Newbie: combine repositories?

[Ben Finney]

Greg Skelhorn <skellygs at netscape.net> writes:

> I hope I get the terminology correct...

I hope so too :-)

> Is it possible to combine branches from multiple shared repositories
> into a single branch in a new shared repository?

Yes. Simply create the shared repository, then (re-)create each branch
within that shared repository.

    $ bzr init-repository fooproj/
    $ cd fooproj/

    $ bzr branch remote-project/baconbranch/ ./baconbranch/
    $ bzr branch other-remote-project/eggsbranch/ ./eggsbranch/

    $ bzr info ./baconbranch/
    Repository tree (format: …)
    Location:
      shared repository: .
      repository branch: baconbranch
    …

    $ bzr info ./eggsbranch/
    Repository tree (format: …)
    Location:
      shared repository: .
      repository branch: eggsbranch
    …

This only “combines” the branches in that they now use the same
repository for storing revision data. If they don't have a common
ancestor, this is of no benefit; but it also is of no harm, and things
will continue to work at least as well as they did before.

So perhaps your terminology isn't saying what you want it to say.

> Can the history of each branch be preserved?

Yes, but they will remain distinct branches without a common ancestor,
so won't *share* any history and won't benefit from using the same
shared repository.

> Can this be done on a remote server via sftp?

Any of the above locations (the paths that I specify with trailing
slash) can, I believe, be SFTP locations.

-- 
 \          “Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and |
  `\        action, where it often substitutes for both.” —John Andrew |
_o__)                                  Holmes, _Wisdom in Small Doses_ |
Ben Finney