Re: cvs add <directory>

[Kaz Kylheku]

On Sat, 24 May 2003, Greg A. Woods wrote:

> Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 14:28:51 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Greg A. Woods <address@hidden>
> Reply-To: CVS-II Discussion Mailing List <address@hidden>
> To: Paul Sander <address@hidden>
> Cc: CVS-II Discussion Mailing List <address@hidden>
> Subject: RE: cvs add <directory>
> 
> [ On Friday, May 23, 2003 at 22:02:55 (-0700), Paul Sander wrote: ]
> > Subject: RE: cvs add <directory>
> >
> > Your claim is not correct.  Directories CAN be versioned, even using an
> > underlying shared, file-based repository system, even if it uses RCS.
> 
> OK, yes, directories can be versioned.
> 
> However directories cannot possibly ever be versioned with any
> meaningful and useful result in any system even remotely like CVS.

Meta-CVS is so much like CVS, half the time you can't remember that
you are not using CVS. Most of the commands work exactly the same
way, except that you use ``mcvs'' instead of ``cvs''.

Getting new file contents, and new directory structure, symbolic
links or execute permission changes, is done using the familiar update
command. Changes are propagated to the directory using commit, etc.

Your log, status, diff, edit, watch, annotate, are all there.

The big difference is that an update can rearrange the structure of
your sandbox, not just file contents.  This is done by first updating
a text file representation of the structure, which is stored in CVS in
the normal way. Then if this is free of conflicts, it is compared
against a stashed local copy; and the differences are turned into
restructuring operations that fix the sandbox. If this all works, the
map file is then written to the local copy so they match.

> It
> is simply not conceptually or logically possible.  If you think so then
> you are very confused.  There is simply nothing there that needs to be
> "versioned".  Anything you think you see is a figment of your imagination.

I think I see a bunch of e-mails in from satisfied users of
working software, plus feature requests, gripes, etc. All the usual
non-figment-of-imagination stuff.