svn switch命令改变存在的工作拷贝到另一个分支，然而这个命令在分支上工作时不是严格必要的，它只是提供了一个快捷方式。在前面的例子里，完成了私有分支的建立，你取出了新目录的工作拷贝，相反，你可以简单的告诉Subversion改变你的/calc/trunk的工作拷贝到分支的路径：
$ cd calc $ svn info | grep URL URL: http://svn.example.com/repos/calc/trunk $ svn switch http://svn.example.com/repos/calc/branches/my-calc-branch U integer.c U button.c U Makefile Updated to revision 341. $ svn info | grep URL URL: http://svn.example.com/repos/calc/branches/my-calc-branch
After “switching” to the branch, your working copy is no different than what you would get from doing a fresh checkout of the directory. And it's usually more efficient to use this command, because often branches differ only by a small degree. The server sends only the minimal set of changes necessary to make your working copy reflect the branch directory.
svn switch命令也可以带--revision(-r)参数，所以你不需要一直移动你的工作拷贝到分支的HEAD。
Of course, most projects are more complicated than our
calc example, and contain multiple
subdirectories. Subversion users often follow a specific
algorithm when using branches:
拷贝整个项目的“trunk”目录到一个新的分支目录。
只是转换工作拷贝的部分目录到分支。
In other words, if a user knows that the branch-work needs only to happen on a specific subdirectory, they use svn switch to move only that subdirectory to the branch. (Or sometimes users will switch just a single working file to the branch!) That way, they can continue to receive normal “trunk” updates to most of their working copy, but the switched portions will remain immune (unless someone commits a change to their branch). This feature adds a whole new dimension to the concept of a “mixed working copy”—not only can working copies contain a mixture of working revisions, but a mixture of repository locations as well.
如果你的工作拷贝包含许多来自不同版本库目录跳转的子树，它会工作如常。当你更新时，你会得到每一个目录适当的补丁，当你提交时，你的本地修改会一直作为一个单独的原子修改提交到版本库。
注意，因为你的工作拷贝可以在混合位置的情况下工作正常，但是所有的位置必须在同一个版本库，Subversion的版本库不能互相通信，这个特性还不在Subversion未来的计划里。
Because svn switch is essentially a variant of svn update, it shares the same behaviors; any local modifications in your working copy are preserved when new data arrives from the repository.
Have you ever found yourself making some complex edits
(in your /trunk working copy) and
suddenly realized, “Hey, these changes ought to be in
their own branch?” A great technique to do this can
be summarized in two steps:
$ svn copy http://svn.example.com/repos/calc/trunk \
http://svn.example.com/repos/calc/branches/newbranch \
-m "Create branch 'newbranch'."
Committed revision 353.
$ svn switch http://svn.example.com/repos/calc/branches/newbranch
At revision 353.
就像svn update命令，svn switch会保留工作拷贝的本地修改，此刻，你的工作拷贝反映到新建的分支上，而你的下一次svn commit会发送修改到服务器。