Re: How well does CVS handle other types of data?

[Paul Sander]

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>On Wed, Jul 11, 2001 at 04:31:42PM -0400, Jeff King wrote:
>> There could be hooks for handling mergable binary formats, but at that point
>> I think a tool other than CVS would be more appropriate.

>Can you suggest such a tool?  That's free?  That supports networking?  That
>supports branching?

Here's what's needed for a general solution:

- CVS is extended to record data types in each version file.
- CVS is extended to associate a merge tool with each data type, and notify
  the client what the tool is when the client knows a merge is needed.
- The site admin supplies appropriate 3-way merge tools that are appropriate
  for the site's data.  CVS may supply some simple defaults, such as the
  RCS "merge" program for ASCII text (which it already does), and a 3-way
  select for arbitrary types.
- The client is extended to recognize the identities of merge tools passed
  down from the server, and invoke the proper tools when performing merges.

In other words, rely on CVS to handle the networking and branching issues,
and give it a general-purpose interface to arbitrary 3-way merge tools that
the site admins supply.

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