Your repository should exist before you perform this step. So if you haven't done it yet, consult the documentation of your SVN distribution and create a repository on the server for your project.  

Make a note of the URL (the local network address) of your repository before proceeding. This is the address you are going to need to access. This is always shown in your SVN management console, usually under a heading like "Location".

Step 1: Create the master copy in the repository

1.If your Help+Manual project is not already saved in uncompressed HMXP format do that now by selecting Save As... in the File menu and saving it to an empty folder.

2.Open the uncompressed HMXP version of the project in Help+Manual.

3.Select Version Control in the File menu and then select Bind current project to Subversion.

4.Select Server-based repository, then enter the URL in the Subversion Repository URL: field. If you want, you can click on the browse button to browse the selected repository. The repository folder you select must be empty, otherwise the OK button will be grayed out. Then click on Next.

5.In the next dialog the output file is preselected and cannot be changed because it is your local project. Just click on OK to upload a copy of the project to the repository.

You are now finished for the computer on which you are working. There, the local copy is now automatically linked to the new master copy in them SVN repository. The next step is to create local copies for the other authors in the team.

Important note: Additional files are not added until the first synchronization!
When you first add a project to an SVN repository, Help+Manual only adds the standard project components. These are the .hmxp project file, the .xml topic and TOC files and any baggage files. If your project folder also contains image files and other additional files, these will be added automatically the first time you use the Synchronize tool in the Project tab.

Step 2: Create linked local working copies for all team members

You need to repeat these steps for every member of the team who is going to work on the project. These steps must be performed on each user's computer. Here too, make a note of the URL (location) of your repository in the SVN management console before you begin.

Important note: Your local working copies must be stored on a local drive!
Your local working copies must be local! Every user should choose a folder on a local drive on their own local computer for their working copy. If you store your working copy on a network drive you may experience serious performance problems because of loopback issues with the server. This will be worse with larger projects.

1.On each author's computer, start Help+Manual and select Version Control in the File menu.

2.Select Load a Subversion project and open it locally.

3.Then select Server-based repository and enter the URL (location) of your repository in the Subversion Repository URL: field. You can click on the browse button to browse in the repository if you want.

4.Click on Next, and in the next screen enter or select the path to the folder where you want to store the local working copy. This must be an empty folder. Then click on OK to create the local copy.

The local copy will be created and opened directly in Help+Manual. The overlay icons in the table of contents show that it is integrated in an SVN repository.

If you are using SVN on your own you don't need the SVN server component. You can use Tortoise SVN on its own, because it includes full SVN functionality for local use. Note that Tortoise SVN is not a "program" in the normal sense. All its functions are accessed via context menus in Windows Explorer.

Step 1: Create a local repository with Tortoise SVN

1.Open Windows Explorer, select an empty folder where you want to store your repository and right-click on it to display the context menu.

2.In the Tortoise SVN menu, select Create repository here and create a repository with a suitable name for your project.

Step 2: Add your project to the local repository

1.Open the project you want to add to the repository in Help+Manual and select Version Control in the File menu and then select Bind current project to Subversion.

2.In the dialog displayed select File-based repository in the Select Repository Kind: field. Then click on the browse button in the Subversion Repository URL: field and select the local repository you created in step 1.

3.Click on Next and then click on OK in the next screen to finish the operation. (Your local copy already exists so you don't need to select it.)

If you have been using Subversion manually for storing your uncompressed Help+Manual HMXP projects you don't need to do anything to continue using them.

Important: Don't try to store compressed HMXZ projects in SVN. That can't be integrated actively in Help+Manual and is a waste of time because it just stores the entire project as a single file and can't differentiate any changes in topics etc.

You can open your local working copies directly in Help+Manual without any changes. HM will automatically recognize that the project is versioned and will display the SVN icon overlays in the table of contents. When you use the Synchronize SVN tool HM will synchronize all the contents of your project folder with your SVN repository. New topics, baggage files and other files added to the project folder will also be added and synchronized automatically.

This also works for complex repositories containing multiple projects and other folders all in a single repository. Help+Manual manages this transparently, so that you can edit and synchronize these projects as well from within Help+Manual. Note, however, that HM only manages the files and folders within your project folder. It will not touch any files or folders outside the project folder, even if they are included in your SVN repository.

Perform these steps to create your own personal working copy of a project that is already stored in a Subversion repository. You will need to get the URL (location) of the repository to be able to do this. You will be able to find this in your Subversion management console. It is normally referred to as the "Location" of the repository. If you didn't create the repository yourself you may need to get this from your system administrator or project leader.

1.Start Help+Manual, select Version Control in the File menu. Then select Load a Subversion project and open it locally.

2.Then select the repository type (server-based, unless you are using a local one-person installation) and enter the URL (location) of your repository in the Subversion Repository URL: field. You can click on the browse button to browse in the repository if you want.

3.Click on Next, and in the next screen enter or select the path to the folder where you want to store the local working copy. This must be an empty folder. Then click on OK to create the local copy.

The local copy will be created and opened directly in Help+Manual. The overlay icons in the table of contents show that it is integrated in an SVN repository.