Hi Mitch, hi Sean,
Mitch Davis schrieb:
> Sean Cavanaugh wrote:
> >
> > I'd like to see both here, if the timestamps are exactly
> > the same assume its the same, otherwise take the time to open the
> > local file and run it through MD5 and compare it to the checksum
> > in the local CVS/Entries to make sure. We might need an option to
> > force one of three possible modes (timestamp only, MD5 only, and
> > hybrid)
I agree, both should be there (please see below for my reasons why).
I personally would prefer the "checksum only" mode as standard (for
client/server combinations that both understand it) as it is more
reliable than the hybrid mode you suggest.
> The condensed impression I'm getting from people is that it's not
> a bad idea, so I think I will go ahead and do it. I think having
> the timestamp is still necessary so that tools like make don't get
> confused.
I think the idea is very good. We had the pseudo-modified-file-problem
just a few weeks ago when the annual dst start confused our Windoof
("doof" means "stupid" in German) computers.
[...]
> I think the behaviour of CVS should be that it sets the
> timestamp of a file whenever CVS updates it (either from
> scratch or through a "P"- or "C"-type update), but otherwise
> doesn't care what happens to the timestamp after that. So it
> initially sets it, but then uses MD5 to see if it's changed.
>
> If this approach is taken, the timestamp doesn't need to be
> stored in the Entries file.
Here I disagree a bit: I think the timestamps should remain in the
Entries files, the checksums should be added.
One reason is probably backward compatibility.
Another reason is that I use WinCVS as a front end, which has the nice
feature to show locally modified files with a red icon. Thus you can
easyly find them. If this algorithm were to rely on checksums rather than
on time stamps, there would be much more work for my hard disk, resulting
in much more noise and much slower action when simply changing
directories in WinCVS.
Maybe the WinCVS developers could tell us their opinion about that?
Best regards
Martin
