ZIP files in working tree

[Martin von Gagern]

Hi there!

There is quite a number of file formats out there that are ZIP under the
hood, but handled as a single document by some application, and usually
have a file name extension other than ZIP. Examples are Microsoft OOXML,
Google KMZ, Apple iWork formats, JAR files, and so on.

I often would have wished for a plugin to handle these things as a
single ZIP in a working tree, but as a directory of members inside the
branch. That would allow easier markup of changes, and increase the
chances of successful three-way merges. It might also reduce space
requirements to the actual modification, omitting impact caused by
subsequent differences in the compressed data stream.

I guess I'd wish for merge conflicts to result in the use of directory
layout in the working tree as well. When the conflicts are resolved,
things should be converted back to ZIP again. The *.BASE, *.THIS and
*.OTHER files should probably be available as ZIP.

I don't have the time to implement this, but I'd still be interested in
your opinion.
Do you think this useful?
Feasible with the current bzr API?
How would you want to configure such a plugin?
Can you think of use cases likely to cause trouble I haven't thought of?
Do you know of any efforts in that direction?

Of course, if anybody thinks this useful or interesting enough to
warrant coding a plugin for it, I'd be a grateful tester. :-)

Greetings,
 Martin von Gagern

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