Take the 2-minute tour ×  When performing a merge in Subversion
there is an option to Test the merge. I have often seen this
test uncover conflicts, but then when the actual merge is
performed those conflicts do not occur. Does anyone know why
this sometimes happens?  share|improve this question add comment
2 Answers  up vote 2 down vote accepted  Generally this happens
when there are multiple distinct ranges. Subversion will test
merge the first range and see no conflicts. It then test merges
the second range checking against your current working copy.
Because the first range has not been applied the working copy is
not in a good state to merge the second: you get a conflict.
When actually merging the first range does get applied to the
working copy. The second range is then able to merge without
issue.  share|improve this answer That does make sense but in
that case I don't understand the point of the test merge. Maybe
it is just best not to use it over multiple ranges? –  Don
Zacharias Nov 14 '12 at 23:01