Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Re: [BUG] Re: False "binary" files

[tomas]

On Sun, Feb 13, 2005 at 08:10:49PM -0500, Stefan Monnier wrote:
> > 1) Extend diffutils to handle various cases like this and standartize
> >    use of these enhanced diffutils.
> > 2) Implement support for multiple diffutils in tla, where the archive
> >    would somehow state which ones it needs and which ones should be used
> >    for different files in the archive.
> 
> Nb 2 is clearly the most flexible option.
> It could even be used internally to replace the .arch-ids subdirectory with
> a .arch-ids file with a specialized merge/diff algorithm (which would mirror
> the order-agnostic diff/merge currently used for directories).

Hmpf. But if we have an extensible set of ``diffing algorithms'' (which sounds
very attractive indeed), do we have to care for `evolution'? Will we have to
archive those algorithms as well? Or keep a central registry of blessed
implementations? Or a combination of both?

There seems to be some level of experience on those things among the distributed
file system folks (Coda, Ficus). They seem to use file-type specific
conflict resolvers. I have no idea of how they resolve (pun unintended ;)
the above mentioned problem.

I might try to read up on this when I get a bunch of Copious Free Time, but
it might take a while.

Regards
-- tomás

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