Repositories hosted via Apache can obviously be viewed in a browser using the same http(s):// protocol that the client would use. However, protocols like svn:// and svn+ssh:// cause browsers (I've tested Safari and Firefox) to barf. One might ask why in the world a browser would be trying to process such a URL. Aside from the fact that users often try the most unexpected things, I actually have a valid use case. :-)
I've a developer on WebSVN (http://www.websvn.info, http:// websvn.tigris.org ), a PHP web-based SVN browsing tool. It integrates nicely with my workflow with Versions, and we use it a lot at my work. I've recently added the ability to associate a client URL (which could be http://, svn://, etc.) with a repository, and it can be used by templates to display fully-formed links to the user. This makes it possible to browse using WebSVN (which is much more featureful than the bare Apache interface, and better than nothing if you're hosting via svnserve) and when a specific resource has been found, click to get the equivalent URL that should be used by an SVN client. Since OS X doesn't have a handler that recognizes svnserve protocols, browsers have no option in such cases but to display an error. However, I think this could be improved.
I've heard that TortoiseSVN (Windows only) can "intercept" (i.e. act as a handler for) protocols like svn:// and svn+ssh://. I know for a fact that Bwana (http://www.bruji.com/bwana/) can intercept URLs starting with "man:" from a browser, render a man page as HTML, and display the text in the browser. It would be awesome if Versions could act as a handler for svnserve protocols, and even better if it could dynamically match the URL with an existing repository bookmark, or provide the option to create one if one doesn't exist.
Another nice addition would be a simple Service (I can't rave enough about how much better they are in Snow Leopard!) that recognizes URLs with these protocols, and potentially http(s):// as well. This would make it as easy as highlighting a URL (perhaps in a document, email, or webpage) and right-clicking (or typing a hotkey) to open the URL in Versions. (I get happy just thinking about that...) :-D
Thanks, - Quinn
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