code movements in diffs, was Re: [PATCH 2/2] Allow fetch-pack to decide keeping the fetched pack without exploding

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date: Jan 23, 2007, 11:07 UTC
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.63.0701231205110.22628@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de>
In-Reply-To: <ep4phb$fef$1@sea.gmane.org>

Hi,

On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, Jakub Narebski wrote:

Show 18 quoted lines

> Johannes Schindelin wrote:
> 
> > P.S.: These patches make me dream of yet another diff format enhancement: 
> > code moves! Of course, for this to be really usable, you'd also have to 
> > automatically determine indent changes... You may say I'm a dreamer. But 
> > I'm not the only one...
> 
> I wonder if it could be done with e.g.
> 
> --- a/fromfile
> +++ b/somefile
> <code movement or copying>
> 
> --- a/somefile
> +++ b/somefile
> <other changes>
> 
> The problem is that context differs usually for code movement.

There is a more fundamental problem here: both "diff" and "patch" walk the file pair in a direction. The whole "code movement" stuff would break this paradigm. What you found is just _one_ consequence.

But as I said: a man can still dream, can't he?

Ciao, Dscho