svn command line: heredoc as message

Question

Is there a way to use a heredoc as the message via the svn command?

I tried this:

$ echo <<TEXT | svn commit -m - 
  > line one input
  > line two input
  >TEXT

In my repository it just writes the dash as the message.

I tried searching around and didn't find a way of doing a multi-line input other than writing in the \n characters, but it would be great if I could just regular multi-lined text that I've already typed up as the input.

Is it possible using a different method or is it just wishful thinking?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can set an environment variable which will allow svn to open up your desired text editor to enter your commit message.

SVN_EDITOR

Look here for more info

Answer 2

If you really want to use a here document you need to use the -F option. But your other problem is you're using echo which doesn't take any input on stdin. You want cat.

So the following will work:

cat <<TEXT | svn commit -F -

If you're doing this interactively I think you'll prefer Jon Taylor's answer.