  and it created a hook with a  cmd extension

User · Answer

For Windows  here s a link to an example batch file that only allows changes to the log message  not other properties    http   ayria livejournal com 33438 html  Basically copy the code below into a text file and name it pre-revprop-change bat and save it in the  hooks subdirectory for your repository    ECHO OFF    Set all parameters  Even though most are not used  in case you want to add    changes that allow  for example  editing of the author or addition of log messages  set repository  1 set revision  2 set userName  3 set propertyName  4 set action  5     Only allow the log message to be changed  but not author  etc  if  I not   propertyName       svn log  goto ERROR PROPNAME     Only allow modification of a log message  not addition or deletion  if  I not   action       M  goto ERROR ACTION     Make sure that the new svn log message is not empty  set bIsEmpty true for  f  tokens      g in   find  V      do   set bIsEmpty false   if   bIsEmpty       true  goto ERROR EMPTY  goto  eof   ERROR EMPTY echo Empty svn log messages are not allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR PROPNAME echo Only changes to svn log messages are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR ACTION echo Only modifications to svn log revision properties are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR EXIT exit  b 1

User · Answer

Basically it s a script that is launched before unversioned property is modified on the repository  so that you can manage more precisely what s happening on your repository   There are templates in the SVN distrib for different hooks  located in the  hooks subdirectory    tmpl that you have to edit and rename depending on your OS  to activate

User · Answer

For Windows  here s a link to an example batch file that only allows changes to the log message  not other properties    http   ayria livejournal com 33438 html  Basically copy the code below into a text file and name it pre-revprop-change bat and save it in the  hooks subdirectory for your repository    ECHO OFF    Set all parameters  Even though most are not used  in case you want to add    changes that allow  for example  editing of the author or addition of log messages  set repository  1 set revision  2 set userName  3 set propertyName  4 set action  5     Only allow the log message to be changed  but not author  etc  if  I not   propertyName       svn log  goto ERROR PROPNAME     Only allow modification of a log message  not addition or deletion  if  I not   action       M  goto ERROR ACTION     Make sure that the new svn log message is not empty  set bIsEmpty true for  f  tokens      g in   find  V      do   set bIsEmpty false   if   bIsEmpty       true  goto ERROR EMPTY  goto  eof   ERROR EMPTY echo Empty svn log messages are not allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR PROPNAME echo Only changes to svn log messages are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR ACTION echo Only modifications to svn log revision properties are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR EXIT exit  b 1

User · Answer

Here is the link to the stack overflow question with many common hooks Common Types of Subversion Hooks  including the original source of the pre-revprop-change hook for Windows cross-posted here    You should refer there as they may get improved over time

User · Answer

For Windows  here s a link to an example batch file that only allows changes to the log message  not other properties    http   ayria livejournal com 33438 html  Basically copy the code below into a text file and name it pre-revprop-change bat and save it in the  hooks subdirectory for your repository    ECHO OFF    Set all parameters  Even though most are not used  in case you want to add    changes that allow  for example  editing of the author or addition of log messages  set repository  1 set revision  2 set userName  3 set propertyName  4 set action  5     Only allow the log message to be changed  but not author  etc  if  I not   propertyName       svn log  goto ERROR PROPNAME     Only allow modification of a log message  not addition or deletion  if  I not   action       M  goto ERROR ACTION     Make sure that the new svn log message is not empty  set bIsEmpty true for  f  tokens      g in   find  V      do   set bIsEmpty false   if   bIsEmpty       true  goto ERROR EMPTY  goto  eof   ERROR EMPTY echo Empty svn log messages are not allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR PROPNAME echo Only changes to svn log messages are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR ACTION echo Only modifications to svn log revision properties are allowed   gt  amp 2 goto ERROR EXIT   ERROR EXIT exit  b 1

User · Answer

Basically it s a script that is launched before unversioned property is modified on the repository  so that you can manage more precisely what s happening on your repository   There are templates in the SVN distrib for different hooks  located in the  hooks subdirectory    tmpl that you have to edit and rename depending on your OS  to activate

User · Answer

Thanks  patmortech  And I added your code which  only the same user can change his code       Only allow editing of the same user  for  f  tokens      a in       VISUALSVN SERVER  bin svnlook exe  author -r  revision   repository    do    set orgAuthor   a   if  I not   userName        orgAuthor   goto ERROR SAME USER

User · Answer

For Linux to allow the edition of a log comment,

locate the file pre-revprop-change.tmpl in the hooks directory of your repository
copy the file to the same directory, renaming it to pre-revprop-change
give execute permission to the file (for the server user, e.g. www-data)

Edited: (thanks to lindes)

after that you might have to edit the script to return an exit value of 0 for the kind of edits, that you want to allow.

User · Answer

The name of the hook script is not so scary if you manage decipher it  it s pre revision property change hook  In short  the purpose of pre-revprop-change hook script is to control changes of unversioned  revision  properties and to send notifications  e g  to send an email when revision property is changed    There are 2 types of properties in Subversion    versioned properties  e g svn needs-lock and svn mime-type  that can be set on files and directories  unversioned  revision  properties  e g  svn log and svn date  that are set on repository revisions    Versioned properties have history and can be manipulated by ordinary users who have Read   Write access to a repository  On the other hand  unversioned properties do not have any history and serve mostly maintenance purpose  For example  if you commit a revision it immediately gets svn date with UTC time of your commit  svn author with your username and svn log with your commit log message  if you specified any    As I already specified  the purpose of pre-revprop-change hook script is to control changes of revision properties  You don t want everyone who has access to a repository to be able to modify all revision properties  so changing revision properties is forbidden by default  To allow users to change properties  you have to create pre-revprop-change hook   The simplest hook can contain just one line  exit 0  It will allow any authenticated user to change any revision property and it should not be used in real environment  On Windows  you can use batch script or PowerShell-based script to implement some logic within pre-revprop-change hook   This PowerShell script allows to change svn log property only and denies empty log messages     Store hook arguments into variables with mnemonic names  repos       args 0   rev         args 1   user        args 2   propname    args 3   action      args 4     Only allow changes to svn log  The author  date and other revision   properties cannot be changed if   propname -ne  svn log        Console   Error WriteLine  Only changes to  svn log  revision properties are allowed      exit 1      Only allow modifications to svn log  no addition overwrite or deletion  if   action -ne  M        Console   Error WriteLine  Only modifications to  svn log  revision properties are allowed      exit 2      Read from the standard input while the first non-white-space characters  datalines     input   where     trim   -ne      if   datalines length -lt 25        Log message is empty  Show the error     Console   Error WriteLine  Empty  svn log  properties are not allowed      exit 3    exit 0   This batch script allows only  svnmgr  user to change revision properties   IF   3      svnmgr   goto  label1  else  echo  Only the svnmgr user may change revision properties   gt  amp 2    exit 1 goto  eof   label1 exit 0

[svn] What is a pre-revprop-change hook in SVN, and how do I create it?

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