Merge algorithms

[Andrew Bennetts]

Eli Zaretskii wrote:
[...]
> Alas, “BZR_DISABLE_PLUGINS=changelog_merge bzr update” won't work on
> Windows.  But using --no-plugins is also a solution (even less
> typing), so it's not a catastrophe.

Ah.  Well, there's always batch files ;)

> > Keep in mind that update is not intrinsically different to merge from
> > bzr's point of view[1], and I'm not sure that it should be much
> > different from your point of view either.  e.g. consider “if I have
> > local branch with a new changelog entry, and I merge in the latest
> > trunk, then I'd like my changelog entries to be automatically moved to
> > the top.”  You can s/branch/checkout/ and s/merge in/update to/ and the
> > statement is still true.
> 
> That's true.  Would it be possible for the plugin to detect that no
> local changes are present, and fall back on the default merge
> algorithm in that case?  Would that be a good idea?

Actually, it already does that!  (If you somehow encounter a case where it
triggers despite no local changes, let me know!)

> > Hmm.  I have some fuzzy ideas here, but I'm not sure they're at a point
> > where I can articulate them clearly or even be confident they make
> > sense.  So instead I'm going to just dump out a list of bullet points
> > and see if a coherent picture emerges:
> 
> Thanks.  Yes, I already use diff to make sure I don't inadvertently
> screw up the ChangeLog files by using the plugin.  I think I will run
> with it for a while and see if I get any problems, and if so, how
> often.  Then perhaps we will be wiser when we discuss possible
> solutions.

Sounds good.  Thanks again for the feedback.

-Andrew.