Re: ChangeLog?

[Stefan Monnier]

>     When you use a version control system that provides a per-file
>     log, you should use @strong{both} the the per-file log and the
>     more general @file{ChangeLog}.  This is because it is inconvenient
>     or impossible for someone using a different version control system
>     to access another version control system's per-file log.  This
>     policy is different from the past, when you recorded small changes
>     in the per-file log only.

>     Typically you want to write just one entry for each change.  You
>     can write the entry in @file{ChangeLog}, using the @kbd{C-x 4 a}
>     command (@pxref{Change Log}), and then copy it to the log buffer
>     when you check in the change.  Or you can write the entry in the
>     log buffer while checking in the change, using the @kbd{C-x v v}
>     command, and later use the @kbd{C-x v a} command to copy it to the
>     more general @file{ChangeLog} (@pxref{Change Logs and VC}).

This is all highly dependent on the specific situation.  E.g. it depends on
the revision control system in use and lots of other things.  E.g. many
revision control systems provide special facilities to automatically
maintain an explicit changelog-like file (even RCS and CVS provide something
like that with their $Log$ keyword).

Depending on the specific circumstance it can be preferable to use
a manually managed ChangeLog file (this is usually the case with RCS and
CVS, AFAIK), but with systems like Subversion and Arch it's usually not
worth the trouble.


        Stefan