Re: [Monotone-devel] non-recursive add considered harmful

[Ben Walton]

On 3/14/07, Sebastian <address@hidden> wrote:
> Hello there,
>
> just from users point of view:
>
> The question is: what is consistency?
>
> I use monotone cvs git, and svn depending on the project I work on, and
> the people I work with. Having recursive add in mtn would bother me,
> since it would behave different from the add command in all SCMs I
> know.

Personally, I think that it's more important for monotone to be
consistent with itself than with other SCM's.  If you're using more
than one, presumably, you're capable of remembering the differences.
This doesn't necessarily preclude being congruous with other SCM's, I
just think the priority should be internal consistency.

> Making a recursive add command the default means inconsistency to me,
> leading to many 'dead files' in repositories (files accidentally added
> and thus removed again).
>
>
> In all situations I use the add command, I know what I want to add to
> the repository.
>
>
> And in the most cases I do not want to add all the files recursively,
> since my workspace contains files meant for local use configuration, or
> testing only.

This is what .mtn-ignore is for.  Works like a charm!

> The only recursive add command I know is import.
>
>
> add --unknown should behave recursively.

I'm not advocating for or against recursive by default, but I
definitely agree that commands within monotone should behave as
similarly as possible.

[If pressed, I'd vote for recursive add, as typically most files in a
workspace are managed and those that aren't can be .mtn-ignore'd....at
least that's how my work habits seem to end up.]

-Ben
--
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Ben Walton <address@hidden>

Unanswered questions are far less dangerous than unquestioned answers.
- The Roadside Pulpit
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