I think SVN wants you to not copy the file/dir but instead to merge the
revision where it was added to the branch.
Interesting idea, but as far as I get it it seems a complicated process:
- In the WC's target directory, merge a part of the changeset that
created (or last moved) the wanted subdirectory. So now we're no longer
only merging root directories.
- Inside the new subdirectory, merge the rest of the history of the
source subdirectory.
And why would SVN not like copies? Forget that I wrote "from another
branch", it happens inside a branch too (i.e. if the only active
mergeinfo is in a parent directory shared by source and target of the
copy). If you do a simple WC -> WC copy, you get no additional
mergeinfo. If you do a URL -> WC copy on the same paths and revisions,
you get explicit/excessive mergeinfo on top. I'm pretty sure that's a
bug. But never mind, I can elide it myself. We'll see in 1.7.
--
Stein