[Monotone-devel] Re: Problems with _MTN/tmp

[Steven E. Harris]

Rob Schoening <address@hidden> writes:

> But as you alluded to, it is too clever for its own good in a lot of
> ways.

My favorite CC dynamic view/mvfs feature is the view and its config
spec, allowing a workspace to be a projected view across a cascade of
overlaid branches. That is, branches can be used to hold the minimal
set of changes necessary against some "parent" or "base" branch. The
entire repository content doesn't need to made part of this
"overlaying" or "child" branch; rather, one looks "through" this child
branch to see the rest of the base content beyond.

Using a visual analogy, it reminds me of those transparency-based flip
books showing, say, human anatomy. Each sheet only contains only the
information different from and superimposed over the layers
below. Just as it's easy to hold up a given sheet and say, "This one
just shows the blood vessels", in ClearCase it's easy to look at a
branch and say, "This branch just contains my three changes to these
files". Branch content can thus be thought of like a patch against its
ordered list of "base" branches.

Setting up views that work this way requires a particular pattern of
config spec rules that I won't bother detailing here. Suffice it to
say it's possible, and quite a pleasure to work with.

-- 
Steven E. Harris