[cvsnt] What is the "right" method when in multi-branches?

[Eric B.]

Hi,

I've got a software product here that has 2 concurrent development branches
going on.  I'm personally working in branch #2 right now, but want to use
some of the enhancements that have been added to a few files in branch #1.
Is there a proper process / method to do this?

I realize I can either:
a) simply copy the updates files from branch 1 that I need to my branch and
work from there
b) update (sticky) for those particular files to branch 1 so that any
updates would get the latest from that branch

Is either way recommended?  If I use option a) then when I merge the
branches back into the trunk, I'm guaranteed to have conflicts.

If I use option b, what happens for files that do not exist in my branch but
have been added to branch #1?  How would I do option b for that?  Is there
any way to make a sticky update on a specific file if it doesn't already
exist in my branch?  Furthermore, what happens when someone else checks out 
branch 2; they won't have the right file versions (since  individual ones 
would require special updates from branch #1).

Is there some better method to do something like this?

Thanks!

Eric