When running the commandsvn ci you get a text editor that allows you to place a comment, below that is there is the text "--This line, and those below, will be ignored--", then the files modified, added, or deleted.
If I were to delete a line such as:
M folderA/fileA
Would it remove that file from the check in, or is that just an SVN comment that has no other effect?
I promise I'm not being sarcastic, but what will happen is
This line, and those below, will be ignored
(it won't affect your commit)
It's just a comment, intended to show the changes that will be committed.
If you don't want to commit all changed/added/deleted files, you need to give it a list of the files that should be committed
svn ci file1 file2 dir1/
If I remember well the file list is there as an aid to remember what you are checking in as you write the comment. If you modify anything under the --ignore-- line, it will have no effect :)
It's a comment that has no effect, unlike other version control systems.
Removing that line will have no effect. If you want to commit only certain files, use
svn ci file1 file2 file3
instead of
svn ci
Matt's answer is perfectly correct. The reason svn does this is so you can refer to the list of files being committed while composing the comment. It's intended to jog you memory about exactly what changes are being included.