We'd like to see a complete source tree at once
- Two reasons:
- Most changes modify several files at once, but current systems
only let you look at the changes to one file at a time.
- Rearranging the directory structure is itself a change which
should be visible to later archaeologists.
- File-level granularity is fine
- We can always zoom in on the changes to each individual file.
Being able to get context diffs for the whole change would be useful,
though.
- What should it look like?
- Several possibilities:
- Flipview applied to a recursive directory listing
- 3-dimensional graphical tree
- ZigZag-esque multidimensional projection
- ...
- Most version control systems don't record enough information
- A change that modifies several files is indistinguishable from a
change to several files at once. Also, many systems can't handle
rearranging files at all. This is a known problem; the next
generation of VC systems will give a tree browser all the information
it needs.
That's all, folks!