Before performing a merge, it is recommended to make sure that the working copy target item
is ready for the merge operation. The SVN Client includes a best practices step that checks
various conditions of the working copy target item to ensure that the merge operation will
succeed. By enabling the Perform pre-merge best practices checks of the working
copy target option in the first page of the Merge wizard,
the Pre-merge checks wizard page is displayed to give you a summary of
the verified conditions.
The Pre-Merge Checks Wizard Page
The following conditions are checked in this operation:
- No local modifications
- The working copy item (or any of its children) receiving the merge should not contain
uncommitted changes, to make it easier to revert merge-generated changes if you encounter
unexpected results.
Tip: If this condition fails, you should
commit or revert the local modifications before merging.
- No switched children
- None of the children of the working copy item receiving the merge should be switched, to
avoid incomplete merges and subtree mergeinfo.
Tip: If this
condition fails, you should switch back all the children before merging.
- Complete working copy tree
- The working copy item receiving the merge should be a complete directory tree structure
with an infinite depth, to avoid incomplete merges and subtree
mergeinfo.
Tip: If this condition fails, you should change the
sticky depth of the working copy item receiving the merge to
infinity value.
- No mixed revisions
- The working copy item receiving the merge should not contain items that were updated to
different revisions, to avoid unexpected merge conflicts.
Tip: If this
condition fails, you should update the working copy before
merging.
Tip: For each condition state, a message is displayed that gives you additional
information about the results and, for warning or errors, a hint that explains how you can
solve them.
Important: After solving any of the warnings or errors, it is recommended that you
perform the pre-merge checks again to make sure your new changes are
valid.