TortoiseBzr

[Philippe Lhoste]

On 24/04/2009 06:49, Gary van der Merwe wrote:
> I intend to do some improvements to tbzr once I have completed some
> things I am busy with in qbzr.
> 
> What features do TortoiseHg and TortoiseGit have that you need?

I don't know if it is in the other Tortoises (I bet they aren't) but I instinctively 
(well, almost!) tried something that appears not possible currently:

In Windows, when you drag'n'drop a file with right mouse button pressed down (instead of 
left one, usually), we get a context menu.
For example, on my system, I see a 7-Zip item with sub-entries (open, extract here, etc.), 
Copy here (instead of moving), Create shortcut here.
It would be nice to add a TortoiseBzr entry there, allowing to move (and perhaps rename) 
the dragged file(s). That's something I find a bit clumsy on the command line, 
particularly when paths are long.


Let see, I installed a fresh 1.13-1 on a new, faster computer. If you don't mind, I will 
make some quick experiments and do a real time feedback here, hoping some remarks might be 
useful... Tortoise Bazaar 0.2rc1; qbzr 0.9.8
So far, I haven't used tbzr much, it was too slow (mostly because of the icons -- I 
discovered later I could deactivate them) on my old computer, and I wanted to have a feel 
of the command line usage before.

I see can init a repository on a folder (or do a checkout) with some nice, friendly options.
After init, I expected to be able to right-click on given file(s) and _add_ it/them. I see 
now I can right-click on the folder and select which files to add, which is equivalent, I 
just explain my instinctive expectations... :-)
I am surprised to see I can commit before adding anything, but tbzr is smart enough to do 
the add before. Good point. This can become quickly addictive! ;-)

After the commit, the overlay icons are unchanged. I have to go out and back of folder to 
see the change. Probably a Windows limitation so I don't mind. On the other hand, as soon 
as I modify a file, its icon changes.

I don't see an _info_ menu entry in the context menu of a folder.

The log window is nicely done. There is an odd mix of English and French (my system is 
French) in the names (Révision vs. Committer/Branch, Refresh next to Fermer...). I see 
there is a fr/qbzr.mo file in the locale dir of Bazaar install folder. I know it is a Gnu 
I18N file but I have no tools to modify it. Personally, I prefer the plain text files for 
such stuff, it makes easier to update these files.

Anyway, back to log window, I see a diff button. I select a file, click it... and get two 
diffs (files) in the opened window! OK, right-click on the file. Nothing... Double-click. 
Ah, I got my individual diff! Not super-intuitive (how to do a diff between two given 
revisions?) but usable. Is it possible to use an alternative tool for diff? The built-in 
one is nice and handy, but I am used to more options. Having choice case per case 
(quick/fast diff vs. powerful one) would be nice.

Right-click on a modified file. A good set of choices, but I still don't see a _mv_ 
(rename) option. Renaming is one of the strong points of Bzr, it is too bad it isn't handy 
there.

Commit. I can pick up the files to commit, that's a very good point (something that can be 
long to do on the command line). Here again, icons don't change immediately. Even after 
changing folders, file's icon change, but not folder's overlay icon... :-( Now I recall 
why I deactivated these icons (that and slowness on old computers).
Ah, folder's icon changes if I drop a new file there...


Right-click on a versioned file, Log. Shows only the revisions where the file appear. 
Good. Experimenting a bit, I see I have to select a range to do a diff between two 
specific revisions. Looks odd at first (more used to Ctrl+click two entries) but logical 
with Bazaar's logic/notation.
But if I diff revisions with two files, it shows both files while I expected only the one 
I right-clicked on... (folder log vs. file log.)
Ah, and actually it diffs the topmost selected revision with the one just after the last 
selected one, even if it is not displayed in the log window!
Example: Log of a file, it shows revisions where file is: 5 4 3 1
If I select from 5 to 3 and click diff, it  does a diff -r2..5 where I expected 1..5
OK, the file has the same content in both versions, but it surprises a bit.

I appreciate the Search field, will be useful in long histories.

Now Browse inventory. If displayed by right-click on a file, it shows as Location the file 
name, which seems slightly odd, perhaps it should show its parent folder.
Nice to be able to go back in time. I wonder if you could make custom Explorer header 
fields (like we can show attributes or various media meta-tags) to show revision, perhaps 
latest author, etc.
If I right-click on a file (in Inventory) and choose Display Log, it shows the file's log 
but the title shows the parent folder's path, unlike when we right-click on the file and 
choose Log there.

Display of a previous revision, double-click: it opens the file at this revision. I think 
it should show in the title the revision number along with the file name. And again, I 
would appreciate to be able to open this file in my favorite editor.


That's something I would extend to all bzr commands: we can do qlog or glog (?) but to see 
the output text log in an editor, I have to do two commands and create myself some temp 
file. It would be nice to have --using option nearly everywhere some significant output is 
spitted out on the console. Or, better, some option telling to use the editor defined in 
the "editor" option of bazaar.conf (this one seems under-used).
BTW, a remark on bzr_man.html: I need nothing about that in the commit section, it might 
be mentioned elsewhere, but it might be useful to remind there (basically, what happens if 
there is no -F nor -m).


Annotate. I understand the name comes from bzr commands, but it is odd, I expect an action 
(adding annotations), not a viewer... Nice viewer. I just miss a "Goto" button (and/or 
Ctrl+G shortcut) to jump directly to a given line number.

Ah, a bug. I right-click on a (committed) file and choose Delete. A bit scary, but hey, it 
is in Bzr! File is in C:\temp\TB (a test dir), I get a message:

     Not a branch: "C:/Documents and Settings/<user name>/<file name>/".

(yes, with the final slash!)(French Windows XP Family, SP3)

Show in viewer. Not super useful since I can open the file directly in my own editor. 
Might I suggest to add eg. a combo box tp this window to choose which version to view there?


That's most of it. The Add window on a folder with unversioned files is well done too.
What might be missing, among the commonly done operations?

Perhaps some less common operations, that might appear if will hold shift (or ctrl) when 
right-clicking? Or in a sub-menu?

If I right-click on an unversioned file in a repository, it might display add, as said 
above, but also ignore.
Why not propose to make a new branch if I right-drag'n'drop a repository (in same parent 
folder or elsewhere)? Or even in the right-click menu (must ask destination, then).

I see that if I change a file, I can revert it, maybe always display the option and let 
choose a revision number?

Might add a Tag context menu entry in the log window?

I see no support of push, pull, merge, resolve... I reckon it is not obvious to do in a 
GUI context.

Well, that's all in an initial review. I hope I wasn't too boring... :-) HTH.
Overall I would say it is a nice tool, consistent, covering a good range of common tasks.
Ah, I would also add an option to open a command line on the chosen folder, in shell mode 
(since bzrtools is shipped too with the Windows distribution).

-- 
Philippe Lhoste
--  (near) Paris -- France
--  http://Phi.Lho.free.fr
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