Re: [patch] add interactive browse of revisions from vc *Annotate* buffers

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

> I feel that the one time when line positions would be "more correct"
> would be when there are only minor changes to a file during successive
> revisions.

There's no perfect answer.  Sometimes lines are better, sometimes chars
are better.  But chars are simpler to implement, so I recommend to use them.

Another thing you might want to do is to look at the context rather than
just buffer positions.  This works as long as the text around point hasn't
changed much.  Or to go a step further do a diff between the old buffer and
the new, so that if point was in a part of the tex that's unchanged, you
can find the exact same spot and other wise, you can estimate where to go.
But maybe this is way overkill ;-) ?

> This discussion brings up another point:  I'd also like to preserve
> the column, since the annotate buffer can be very wide (it's usually >
> 80 columns, even if the original source code is < 80 columns).  If
> you've spend the energy to h-scroll to the right, then I don't think I
> should make you h-scroll again every time you browse another revision.

Maybe you're lucky to work on small files whose RCS archive is stored
locally, but at least in my situation `vc-annotate' is a command that only
use when nothing else works because it takes ages to show up, so I don't see
the point in having short keybindings for revision-navigation and don't see
the point either is saving you from hitting C-e to display the other half of
the buffer.


        Stefan