The svn:executable property is used to control a versioned file's filesystem-level execute permission bit in a semi-automated way. This property has no defined values—its mere presence indicates a desire that the execute permission bit be kept enabled by Subversion. Removing this property will restore full control of the execute bit back to the operating system.

On many operating systems, the ability to execute a file as a command is governed by the presence of an execute permission bit. This bit usually defaults to being disabled, and must be explicitly enabled by the user for each file that needs it. In a working copy, new files are being created all the time as new versions of existing files are received during an update. This means that you might enable the execute bit on a file, then update your working copy, and if that file was changed as part of the update, its execute bit might get disabled. So, Subversion provides the svn:executable property as a way to keep the execute bit enabled.

This property has no effect on filesystems that have no concept of an executable permission bit, such as FAT32 and NTFS. ^[33] Also, although it has no defined values, Subversion will force its value to * when setting this property. Finally, this property is valid only on files, not on directories.