Reorganize directory tree without messing with SVN dates

I have an svn tree that over years has become messy. It contains many files and directories that have not been modified in many years... the date of last activity is a major clue.

If I "svn rename foodir somewhere/foodir" I get the desired result, but with new dates and history. The files thus look more fresh than they really are.

With cvs I could just "mv" the relevant files or directories on the server get the desired result of reorganizing the tre开发者_运维百科e without creating history or messing with dates. Can the same operation be done with svn?

I am aware of "svn propset svn:date": SVN commit with old date/time But that's both awkward and only a partial solution.

Changing data "by hand" in repository is not good approach in your case. SCM tools are designed to preserve "history" timeline. You may need this history to dig why half year ago some binary worked fine and now is broken.

I don't see any bad in svn move - the history will show the move and all previous history. Thus you will know were each file/directory came from.

But if you was using cvs I could agree with you. In cvs, in contrast to svn, move of files is not supported, history if directory is not maintained. Exactly these problem of cvs and some others svn is aimed to solve.

As for dates which will change - if you have thousands of file, than who care about date - just look to svn log.