svn:externals recursion depth and nested update behavior

Nested Externals and Depth Control

Subversion allows the svn:externals property to reference directories that themselves contain external definitions. In a scenario where Directory A references Directory B, and Directory B references Directory C, the working copy treats these as distinct entities.

There is uncertainty regarding the automatic propagation of depth settings during an svn update. While the parent working copy can be updated with a specific depth, it is unclear if these depth constraints are inherited by nested externals or if they revert to the default behavior of the nested external's own definition.

This behavior impacts how mergeinfo is handled and how much of the nested tree is fetched during initial checkouts or subsequent updates in Subversion 1.7+.

• Does svn update --set-depth infinity on a parent directory recursively apply to all levels of nested externals?
• Is there a mechanism to globally define the recursion depth for nested externals without modifying each individual property?