[[[
   Fix FAQ to demonstrate way to checkout a single file in Subversion
Revision 1.5. Old FAQ simply stated this was not possible.

   * svn/trunk/www/faq.html
     (frobnicate_file): Check that file exists before frobnicating.
]]]
@@ -1942,13 +1942,29 @@
 <div class="h3" id="single-file-checkout" title="single-file-checkout">
 <h3>How do I check out a single file?</h3>

-<p>Subversion does not support checkout of a single file, it only
-supports checkout of directory structures.</p>
+<p>Subversion does not officially support checkout of a single file, it
+only supports checkout of directory structures. However, if you are
+using Subversion 1.5, you can take advantage of sparse checkouts.</p>

-<p>However, you can use 'svn export' to export a single file.  This will
-retrieve the file's contents, it just won't create a versioned working
-copy.</p>
+Let's say you want to checkout file <tt>build.xml</tt> from the directory
+<tt>http://svn/repos/foo/trunk</tt> in your Subversion repository:

+<ul>
+    <li>Use the <tt>--depth=empty</tt> parameter to make an empty work
+    directory for your file.<br/>
+    <blockquote>
+       <tt>$ svn co --depth=empty http://svn/repos/foo/trunk foo-build</tt>
+    </blockquote></li>
+    <li>Now go into your work directory and do an <tt>svn update</tt>
+    to fetch the file<br/>
+    <blockquote><tt>$ cd foo-build<br/>
+           $ svn update build.xml</tt></blockquote></li>
+</ul>
+
+<p>If you are using an earlier version of Subversion, you can use 'svn export'
+to export a single file. This will retrieve the file's contents, it just won't
+create a versioned working copy.</p>
+
 </div>