Loosing data can be very gruesome specially when you are in harry to complete your project. How one can make a safe backup from data and additionally and in the same time keep track of the every nuance changes in the data as the project goes on? Here, in this article, I will describe step by step how you can easily and effortlessly setup a united repository for your research data or papers.
NOTE: This paper is intended for those who use Microsoft Windows as operating system.
- Download and install TortoiseSVN from the vendor site. It is an open source and safe program. After that, you may need to restart your computer.
- Sign up in the one of the major online repository websites. I prefer two of them over the others. They offer free plans and good online service. https://www.assembla.com/ and https://projectlocker.com/
- Create a space or repository in those websites.
- Create a folder on your computer where you can sync and commit your changes, lets say “Thesis”.
- Right click on the folder and select “SVN checkout” from the context menu.
- In the URL of repository type or paste the address of the repository you’ve create before:(An example: https://pl3.projectlocker.com/******/Thesis/svn where ***** denotes your user name)
- Click OK and it is good to go. The folder now is your local repository.
- To add/update a file, you need to put/change the file in the folder, then Right click on the folder, “Thesis” in my case, and then select SVN commit. You can write some descriptions for the commitment that you make.
I hope this recipe would help those who want to organize their data into a unified database.