single developer using SVN and being told need to update project

Question

I keep a SVN repository for all my personal programming work using a hosted solution online. I am the sole user of system, it is used just a backup.

Now when I try to commit my changes I am being told the project needs to update.

From what I understand, an update is when the repository contains changes that my local copy does not have. But as the sole dev, I don't know how this is possible. There cannot be any changes on the server that I did not make.

I have tried searching around to find if updating will just resync, or potentially delete my most recent changes. I have been without internet for a week, so my local copies have many changes I do not want to lose.

This has happened many times before and always ends up with a lot of faffing around and in some cases just creating a new repository, but this seems extreme. This time, I have about 5 projects all saying the same, so it must be something I am doing wrongly or misunderstanding.

I would like to know why this happens and the correct way to handle it.

Answer 1

Sometimes SVN just need to maintain its meta information updates, but this doesn't mean that your files will be changed or deleted.

If you are not confident about this required update, do the following:

1. Copy your local repository to another folder;
2. Perform a SVN Update on it and check if the files will be changed.

I see no reason to worry about, since you are "the sole developer" from your repository.