Unexpected behavior of server-relative external

[bobat...@gmail.com]

I'm not sure if this is a bug or if there is a reason for this behavior.

We recently moved all of our repositories to a new server and it appears that the externals using the server-relative syntax did not work as we expected.

In one case I used the Tortoise Relocate function (with the "externals" box checked) on an exiting working copy.

In another case I got a new working copy from the new server,

In both cases, externals using the server-relative syntax still referenced the old server

The old server was still active (in a read-only state)during the transition, so the files were retrieved but we discovered that the old server was being used because:
1. Bringing up the Tortoise Repo browser showed the old server's URL
2. Clearing the cached credentials to the old server in the Tortoise Settings caused a request for authentication on the old server when an update or checkout was performed.

The syntax we used for the externals that cause problems was
/svn/RepoName/Product/Version2/branches/DevP

The problem was resolved by editing the external (making no change, just bringing up the external in the Tortoise edit window and saving it). A new revision of the repository was created when we did this.

I think that a server-relative external should retrieve files from the server on which a checkout, update or other activity is being executed.

My experience leads me to believe that an external statements is only evaluated to determine the server URL when a it is created or altered. I think it should be evaluated every time a checkout or update is executed.

Have I misunderstood something? Is there another form of external syntax that I should have used? Is this a bug?