Sometimes you will have files and folders inside your working copy that should not be subject to version control. These might include files created by the compiler, *.obj, *.class, *.lst, maybe an output directory used to store the executable. Whenever you commit changes, Subversion shows your modified files but also the unversioned files, which fills up the file list in the commit dialog. Though the unversioned files will not be committed unless otherwise specified, it is difficult to see exactly what you are committing.

The best way to avoid these problems is to add the derived files to the Subversion's ignore list. That way they will never show up in the commit dialog and only genuine unversioned files which must be committed will be shown.

You can choose to ignore a resource by using the Add to svn:ignore action in the context menu from Working Copy View or Synchronize View.

In the Add to svn:ignore dialog you can specify the resource to be ignored by name or by a custom pattern. The custom pattern can contain wildcard characters such as:

For example you may choose to ignore all text documents by using the pattern: *.txt

The action adds a predefined Subversion property called svn:ignore to the parent directory of the specified resource. In this property there are specified all the child resources of that directory that must be ignored. The result will be visible in the Working Copy view. The ignored resources will be represented with grayed icons.