I finally got to play with the svn:externals property. This works similarly to the shared project in Visual Source Safe and JEDI VCS.

The usage for this property is a bit awkward, and took me a few tries to get it right. Basically, you have to set this property on the directory above where you want to use it. Here are the steps I took to get this working:

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Right-click on the folder that will be the parent for the external linked repository.

Then Select Properties. Select the Subversion tab.

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Click on the Properties button. You should get this:

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Click on the Add button. You should get this dialog:

I took this screenshot with the combo box list open so that you can see what’s in it.

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Make sure that svn:externals is selected in the drop down. Then, just start typing right in the Property value box.

First type the actual physical name of the directory you want to host this (in other words, the root of this external).

Press the space bar, then start typing the actual URL to the repository.

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Make sure that svn:externals is selected in the drop down:

The value for this property is basically a two part string. The first part is the name of the physical child directory. The second part is the actual URL to the Subversion repository. These parts are separated by a space.

TIP:
Put either of the two parts of the value in quotes, if there are spaces in the value.

You are supposed to be able to enter more than one external definition, but I haven’t tested it.

Click the OK button to close the dialog. You should now see this:

Verify that the svn:externals property has the correct value. If it does, then click the OK button to close the dialog.

You’re done!