Removing Thumbs.db file from repository

Question

In my project, sometimes Thumbs.db files got included in the repositories. I've added *.db in the global ignore path in Tortoise SVN, but still it's showing red marks on Thumbs.db files. Is there a way I can remove all Thumbs.db files from repository and ignore them for future.

I am using Tortoise SVN on client machine and VisualSVN on Server.

Answer 1

Do you mean that you've added the Thumbs.db to the Global Ignore Pattern in TortoiseSVN | Settings | General? It's a bit different from the common svn:ignore Subversion property.

See the quote of TortoiseSVN Manual:

Global ignore patterns are used to prevent unversioned files from showing up e.g. in the commit dialog. Files matching the patterns are also ignored by an import.

It says that the pattern affects only unversioned items and applies only to the client PC. If the thumbs.db was already added to Subversion or even committed you should right-click the file in your working copy then choose TortoiseSVN | Unversion and add to ignore list.

Further reading on Ignoring Files And Directories with TortoiseSVN.

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If the thumbs.db (or any other file) was already committed to Subversion repository -- it will be there forever :) E.g. even if you apply the svn:ignore property to ignore the thumbs.db it still will be in repository history (in older revisions). BTW see the related Apache Subversion FAQ entry.