How do you deal with configuration files in source control?

svn git version-control cvs
deadprogrammer picture deadprogrammer · Aug 8, 2008 · Viewed 15.7k times · Source

Let's say you have a typical web app and with a file configuration.whatever. Every developer working on the project will have one version for their dev boxes, there will be a dev, prod and stage versions. How do you deal with this in source control? Not check in this file at all, check it with different names or do something fancy altogether?

Answer

yukondude picture yukondude · Aug 8, 2008

What I've done in the past is to have a default config file which is checked in to source control. Then, each developer has their own override config file which is excluded from source control. The app first loads the default, and then if the override file is present, loads that and uses any settings from the override in preference to the default file.

In general, the smaller the override file the better, but it can always contain more settings for a developer with a very non-standard environment.

Related questions

Why should I use version control?

I was reading a blog where the writer said this "Code doesn’t exist unless it’s checked into a version control system. Use version control for everything you do. Any version control, SVN, Git, even CVS, master it and …

Read More
How do I migrate an SVN repository with history to a new Git repository?

I read the Git manual, FAQ, Git - SVN crash course, etc. and they all explain this and that, but nowhere can you find a simple instruction like: SVN repository in: svn://myserver/path/to/svn/repos Git repository in: …

Read More
Should I use SVN or Git?

I am starting a new distributed project. Should I use SVN or Git, and why?

Read More