RCS file grammar (comma-v format, rcsfile(5)) top-level was frozen
w/ RCS 5.8 (released 2011-08-30). The escape hatch is the phrase:
integrity {string};
for which the string sub-format is not yet specified, added w/ the
intent of future (backward-compatible) support for one of:
integrity;
integrity @CACHED-HASH-INFO@;
where CACHED-HASH-INFO is an incrementally maintained blob that
encodes meta-information pertaining to each revision in the
comma-v file, as well as their relationships (branch points, etc).
This can be used for tamper-resistence/detection, synchronization
(e.g., to support "distributed" usage), and so on.
So, what do people think should go into CACHED-HASH-INFO? Why?
When should it be consulted/updated? What happens on discrepency?
Just as important: What should NOT be included (and why not)?
I imagine some designs will depend on whether or not an external
file is admissible. For now, let's say no, although people should
feel free to mention the idea, w/ the dependency explicitly noted,
anyway. (Perhaps the design can be refined towards the ideal of a
completely self-contained comma-v, or perhaps we will eventually
realize that such an ideal is not possible. I don't know.)
