svn copy WC URL fails silently

Hi

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I am having trouble with the svn copy command. I am running RedHat Enterprise Linux Workstation release 6.3 and svn version 1.6.1 (r934486).

I use the svn copy to create a tag based on a working copy, including any changes in externals.
(I know that there should not be any changes in the externals, but it is very important for me that the tag is an accurate copy of the working copy)

I create a list of the externals, and if they are not locked to a specific revision, I use svn copy to create a tag of the external.
This works fine for directory externals, but for file externals it fails silently.
Attempting the same command for a file which is not an external works fine.

Is this a known bug or feature in Subversion?

More details:
In my Sandbox I have got a number of files in a directory. One of these, SKernConstants_pck.vhd, is an external file.
The other files are not externals.

% svn info config/hdl/SKernConstants_pck.vhd
Path: config/hdl/SKernConstants_pck.vhd
Name: SKernConstants_pck.vhd
URL: svn://XXXX/SKern/branches/ft1/config/hdl/SKernConstants_pck.vhd
Repository Root: XXXX
Repository UUID: 5c878c7f-b7b8-46de-b0ce-59b764e9bf1b
Revision: 13028
Node Kind: file
Schedule: normal
Last Changed Author: johnaas
Last Changed Rev: 12480
Last Changed Date: 2014-11-10 10:31:46 +0100 (Mon, 10 Nov 2014)
Text Last Updated: 2014-11-30 14:45:56 +0100 (Sun, 30 Nov 2014)
Checksum: 0e9339b5000f26d70680927dda1d4d46

% svn info config/hdl/Sadm_pck.vhd
Path: config/hdl/Sadm_pck.vhd
Name: Sadm_pck.vhd
URL: svn://XXXX/Saft/branches/ft1/config/hdl/Sadm_pck.vhd
Repository Root: XXXX
Repository UUID: 5c878c7f-b7b8-46de-b0ce-59b764e9bf1b
Revision: 13028
Node Kind: file
Schedule: normal
Last Changed Author: johnaas
Last Changed Rev: 12542
Last Changed Date: 2014-11-11 14:52:28 +0100 (Tue, 11 Nov 2014)
Text Last Updated: 2014-11-30 14:45:29 +0100 (Sun, 30 Nov 2014)
Checksum: f950055c56d0e84eb42435239525db04

% ls -l config/hdl/
total 240
-rw-rw-r--. 1 johnaas games 1164 Nov 30 14:45 Sadm_pck.vhd
-rw-rw-r--. 1 johnaas games 10426 Nov 30 14:45 SKernConstants_pck.vhd

Local file: Copy OK
% svn copy config/hdl/Sadm_pck.vhd svn://XXXX/SKern/tags/Saft_01_0042/config/hdl/Sadm_pck.vhd -m "Debug tagBuild with single files as externals" --parents

Committed revision 13543.

External file: Copy fails silently
% svn copy config/hdl/SKernConstants_pck.vhd svn://XXXX/SKern/tags/Saft_01_0041/config/hdl/SKernConstants_pck.vhd -m "Debug tagBuild with single files as externals" --parents
% svn copy config/hdl/SKernConstants_pck.vhd svn://bkgl-fpga-vp01/JSM/SKern/tags/Saft_01_0041/config/hdl/ -m "Debug tagBuild with single files as externals" -parents

I have done some tests using strace and diffed these two. The attached images show that
Stracediff1: Sadm run prints a message before exiting
Stracediff2: SKernConstants run stops after the first two lstats.

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