What do the different columns (of letters) mean for the svn merge output?

Question

The output of SVN merge has 4 columns of letters listed before the file name. I understand the meaning of the letters (mostly) but I can't find any information on the meanings of the columns and so only have a vague understanding based on context. Can anyone point me to the documentation on this?

Based on context I've been able to infer that column:

1. Is about text changes to a file
2. Seems to be related to use of the svn ignore command on a folder (or maybe it's just properties of the file?)
3. I've never seen a letter in the third column and hence I have no idea what it means.
4. Might be tree conflicts? This is the one I'm mostly worried about because I don't know how to handle it yet.

Answer 1

You can find everything you need to know about subversion from http://svnbook.red-bean.com/. Your question is answered at http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.5/svn.ref.svn.c.status.html.

Answer 2

With the links given by Corey, you can also look at this "Subversion Commands and Scripts". This page has detailed explanation about the svn commands. Also the detailed explanation for svn merge is available at 'svn merge'

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

By experimentation, the C's that shows up in the 3rd column in svn merge correspond to the C's that show up in the 7th column when I do an svn status. So, a C in the 3rd column from the merge command must correspond to the item being the victim of a tree conflict.

Answer 4

James, I had the same issue - very frustrating not finding detailed "svn merge" info; however, in my google searches I found this posting: http://svn.haxx.se/users/archive-2008-06/0813.shtml

It indicates that the "svn merge" status letters are identical to the "svn update" status letters, which are actually documented. From the "svn help update" command:

For each updated item a line will start with a character reporting the action taken. These characters have the following meaning:

A  Added
D  Deleted
U  Updated
C  Conflict
G  Merged

A character in the first column signifies an update to the actual file, while updates to the file's properties are shown in the second column. A 'B' in the third column signifies that the lock for the file has been broken or stolen.