How do I create a branch?

branch, branching-and-merging, svn, version-control

Solution

Branching in Subversion is facilitated by a very very light and efficient copying facility.

Branching and tagging are effectively the same. Just copy a whole folder in the repository to somewhere else in the repository using the `svn copy` command.

Basically this means that it is by convention what copying a folder means - whether it be a backup, tag, branch or whatever. Depending upon how you want to think about things (normally depending upon which SCM tool you have used in the past) you need to set up a folder structure within your repository to support your style.

Common styles are to have a bunch of folders at the top of your repository called `tags`, `branches`, `trunk`, etc. - that allows you to copy your whole `trunk` (or sub-sets) into the `tags` and/or `branches` folders. If you have more than one project you might want to replicate this kind of structure under each project:

It can take a while to get used to the concept - but it works - just make sure you (and your team) are clear on the conventions that you are going to use. It is also a good idea to have a good naming convention - something that tells you why the branch/tag was made and whether it is still appropriate - consider ways of archiving branches that are obsolete.

Problem

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