Is there a way to turn TortoiseSVN using svn:mergeinfo off?
When I'm doing a TortoiseSVN merge, it includes a bunch of directories, and some files into the modified files, even though there are no actual changes.
It changes the property svn:mergeinfo.
Is there any reason why these properties set on the directory/files are needed? Is there any way to get around not doing these changes to svn:mergeinfo?
I usually just revert the items then commit, but this wastes extra time.
Answer
That is happening, very likely, because those files and directories have the svn:mergeinfo property set from a previous merge. I don't think it's generally a good idea to merge individual files or directories in a way that causes the mergeinfo to be written to individual files. You should get into the habit of merging at the highest level possible for your workflow, so that the mergeinfo property is only set on structural directories, such as /trunk or /branches/1.0.
However, if you do find yourself with mergeinfo properties on individual files and folders, there are two things you can do: the first thing is simply to remove the svn:mergeinfo property from the files and directories in question. I'm not sure this is recommended unless you really know what you're doing, and what the effects might be. Read the documentation before you do this!
The second thing you can do is commit the property changes the way SVN wants you to, which, if you trust the software, is probably the right thing do.
That having been said, I've been working with my teammates to get in the right habits so that we don't have this annoyance any more.