Making Dropbox ignore an .svn folder

Question

Want to have the benefits of both Dropbox and SVN, but annoyed that Dropbox syncs the.svn folder?

Then here's how to make Dropbox ignore a specific folder, like an.svn folder, on Windows 7:

1. Maybe you already have a.svn folder that you want Dropbox to ignore, but if not, create the.svn folder yourself in the place where you expect SVN to place it.
2. Make a zip file of the.svn folder in question.
3. Click the Dropbox icon in the system tray and go to Preferences > Account > Selective Sync...
4. Navigate to the.svn folder and remove the checkmark next to it. Then click Update.
5. Wait for Dropbox to delete your.svn folder.
6. Unzip the zip file, thus restoring your.svn folder.

Done. Your Dropbox account will now contain an empty.svn folder which will be synced to all your devices. The Windows box you did these steps on will contain the full.svn folder, and it will have a little grey mark on its icon to show that Dropbox is ignoring it. This slightly convoluted procedure was the only way I could get Dropbox to do what I wanted. Hope it helps someone else.

Answer 1

Want to have the benefits of both Dropbox and SVN, but annoyed that Dropbox syncs the.svn folder?

Then here's how to make Dropbox ignore a specific folder, like an.svn folder, on Windows 7:

1. Maybe you already have a.svn folder that you want Dropbox to ignore, but if not, create the.svn folder yourself in the place where you expect SVN to place it.
2. Make a zip file of the.svn folder in question.
3. Click the Dropbox icon in the system tray and go to Preferences > Account > Selective Sync...
4. Navigate to the.svn folder and remove the checkmark next to it. Then click Update.
5. Wait for Dropbox to delete your.svn folder.
6. Unzip the zip file, thus restoring your.svn folder.

Done. Your Dropbox account will now contain an empty.svn folder which will be synced to all your devices. The Windows box you did these steps on will contain the full.svn folder, and it will have a little grey mark on its icon to show that Dropbox is ignoring it. This slightly convoluted procedure was the only way I could get Dropbox to do what I wanted. Hope it helps someone else.