Re: Kernel SCM: When does CVS fall down where it REALLY matters?

Neil Brown
2002-03-08T01:54:46Z

On Thursday March 7, akpm@zip.com.au wrote:
>
> Current tkdiff is in fact very good at this. So integration
> with that may suit.

I find the e-diff mode in emacs quite good too. I had a quick look at
tkdiff and it seems to be much the same sort of idea.

>
> The problem I find is that I often want to take (file1+patch) -> file2,
> when I don't have file1. But merge tools want to take (file1|file2) -> file3.
> I haven't seen a graphical tool which helps you to wiggle a patch into
> a file.

If your saying what I think you're saying, I completely agree.
I often run "patch" and it drops some chunk because it doesn't match,
and it turns out that the miss-match is just one or two lines in a
chunk that could be very big.
I would like a tool (actually an emacs mode) that would show me exactly
why a patch fails, and allow me to edit bits until it fits, and then
apply it. I assume that is what you mean by "wiggle a patch into a file".

>
> This is a bit extreme perhaps but I'm currently working code which
> consists of twelve changesets against 100 files. Many of those
> files are changed by multiple changesets. So two things:
>
> 1: If I have two changesets applied to a file, and I make a change to
> that file, which changeset is it to be associated with?
>
How about an editor which, when you view a file, gives you also a
little window onto that file for every other version in your current
series of change sets.
When you make a change it gets propagated forwards. To edit a
different changeset you just choose the right little window.

So many ideas... so little time....

NeilBrown