new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.zsh/50.vcs_functions.zsh
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+## vcs_functions
+# This file contains a handful of functions that relate to using some version
+# control tool or other.
+
+# Function to grab the url of an svn wc
+function svnurlof() {
+    local url
+    url=`svn info $1 2> /dev/null | grep '^URL: ' | sed 's/URL: //'`
+    if [ x"$url" = "x" ] ; then
+        url=`git svn info $1 2> /dev/null | grep '^URL: ' | sed 's/URL: //'`
+    fi
+    if [ x"$url" = "x" ] ; then
+    	local dir
+    	dir=$1
+    	if [ x"$dir" = "x" ] ; then
+    		dir="."
+    	fi
+        url=`hg -R $dir svn info 2> /dev/null | grep '^URL: ' | sed 's/URL: //'`
+    fi
+    if [ x"$url" = "x" ] ; then
+        echo -n 'No repo found (tried svn, git-svn, hgsvnclient)'
+    fi
+    echo $url
+}
+
+# Function to clean locks out of svn wcs
+function clean_svn_source_trees() {
+    for aa in */ ; do
+        pushd $aa > /dev/null
+        if [ -e .svn ] ; then
+            echo $aa 'is an svn checkout, cleaning' && svn cleanup
+        fi
+        popd  > /dev/null
+    done
+}
+
+# Function to update source trees of known VCS tools in the working dir.
+# "known" means ones I'm forced to use on a regular basis
+function update_source_trees() {
+    for aa in */ ; do
+        pushd $aa > /dev/null
+        if [ -e .svn ] ; then
+            echo $aa 'is an svn checkout, updating'
+            svn up
+        elif [ -e .hg/svn ] ; then
+            echo $aa 'is an hg-svn checkout, updating'
+            hg svn pull
+            hg svn gentags
+            hg up
+        elif [ -e .git/svn ] ; then
+            echo $aa 'is a git-svn checkout, updating'
+            git svn fetch
+            git repack
+            git gc
+        elif [ -e .git ] ; then
+            echo $aa 'is a git checkout, updating'
+            git pull origin master
+            git repack
+            git gc
+        elif [ -e .hg ] ; then
+            echo $aa 'is an hg checkout, updating' && hg pull && hg up
+        elif [ -e _MTN ] ; then
+            echo $aa "is an mtn co, updating" && mtn pull && mtn up
+        fi
+        popd > /dev/null
+    done
+}
+
+function vcs_current_branch() {
+    hg branch 2> /dev/null > /dev/null
+    if [ $? = 0 ] ; then
+        local br=`hg branch | head -c 10`
+        local rid=`hg parents | head -n 1 | awk '{print $2}' | head -c 7`
+        echo "$br $rid"
+        return 0
+    fi
+    git branch 2> /dev/null > /dev/null
+    if [ $? = 0 ] ; then
+        git branch --verbose | grep '^*' | sed 's/* //;s/ /:/;s/ .*//;s/:/ /'
+        return 0
+    fi
+    # when wc-ng comes out, we'll probably do the following
+    # svn info 2> /dev/null > /dev/null
+    if [ -e .svn ] ; then
+        local d=`svn info | grep URL | sed 's/.*://'`
+        local br=`echo $d | awk '{
+                        if ( index($1, "trunk") ) {
+                            print  "trunk"
+                        } else {
+                            x = index($1, "branches") ;
+                            if ( x != 0 ) {
+                                sub(".*/branches/", "");
+                                sub("/.*", "");
+                                print $0
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }'`
+        local rev=`svn info | grep Revision | sed 's/.*: /r/'`
+        echo $br $rev
+        return 0
+    fi
+    return 1
+}
+
+# change to the root dir of the current wc
+function wcroot() {
+    local root=`hg root 2> /dev/null`
+    if [ x$root != 'x' ] ; then
+        cd $root
+        return 0
+    fi
+    git branch 2> /dev/null > /dev/null
+    if [ $? = 0 ] ; then
+        while [ ! -e .git ] ; do
+            cd ..
+        done
+        return 0
+    fi
+    if [ -e .svn ] ; then
+        while [ -e ../.svn ] ; do
+            cd ..
+        done
+        return 0
+    fi
+    echo No working copy found'!'
+}