Slow merge of vc.el begins: "focus version"

Slow merge of vc.el begins: "focus version"

[Eric S. Raymond]

Dan Nicolaescu did an extremely helpful thing by reordering the code
in vc.el, but as I feared the diff is still quite large and noisy.
There was really no avoiding this, as large portions of the mode 
needed a rewrite.

In order to make auditing of the diff more feasible, I'm going to
merge into head some of the bits from my version that don't make logic
changes.  I will probably start by merging, into both code and manual,
the "workfile version" -> "focus version" change.  It is responsible
for a lot of the noise.

I am not really happy about introducing a new term, especially one
that isn't lifted from VCS terminology already current.  But, as I
explained to Dan, none of the VCSes have evolved an unambiguous term
of art for this.  

"Workfile version" is, I believe, strictly an Emacsism these days.  It
becomes inappropriate and misleading when we are speaking of a VCS in
which version numbers are not a per-file property but associated with
changesets.  This is true of all VCSes from Subversion onwards.

I suppose "working-copy version" might be more explicit while
avoiding the problem.  I might switch both my code and the Emacs
head revision to use that.  I'll have to try altering the manual
both ways and seeing how it reads.
-- 
		<a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a>

To make inexpensive guns impossible to get is to say that you're
putting a money test on getting a gun.  It's racism in its worst form.
        -- Roy Innis, president of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), 1988

Re: Slow merge of vc.el begins: "focus version"

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

() "Eric S. Raymond" <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>
() Sat,  6 Oct 2007 04:32:52 -0400 (EDT)

   I suppose "working-copy version" might be more explicit while
   avoiding the problem.  I might switch both my code and the Emacs
   head revision to use that.  I'll have to try altering the manual
   both ways and seeing how it reads.

how about "tree name"?

everyone understands "tree" to be directory tree, i think.
i prefer "name" over "version" because it's more general.

thi

Re: Slow merge of vc.el begins: "focus version"

[John S. Yates, Jr.]

On Sat,  6 Oct 2007 04:32:52 -0400 (EDT), ers wrote:

>      ..  I will probably start by merging, into both code and manual,
>the "workfile version" -> "focus version" change.  ...
>
>I am not really happy about introducing a new term, especially one
>that isn't lifted from VCS terminology already current.  But, as I
>explained to Dan, none of the VCSes have evolved an unambiguous term
>of art for this.  

Given that the various supported vc backend use different terminology
I would to see a table listing emacs vc concepts and terms with the
corresponding terminology for each backend.

Also, given the dvc project expressed hope of ultimately shipping with
emacs I would hope that vc and dvc would settle on common terminology.

/john

Re: Slow merge of vc.el begins: "focus version"

[Eric S. Raymond]

John S. Yates, Jr. <john@yates-sheets.org>:
> Given that the various supported vc backend use different terminology
> I would to see a table listing emacs vc concepts and terms with the
> corresponding terminology for each backend.

Good idea.  You could probably develop such a table without
much difficulty, and I encourage you to do so. 

It's not good for the long-term maintainence prospects of the mode 
that so few people understand this mapping of abstractions well. 
At the moment the set consists of myself and, probably, Stefan Monnier.
A third would be a good thing.
-- 
		<a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a>

Re: Slow merge of vc.el begins: "focus version"

[Stefan Monnier]

> "Workfile version" is, I believe, strictly an Emacsism these days.  It
> becomes inappropriate and misleading when we are speaking of a VCS in
> which version numbers are not a per-file property but associated with
> changesets.

In the latest vc.el I've seen you've used "current focus version", but I see
no need for "focus" here (and I prefer "revision" to "version" here as
well), so why not "current revision"?  It's a terminology that I've often
seen used.


        Stefan

Re: Slow merge of vc.el begins: "focus version"

[Stefan Monnier]

> In order to make auditing of the diff more feasible, I'm going to
> merge into head some of the bits from my version that don't make logic
> changes.  I will probably start by merging, into both code and manual,
> the "workfile version" -> "focus version" change.  It is responsible
> for a lot of the noise.

If you can slice your changes into several smaller patches, then that would
be great, indeed.


        Stefan