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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsIf the file is already in an SVN working copy, update just that target with svn update path/to/file. If you do not have a working copy, SVN cannot check out a lone file as a versioned working copy; use a sparse checkout to keep SVN metadata, or svn export if you only need an unversioned copy.
Update one file in an existing working copy
From the working-copy root, run:
svn update path/to/fileReplace path/to/file with the file’s path relative to your current directory, or provide its path from elsewhere in the working copy. The command updates that target from the repository while respecting the working copy’s sparse depth. Changes already made locally can interact with incoming changes, so check the file first:
svn status path/to/fileReview any local modifications before updating. Apache’s quick-start documentation describes svn update as the command for synchronizing a working copy with repository changes and recommends updating before committing.
Can you check out a single versioned file?
No. Subversion does not support checking out a lone file as a versioned working copy: checkout operates on directory structures. A versioned working copy includes SVN metadata that allows commands such as svn update to work on tracked paths. The Subversion FAQ states that a single-file checkout is not supported.
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Use a sparse checkout to avoid populating the whole tree
If you need a small working copy that retains SVN metadata, check out a directory at empty depth, then add only the parent directories and file you need. For example:
svn checkout --depth=empty https://svn.example.com/repos/project/trunk project-wc
cd project-wc
svn update --depth=empty path/to/parent
svn update path/to/fileReplace the example repository URL and paths with your own. The first command creates a working copy of the trunk directory without populating its children. The second creates or updates the parent directory at empty depth; the final command retrieves the requested file.
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Subversion 1.5 introduced depth options for checkout, switch, and update. The documented depth choices control how much of a directory tree is populated:
| Depth | What it populates |
|---|---|
empty |
The directory itself; no files or subdirectories are pulled in. |
files |
Files directly inside the directory, but not its subdirectories. |
immediates |
Immediate files and directories; newly added subdirectories remain at empty depth. |
infinity |
The full tree recursively, equivalent to normal full-depth behavior. |
These definitions and the behavior of sparse updates are described in the Subversion 1.5 release notes. The update API documentation also describes target depth and the make_parents option, which can create missing parent directories at empty depth.
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Choose the command for what you need
| Need | Command | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Refresh a file already in a working copy | svn update path/to/file |
Updates the target, subject to sparse depth and conflicts. |
| Create a small versioned working copy | svn checkout --depth=empty REPO/subtree wc, then svn update path/to/file |
Keeps SVN metadata while populating only requested paths. |
| Get one unversioned file | svn export REPO/path/file local-file |
Copies file contents without creating a versioned working copy. |
| Read a historical repository revision | svn cat -r REV REPO/path/file |
Prints the file contents without changing your working copy. |
Export a file when you do not need SVN metadata
To obtain a file without creating a working copy, use svn export:
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svn export REPOSITORY_URL/path/to/file local-fileThis retrieves the file’s contents without SVN metadata, so the result is not a versioned working copy and cannot be updated with svn update. The Subversion FAQ identifies export as the alternative when a single file is needed without a working copy.
Inspect an older revision without changing your working copy
To read a file at a particular repository revision, use svn cat with the revision and repository URL:
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svn cat -r REV REPO/path/to/fileReplace REV with the revision number and the path with the repository file path. The command writes the file contents to the terminal and leaves the working copy unchanged. See the sparse directories guide for this historical-inspection use case.
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