Tortoise SVN: resolve conflict using "them." What does it mean?

Question

Can someone explain the difference between the following two variants of Tortoise SVN on conflicting files:

• Solve the conflict using "them."
• Solve the conflict using "mine".

On a side note. Why has no one ever reported this confusing use of terminology as an error?

Answer 1

Resolving conflicts using "theirs" means that when you try to check two files with conflicting changes, SVN will discard your changes and replace other people instead.

Resolving conflicts using "mine" means that you discard their changes and use your version of the file instead.

Answer 2

I would like to add the entire list for future reference:

(e) edit - change merged file in an editor (df) diff-full - show all changes made to merged file (r) resolved - accept merged version of file (dc) display-conflict - show all conflicts (ignoring merged version) (mc) mine-conflict - accept my version for all conflicts (same) (tc) theirs-conflict - accept their version for all conflicts (same) (mf) mine-full - accept my version of entire file (even non-conflicts) (tf) theirs-full - accept their version of entire file (same) (p) postpone - mark the conflict to be resolved later (l) launch - launch external tool to resolve conflict (s) show all - show this list 

Answer 3

I agree.

It seems to me that it would be more clear if he said:

• Allow the use of the repository (s)
• Allow use of working copy (mine)

Answer 4

BuzzAnn is correct. mine against them is ambiguous, because what can be mine in the repository. The clear difference is the repository versus the local copy.

Answer 5

Merging the SVN command line is confusing, especially when merging the branch back into the trunk. “My changes” are the ones I made in the branch, but that would be wrong according to SVN. To really complicate matters, SVN refers to paths like SOURCE, TARGET, and HEAD on the command line.

Here is a simple answer if you run this merge statement from the C: \ Project1 \ Trunk directory

 svn merge -r 60:68 C:\Project1\branches\UpdatesToProject1 

"Mine" is the directory from which SVN is run from (C: \ Project1 \ Trunk).

"Their" is the directory you enter and point to on the command line (C: \ Project1 \ branches \ UpdatesToProject1)

It would be really nice if SVN gave the paths referenced by MINE and THEIRS.

Answer 6

If you agree that the one in the repository is no longer (exclusively) yours, it is transferred to everyone who has access, then this may be more understandable.

In this context:

"their" means "general command code in the repository" "my" means (my) "working copy" (possibly on the local machine)

So, "using them" replaces your working copy with a shared copy, undoes the changes that exist on your local computer. “use mine”, deciding that the code in your working copy is what should be stored in the repository, discarding what is currently in the repo.